***The Official Guitar Thread***

[a1ex2001]

200 years of classical guitarists say it goes on left thigh. I've noticed lots of electric players go with the right. Dunno why that is.

Give it a try- and get your left foot raised on a box or similar.

This is something I do when I'm learning something that I find difficult as the classical position is definitely easier to play, 99% of my playing time though is spent with a guitar on my right leg (I'm right handed) just because it is more natural and comfortable to me. It makes my Uncle cross when he sees me playing the lovely classical guitar he gave me not in the classical position it would probably make him cry if he knew I use a plectrum on it quite often! (classical guitar is great for practising stuff without the pain of steel strings!)

 

[potatolord]

nope. I'm comfortable with it how it is. Pushing the neck further left just makes it harder to get up the neck. There's enough youtube out there to give me confidence I'm not alone on this.

If it works for you, that's ok.

As I said, electric guitarists seem to favour right thigh. Classical is definitely left, foot up.

 

[builder22]

Yeah the vast majority of electric guitar players will play with the guitar on right leg when sitting

even some people playing classical don’t get on with having your foot on a stand, you can get cushions/supports that raises the guitar so u can have both feet on the ground

 

[potatolord]

But on the flipside it can feel a little weird if you are playing more like Hendrix-y stuff with what would classically be considered bad/terrible technique - i.e. baseball bat grip, thumb over the top of the neck at times etc. I find when I am doing that it feels more comfortable with the neck more horizontal and therefore over the right thigh is a little better

I am teaching my eldest bass guitar at the moment, and am really pushing correct left-hand position and fingering. Kinda feels like heresy on a bass. I'm sure he'd rather have the bass slung round his knees and his thumb waving about...

 

[ik9000]

no that is not heresy it's necessary. I'm teaching myself bass at the moment via youtube and the fingering technique is so important to get notes crisp. Try getting him to record through an interface at lower gain and then at higher gain. It reveals where things are muted, not clear, scuffed etc (which is a lot in my case). Any fool can play high gain distorted thrash but it doesn't make you a good player if you strip all that away and it sounds like trash. Far better to start nailing the basics and build on a good foundation. Much easier to learn once than have to unlearn later.

 

[Andrew_McP]

The Joy of Plucking isn't a guitar playing position guide, but it should be.

There is no doubt whatsoever that physiologically speaking, left thigh, foot raised is where your body will be happiest for longest, long term, and the guitar's positioned to project to a theoretical audience. But most of us rarely have an audience and, like all forms of exercise, the easier ways of doing it are seductively attractive.

Right thigh means it's easier to see and get to the full fretboard, and most of us need a bit of help with seeing what we're doing. But it also means a twisted spine, and those of us who are getting on a bit know that spines need all the help they can get... the more you look after them when young, the less troublesome later life is likely to be.

I rarely play right thigh now. I either sit back on the sofa with the guitar resting between my legs in 'leftish thigh/straight back' mode, or a stand up and play. I've actually grown to prefer standing up unless I'm feeling weary. I, and what I'm playing, feel more 'lively' when I'm on my feet. Purely psychological I'm sure, but my fairly sedentary life needs all the help it can get, so any excuse to get up is a good one.

I suspect plectrum playing is the biggest factor though. When I'm fingerpicking I usually have the guitar in a more classical mode, with the back of the guitar fairly parallel to my body; when strumming or flatpicking, the guitar body's more angled so my arm's moving more naturally up towards my left shoulder the away, down to the right.

 

[builder22]

The Joy of Plucking

reminds me of another interestingly titled guitar book, Scott Tennants Pumping Nylon!

 

[a1ex2001]

Yeah the vast majority of electric guitar players will play with the guitar on right leg when sitting

even some people playing classical don’t get on with having your foot on a stand, you can get cushions/supports that raises the guitar so u can have both feet on the ground

I think the vast majority of guitar players period will be right leg rest, the only people I know who play left leg are classical guitar players anything with steel strings it seems goes straight on the right knee probably doesn't help that mos modern guitars are 14 frets to the body and Dreadnought shaped not making them very comfortable on the left leg. My classical and parlour are both small bodies and 12 frets to the body which does make them easier on the left leg.

 

[uncle_rufus]

Mick Thomson from Slipknot plays on left knee...

