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This guitar lesson is aimed to help you learn the basic posture when playing acoustic guitar. Posture is one of the most neglected problems with beginners and if properly addressed can make a huge difference in their playing.

On the other end of the spectrum is the health side to your posture, I know players who have put themselves out of the guitar playing community for years at a time due to performance related injuries such as Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, or tennis elbow! Practicing with good posture is essential to help avoid injuries like these as well as helping to avoid general discomfort.

The first thing to note is that playing guitar, or more importantly, when you learn to play acoustic guitar you put your body under a great deal of stress as the movements required to play properly do not come naturally to our bodies, we were not designed to move our fingers and arms like this. Sometimes you meet people who say they are natural guitar players and they find everything easy but it’s simply not true, unless of course they were born with calluses on their fingers.

I for one have had to work very hard to attain the skills I now have, and the people I play with on a regular basis have the exact same thoughts, so never think yourself you aren’t able to play guitar, if you are having difficulties the chances are there is something wrong with your posture.

Always remember that when you play you should be as relaxed as possible and that it should not be a struggle. Think of your guitar as it’s your girlfriend that you have in your arms. Some instructors think that it’s a good thing to do some warm up exercises before you start your daily practice .

Modern acoustic guitar players practice sitting down and resting the guitar on their right leg. A more “classical” approach would be to rest the guitar in the inner part of the left leg and keeping the guitar at an angle. Both techniques are comfortable and I suggest that you try them both and see which one works best for you. Keep the wrist of the fretting hand straight to prevent the risk of a trapped nerve

The rockers are the worst when it comes to holding the guitar. When you see them with their guitar strap so low that they can hardly hold a chord. That is definitely bad posture and puts a lot of strain on their hand. I really don’t know how they can manage to play a gig like that but many think it helps sell records.

If you stand while playing make perfect sense to have the guitar in the same position as when you are sitting down. Most practice sitting down – unless you practice in front of a mirror trying a few moves – it helps to have the guitar in a constant position both when we practice and when we play. I have found out that it’s easier to play what you practiced if the guitar is in the same position both sitting down and standing up.

The strumming hand should also be relaxed, as you play the muscles in the strumming arm should not tense up at all, remain loose and strum from the wrist.

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