Regular VS. Classical position

[Loserchief]

I guess we hadn't had that for a while and it's kind of a spin off to the "can't get my hand to feel good on a gibson"-thread.

So what's your preference and why?.
I divided the poll into standing and sitting down since some people might do a mixture.

To clarify the options in case somebody doesn't know(everyone has two votes here obviously):

Classical sitting down: guitar on left leg, thumb behind the neck.Wrist under the neck. Footstool under the left to get the neck angled higher. Pretty much classical guitar position.

Classical standing: guitar usually pretty high with a steep angle away from the ground(some guitarist go nearly upright with theyr necks). Thumb behind the neck. Wrist under the neck. Lots of prog ugitarists and more technical players use that stance.

Regular sitting down: Guitar on the right. thumb wraping around the neck, wrist rather behind the neck than under it. I'd call it the campfire accoustic position.

Regular standing: Thumb wraped around the neck. Wrist behind it. Lots of different slinging heights but the basic hand position remains the same.


I prefer classical for both positions since i feel my hand is more free for stretches and rather complex runs and stuff. i also prefere the lighter touch you get with those positions since you only play with your fingertips.
It fits my style of playing and my liking for extended range isntruments way better than regular position8wraping is uncomfotable on classical guitars and 7-strings and impossible on 6-string bass)

[Philcguitars]

I'd have to say classical. I have this short tendon thing going on that stops me completely straightening my arms [at least I think that's why]. Anyway I think this affects my comfort position for the angle, so I'm always around 30 plus degrees. I'm a lefty too.

[Mephis]

I've never understood how people can sit down and play with the guitar on their right leg, I've tired before and it seems about like trying to play left handed.

[Loserchief]

I've never understood how people can sit down and play with the guitar on their right leg, I've tired before and it seems about like trying to play left handed.

Yeah the higher registers get harder to reach because of your own body being in the way and the picking arm feels kinda cramped imo

[Philcguitars]

Yeah,

for all those weirdo's and us lefties, you should have had a 'Cack-handed' option!

[Loserchief]

sorry, i didn't think of leftys when writing the descriptions. Of course you south paws reverse the directions of the guitar(including the leg).

[MikeS]

Seated: guitar on right leg. My thumb moves around, sometimes the pad of the thumb glides up and down the center of the back of the neck (the apex), sometimes it moves around to almost wrap the neck, but it never ventures up to the 6th string. I've never been comfortable fretting with my thumb. So I guess you could say that my hand floats between the two positions. My biggest bad habit is rotating my wrist, making my fingers no longer perpendicular with the strings. It's a habit that improved some aspects of the way I fret, but harmed others.

Standing: I wear my guitar dorkishly high, but I try to keep the guitar in almost the same position relative to my body as when I'm seated.

Every time I've tried the classical seated position I felt like my torso was twisting.

[BigAlTheBird]

I've never been able to play on my left leg. Matter of fact, every time I hear it I think "what the hell is wrong with these people!?"

[some_dude]

Regular standing/classical sitting.

When I only used Strats I used to sit regular, but when I switched to Les Pauls they'd always slide off my leg. I switched to the classical position largely to keep things still.

[Pete Galati]

I haven't played an acoustic guitar for about 25 years (for more than a few minutes anyhow). And I don't like playing electric guitars, unless I'm standing up. Except when I play them unplugged, and then I have to sit down so it'll be close enough to my ear to hear it, in which case it's on my right leg, like it's a Martin.

I know a lot of great players play electric sitting down, but I can't do that unless I turn the amp way down.

Pete

[KeeperOS]

Actually... both in both positions, depends on the piece I'm about to play.

Guess I find it less tiresome for my arm to play the "regular way" but playing the classical way allows for wider stretches. Thus I opt for the regular way when that's plausible but when I find it difficult to play a specific passage that way I switch...

Where do I sign?

[Loserchief]

i allowed multiple votes and thought there would be nobody to use more than two positions. if you want to you can sign for all four but that would kinda defeat the purpose of the poll.

[Loserchief]

I haven't played an acoustic guitar for about 25 years (for more than a few minutes anyhow). And I don't like playing electric guitars, unless I'm standing up. Except when I play them unplugged, and then I have to sit down so it'll be close enough to my ear to hear it, in which case it's on my right leg, like it's a Martin.

I know a lot of great players play electric sitting down, but I can't do that unless I turn the amp way down.

Pete

not a matter of electric vs. accoustic just a matter of hand and leg position. A martin can be played classical or regular. There are no rules for how you position it.

[Mephis]

I've never been able to play on my left leg. Matter of fact, every time I hear it I think "what the hell is wrong with these people!?"

You also play a hollow body with 1/2inch high action, so I'd venture to say you probably never venture above the 7th fret. In which case, playing on the right leg isn't an issue.

[Red_Label]

I prefer to play electric standing. I rarely sit while playing it, and I play pretty much EVERY single day. I find that sitting with it doesn't allow my right arm to stretch-out and relax. I probably have better facility with my left arm while sitting, due to the closeness of the guitar neck to my head. But my right arm hates being confied like that. It wants to dangle, relaxed from the shoulder.

I gave up using the traditional classical sitting position years ago due to carpal tunnel syndrome. I had taken a two year sabatical from playing electric and was playing classical about 4 hours a day, after spending all day at the computer. My right hand started to go numb and it eventually went to my elbow. I had to stop. Working the computer mouse all-day long combined with four hours at night hunching over my classical was killing me. So now, when I play acoustic (whether dreadnaught or classical) I play it in the flamenco style. That is... with it sitting on my right leg instead of resting on my left.

[El Dorado]

Sitting on the right leg. Thumb changes from classical style to a more over the top style depending on what I am playing at that moment. It's not something I think about. I will go from using my thumb to fret the E string to not even having my thumb on the neck while doing long stretches. Until today's gibson neck argument, I had never even thought about it, and was honestly unaware that everyone didn't shift thumb positions. It was just something I have always done naturally.

Standing, I like the bridge to be around belly button level. Not to high or too low. I also want to be able to move my legs around.

[BigAlTheBird]

You also play a hollow body with 1/2inch high action, so I'd venture to say you probably never venture above the 7th fret. In which case, playing on the right leg isn't an issue.

lol I get what you're saying, but rockabilly dictates you play at least up to the 12th fret!

Seriously, I play everywhere, even up around the 17th fret (a lot of the time), even on my Green buddy. And I measured, the action is at 3/16ths (at the 22nd fret). Still high, but not that bad.

I play everywhere, and I can reach everywhere just fine. Playing on my left leg I can't play even D/A/G! Seriously though, I play in a chair with arms, on my right leg, almost never standing up.

[Glass Snuff]

I had to say "classical standing". I don't practice sitting down. I'm not as old as Les Paul (yet). And by "classical", I mean guys like B.B. King and Muddy Waters. They wore their guitars pretty high. I do tend to pull the neck up pretty high, and the guitar is off to the side, not across my chest. Half the time my thumb isn't touching the neck.

[cream123]

standing: regular. That's the only way I've know. I haven't tried classical.

[Robbiedbee]

I can play both ways sat down, in fact, I tend to shift between the two as often as you shift your weight from one foot to another when stood up. I tend to play solos and stuff in the classical position, but rhythm stuff in the regular position.

I never practice stood up, but when I do play that way, it will be when I'm performing, when I do adopt a more 'regular' stance as opposed to a classical one.