 

[builder22]

Was experimenting with the guitar on the right leg...does feel like you have more control, doesn’t feel right without your foot raised tho, quite high...anyways...

Did a bit of a GnR cover the other night..

 

[Invertigo]

Got some more hangers for the spare room, so now all 3 are kept off the floor.

 

[ik9000]

Nice gibson - is it genuine? Is it that one that people were talking about being on offer the other week?

 

[Invertigo]

Nice gibson - is it genuine? Is it that one that people were talking about being on offer the other week?

It is indeed, its a 2016 Studio Faded T, one of their absolute bargains in recent years at around £500 or so new (can't remember exactly what I paid, but is was sub-600 for sure). Looks to be considered cheap when you see them listed second hand at £600+ these days.

Part of me is considering letting it go as I have far more interest in the basses these days, but the other part of me loves that it's the first 'proper' LP I bought after always having Gibson-style guitars as a kid (Started with a 'Vintage' brand SG style, then had an Arctic White Epi LP Custom)

 

[ik9000]

if you can afford to keep it and have the space then keep it. I find I get too attached to instruments if we have happy memories. Plus the barrier to reentry if you regret it is now very high. Just because you're into basses now doesn't mean it won't change in future. You got in before the wave, savour it. Or you could try and do what football clubs do and sell it with a buy-back clause

 

[tedmaul]

I once read bending just with the pinky is not a good idea and risks wearing out the cartilege. I've always tried to do two finger bends for that reason. Is that not correct?

For bends with any finger other than the index finger, you use the fingers to the left of the one you are bending with to support that finger. So if you're bending with your pinky, the other fingers are lined up behind next to it on the same string and help to support the pinky as it does the bend. Similarly, a ring finger bend has the middle finger sat behind it to support it.

The other thing people tend to get wrong is having finger movement when bending strings. The bending movement comes from a rotation of the wrist/forearm - the fingers don't really move. The best explanation i've heard is to compare the movement to turning a door knob - it's that kind of relaxed rotation movement when bending strings. The fingers just stay locked (but relaxed) in position.

Having finger movement driving the bending motion isn't very controlled and tends to lead to poor intonation and weak sounding bends and vibrato. Worth noting re vibrato that the standard blues/rock up and down vibrato movement is essentially the same as doing a bend - just a very small one where you are repeatedly bending up a little then releasing back down again. The wrist/forearm motion is essentially the same though, just on a smaller scale.

Here's a good video by Shaun Baxter explaining it all - if you've bought any UK guitar magazines over the last 30 years chances are you've read some of his articles before:

EDIT: He makes some great points I missed too, about how you use the other fingers for muting.

 

[Andrew_McP]

I definitely need to be paying more attention to this thread and that last video. I can't mess about now -- albeit with fleeting bend-ettes rather than bend it like Beck(ham) finger gymnastics -- without hearing my little finger wearing out. Mind you, I'm 57... means it'll just match my back, knees and shoulder before long.

 

[tedmaul]

Yeah man, your entire bending motion there is coming from the finger. That's making things much more difficult than they need to be. If you were doing that with wrist/forearm rotation and keeping your pinky still so it's only fretting the note, it's much easier and involves way less tension once you get it down.

Obviously the Shaun Baxter video he's doing some really wide rock type vibrato and bends, which are quite over the top. But the principal is the same in the more acoustic blues/folk context you're in. I guess the only other thing that makes what you need to do in your example slightly more tricky, is that you can't support the pinky with other fingers as you are using them to play a chord. So it's definitely a slightly harder bend to do than when all the other fingers are free, like during a single note solo.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Or you could try and do what football clubs do and sell it with a buy-back clause

Back in 2000 my best mate let me have a genuine 1975 Yamaha SG2000 for £400 but with a buy back clause which I then cashed in back in 2011 when I desperately wanted another guitar.
The biggest mistake I've made guitar wise.

 

[a1ex2001]

Back in 2000 my best mate let me have a genuine 1975 Yamaha SG2000 for £400 but with a buy back clause which I then cashed in back in 2011 when I desperately wanted another guitar.
The biggest mistake I've made guitar wise.

That era of made in Japan guitars have gone crazy price wise bonkers to think what you could pick them up for 10 years ago.

 

[ik9000]

common sense prevails. These leeches making cases on behalf of dead people's estate. If the guy didn't see fit to pursue it when he was alive why does this even get court time after the event?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54423922