How to Hold Guitar

Welcome to your first lesson How to Hold Guitar.

It may seem silly but let's not fall into bad habits before we even start learning to play the guitar.

So we have taken the guitar out of the case and the first thing we want to do is hold it and probably have a go at strumming the strings.

There are 3 main ways to hold a guitar and we will go through all of them, but the first thing we must do is find a chair with no arms to sit on.

So get your guitar and get comfortable, making sure your back is against the back of the chair. Don't slouch not only will you get a sore back after a while you will also develop bad habits when you play the guitar.

Right now that you are sitting comfortably, get your guitar and where your guitar goes in at the bottom put this over your left leg and move your right arm over the body of the guitar and make sure the back of the guitar is in contact with your stomach and chest.

Now bring your left hand up and place it on the neck of the guitar. Make sure that both of your arms are relaxed.

If you look at your guitar the thickest string should be closest to your face, and the thinnest string closest to the floor.

Remember - Don't hunch your back sit up straight.(the times we have heard are mums saying that to us )

There you have it the first way to hold your guitar.

The next method we will look at is the way you would hold the guitar if you where playing Classical Guitar.

You will still need to sit down for this but you will hold the guitar in a different way.

How to Hold Guitar - Classical method

For the classical method you will need  your chair but you will also need a Guitar Foot Stool

Place your left foot onto the foot stool and put the guitar over your left leg. Put your right arm over the guitar to hold it in place.

Now bring your left hand up to the neck. using this method you will notice that the neck of the guitar sticks out to the left much more than it did when you were using 1st method.

Having the neck farther to the left gives you much better access to all of the frets. This method makes it easier to play more difficult things when they are higher up on the neck of the guitar.

Also Remember - Don't hunch your back sit up straight
 

Now for the last method

How to Hold Guitar  - Standing

If you need help on How to Attach a Guitar Strap Click Here
 

If you are planning to play in front of people then you will probably need to stand up, and for all those rocker out there sitting down on a chair with a guitar stool just won't cut it.

So for this you will need a guitar strap. If you didn't get one with your guitar then you will need to buy one you should get one from about $5. You can get some ideas for Acoustic Guitar Straps Here

Most Guitar straps are adjustable so that you can have your acoustic guitar in a high or low position.

Playing your guitar in a high position gives you better access to the neck of the guitar and keeps you in a better overall position for playing.

Playing your guitar in a low position looks cooler and it may be more comfortable for you.

To start with I would recommend adjusting your strap to where your guitar would be if you were sitting down. This will make your practicing and playing more consistent. When you get more experienced then have look at adjusting the strap to different positions.

Experiment with each of these ways of holding the acoustic guitar, and choose the way that works and feels best for you.

How to Hold Guitar video

How to Hold Guitar

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Well that's it for How to Hold Guitar Lesson 1

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