Correct Way to Hold a Guitar: Basic Guitar Lessons

Hey rock stars

So now that you have your guitar and other accessories and you know what each part of a guitar is called, it’s time to start learning the art of playing a guitar.

The very first lesson you must learn is how to hold a guitar. Now there are two positions in which you can play the guitar: sitting and standing.

Sitting Position

If you do not use a guitar strap, you must be sitting and playing the guitar, in which case, you must choose a chair that doesn’t have any armrests, because the armrests would hinder your arms to be fully free while playing.

Therefore, use an armless chair (as shown in the pic) or a little stool that gives your arms full space to play the guitar.

While sitting, you should rest the guitar on your lap, in a horizontal upright position, and specifically, the cutaway should rest on any of your thighs (see pics).

Your right arm** should come from over the body of the guitar towards the soundhole (as shown in the pic).

The four fingers of your left hand should come easily from beneath the fretboard with the thumb staying back. (as in the pic). Make sure that you are able to freely move your left arm throughout the fretboard with your thumb slightly touching the back of the neck of the guitar and easily sliding along.

Standing Position

You must use a guitar strap while playing in the standing position. The guitar strap should be worn over your left shoulder if your are a right hand guitarist. There is not much difference in holding the guitar in a standing position. It’s just that in the standing position you are not able to tilt the guitar to see the fret notes, as it is not rested on your lap. So while playing in the standing position, you must remember the notes clearly and play without looking at the fretboard.

Posture

In both sitting and standing positions, your posture must be upright while playing the guitar, with your back straight at all times. This way you will not have any back pain issues.

See you in the next class where I’ll teach you how to tune a guitar. Happy Rocking! [:D]

 

**(throughout the course, I’ll assume that you are a right-handed guitar player; if you are a left-handed player, just read & interpret “left” for “right” and vice-versa)