GUITAR TIP: How to improve your posture
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ส.ค. 2024
- Most guitarists I see could improve their posture. So today I'm giving you tips for how to sit well with an instrument.
This lesson applies to the classical guitar, electric guitar, steel-string acoustic, lute, ukulele, acoustic bass, and more.
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'Head over heart, heart over hips' also doubles as a pretty decent life philosophy
Very much so actually XD
Im led to believe on the contrary that heart is more reliable than head
Dan Urech nope
But what does "reliable" even mean here?
Haha both funny and true!
Another pro tip, when you are driving your vehicle, try adjusting your rearview mirror up slightly to help remind you to sit up straight.
Actually kinda a good idea
I do that too :)
why would i be playing guitar while driving you are a silly man
Wow! Cool!
@@Mythki11er lol
This wasn't a tip. That was the equivalent of half a year's worth of beginner lessons on posture and positioning for classically trained musicians. At least, that's how it is for violinists. Thank you.
Head over heart, heart over hips
Good for guitar
Good for relationships
im going to get it tattooed hahahahaha one of the best and shortest tips i've learnt
Hahaha this is a new intepretation I am totally on board with.
@@victor.godinez please pay royalty fee to Brandon :)
Brandon says relax - relax harder than you've ever relaxed before.
HA!
yes, extreme relaxation.
1:39 Head Over Heart and Heart Over Hips
5:26 Guitar Position
6:19 Guitar Support Rest
6:50 Guitar Angle
7:11 Guitar Tilt
7:43 Both Feet Flat
8:11 Don't Look at Fret Board
9:19 Keep Head Straight
Tnx man❤
This is the best tip any guitar player can give. Not just for comfort, but for the overall performance. Even before any technical guitar stuff, this is on point! Thank you😊
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame gave that 1 dislike.
I’m studing a brazilian instrument: the “viola caipira”. And, dude... not kidding: your tips not just improved my posture but also my playing.
Thanks a lot from Brazil!
Seria massa ele comprar uma viola caipira pra coleção dele.
I'm not a guitarist, but many years ago while in University I had the opportunity to be the stage manager for a guitar masterclass featuring the great Pepe Romero .
I witnessed him stop one fellow moments into his playing and ask him if he experienced pain after practicing. Indeed, he had. Pepe then moved his posture ever so slightly in a few places. After these adjustments he played again. Not only did he claim that it was way more comfortable, but he sounded so much better. Posture will effect not only your ability to play comfortably but will effect your sound as well.....this is the lesson I walked away with. I use the lesson to enhance my playing the Trombone...but you often learn lessons from places you might otherwise miss.
My back was killing me and I found that using my footrest was actually the cause of my back pain and was an issue. Once I got one of the guitar supports, my back pain was gone and I can play for longer.
Great video as always
Well, I feel the same. I realized that sometimes my back is tense even when I'm sitting properly. It only happens when I'm playing guitar or violin. I have a long torso too so I need a high foot support which tightens the leg and prevents blood flowing. I'll look for that guitar support.
@@filipefrancoafonso I had the same problem, but for the most part I just noticed the backpain when playing football. I eventually got an Ergoplay guitar support and it is much better now. I have the Ergoplay "Tappert" with more surface, and I think it gives a bit more possibilities in terms of adjustment, if you are planning on getting one. I was 17 when my back started hurting, so I'm glad i gave up the footstoole.
Yep, I had the same but with my hips. I'm not terribly fond of the guitar supports either but at least they keep me somewhat level
@@filipefrancoafonso I like my Temuto guitar support a lot. I'm shortly buying the protective pad. The raised knee is unnatural for prolonged periods. The suction cups need a quick swipe with alcohol every few months or they don't stay on. I went back to the raised knee and within three days my knee was hurting (have a torn meniscus and should prob. wear a tight knee sleeve when playing. Back to the support!
If there are problems with the suction cups, worth of trying are supports with the clamps as murata, hblight or woodstock.
"hey everyone"
Hello suspiciously disarming smile man.
Took up guitar at retirement and very quickly started getting back ache. I couldn't sit for long, so practice sessions became shorter and shorter. There's lots of good TH-cams for posture, but this is by far the best I've seen, and definitely the most helpful. It's kind of an holistic approach for playing a guitar seated. Thanks Brandon.
I just got a shoulder strap since it was interfering with my playing of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and now I can play "The Devil Went Down To Georgia"! Thanks, Brandon!
I am so guilty of doing the turtle, it's why I have started to play my guitars standing up. I usually practice vocals and guitars at the same time as for the past couple of months and I have noticed it has made me not only a way better singer but also a better guitarist in the process. I however am one of those "Metal" blasphemers who stands in a power stance with my Flying V on about crotch height so...
