How To Hold Your Guitar
In this lesson, we will talk about how to hold your guitar because we definitely want to be as comfortable as possible when practicing and playing.
There are a couple ways to hold your guitar and these will apply not only for acoustic guitar but electric guitar as well.
I will explain in the video below.
And if you are interested in a step-by-step method for learning to play the guitar, definitely check out my free guitar crash course to get your free PDF with bonus information on lessons just like this.
Return to All Guitar LessonsWays To Hold A Guitar
What's the best way to hold your guitar?
Well, that's going to depend a lot on you and your body. How tall are you? Do you have longer arms or shorts arms? How big are your fingers?
The answers to these questions will impact how you hold the guitar. But there are a couple of tried and true methods that I will show you in the video below. Feel free to scroll down for further information.
Classical Guitar Position
There is no questions that the classical guitar position is the healthiest way to hold the guitar.
As your can see from the graphic, the hump of the guitar is perch between the legs with the hump of the guitar on the now dominant side of the body.
This allows for the guitar neck to point upwards allowing for a healthy wrist position.
Some students like to use a foot rest on the non dominant foot as well to help elevate the knee and keep the guitar closer to the body.
Now if you have a bigger guitar and a smaller sized body (like me!) you might find this position a little overwhelming.
Casual Guitar Position
Now, I personally like holding my guitar in more of a casual position with the hump of the guitar over the dominant leg.
The key thing to remember with this position is that we still want to maintain and upward angle on the guitar.
So in this graphic, I feel the guitar could benefit from a more upward position and that it where a properly fitted guitar strap could come in handy.
You can still use a footrest as well. I typically sit on a tripod stool and elevate my dominant leg to a higher position which helps make holding the guitar very comfortable.
Holding Your Guitar While Standing
No matter which way you hold your guitar, you want it to mimic the way you would hold the guitar standing up.
This is why setting up your guitar strap correctly is so important.
So many people set their guitar strap too loose that the guitar falls when you stand up.
The ideal position for a guitar strap is that whether or not you are sitting or standing, the height of your guitar doesn't change.
This ensures that when you practice in a seated position that your are ALSO practicing for a standing position.
Now whether or not you are going to play in a band or play standing up, finding the most comfortable way to hold your guitar without any pain is a sure fire way to be successful and have more fun on the guitar!
Keep practicing and see you in another lesson real soon.