Just mix it with some practice while sitting or it will take it's toll on your hips, trust me
I can't believe how much I relate to everything you've said. I started practicing tremolo and realized I was holding my breath. Now I watch this video and you mention it. Incredible
Every time I spend 10 minutes listening to your videos I gain a lifetime of improvements. Thanks for this and keep it up ✌️
I play slouched over, head down with a cigarette in my mouth with a bottle of neat whisky next to me like all good blues artist... I haven't got time for oxygen and a healthy liver
Please, man, play us a painful song from Hell (or Hospital). Just kidding around, obviously… LOL
ok dud
*If I wanted to be sober, I wouldn't have gotten drunk!*
If you're passionate about guitar and love playing it, smoking and drinking is a stupid thing to do. It's a stupid thing in general. But you're just reducing the years of your life which you could've spent playing guitar, performing and just enjoying life.
Tyler Charlton ethanol kills brain cells
when your english is so good you become brandon
3 years of private lessons and you are the first to teach me this. Thank you sir!
Feel like this was part guitar instruction, part mindfulness instruction.
Which was nice, because I hadn't noticed my breathing had gotten shallow until I watched it. Thanks!
Mr. Brandon, your 10-minute video taught me a lot of things I haven't learned from the person who introduced him as a guitar teacher and spent two full years together. Due to the wrong posture, I had back pain, low back pain and neck pain. With this video, I will grit my teeth and hope everything will be better. I hope I get better. At this point, I would like to thank you. Thank you with all my heart. Greetings from Istanbul
On another video you told us about some 400 years scrolls of music that you played or was working with, how about videos about those scrolls, where they where found, who wrote them etc, and then you play the music for us? I think plenty of us would love it!
YES! I concur.
This is not a tip.. it's a deep university lecture... Really professional... Thanks Brandon..
I must constantly monitor my posture. This is hands down the biggest reason many musicians do not progress. As a cellist, I always bring my own bench. It is a easily portable piano bench. The chair will make you or break you. Bringing my own bench has saved me countless times. Thank you, Brandon. Great advice
Very new guitar player here, thanks for showing me that footstool trick, and even breaking my assumption that the guitar should rest on my right leg. the guitar on my left leg boosted by a stool feels so much better! Long journey ahead of me but i think i can start it a little easier now. Cheers!
This is pure gold, Brandon! Thank you for these great tips in such a clear way. I really appreciate it.
Watching your videos during a worldwide pandemic is truly a blessing Brandon. I started watching them to become a better guitar player and soon realized that they are also good for reducing stress and anxiety. The title of this one should be How To Improve Your Posture And Stay Calm. Thank you for ALL your great videos Brandon!
Thank you for this video. I've been playing classical and flamenco for a good number of years, but being self taught I was never told about the importance of posture. Love your channel! Cheers
According to this information you will be an excellent precision shooter.
Precision shooting is all about a gentle man with a gentle machine the man keeps dear and understands deeply.
I am so impressed by your videos quality, the background music, and the tempo of your speech, the volume, great job , and thank you for these great tips
Thank you!
What bpm is he speaking at
Brilliant. I am a jazz guitarist and currently thinking a lot about a healthy playing posture. This helps a lot. Thanks!
Idk what it is, the mic or something else, but his voice always sounds like he's low key atempting an asmr video.
I think this dude is just more chill than you or i have ever been in our lives
I’ve always has posture problems when playing the classical guitar, I’ve actually started taking yoga classes to relax my back muscles as they tense and make me lose speed and overall sound quality, but this video, this one video changed everything and helped me amplify my sound quality threefold and I’ve actually gotten respect from great teachers like Manuel Barrueco and Andrea Gonzales Caballero. Thank you so much!
one important aspect of the posture is how the audience percives the player. if the player sits straight while performing it will communicate a greater confidence in the playing to the audience.
Guitarists who don't sit...checkmate
Epico
There's even a posture that makes playing easier while standing. Checkmate indeed.
i would like this comment but its at 69 and so i dont want to
@@LostSoulAscension what posture ?
@@metafull depressed shoulders, head, heart and pelvis aligned, neutral or to slightly retracted scapulas to avoid crippling rounding of the back that will lead to even more tension in the arms and hands. Upright posture without a forward craning neck allows the shoulders to completely relax. Sorry for the sporadic description, but those are all factors in standing as much as sitting. As well as feet on the ground for grounded feet to hip stability which travels all the way through the core, up the back to the shoulders. Everything is connected, so it's impossible to say that there isn't also more efficient ways of standing relaxed, as well as in sitting positions.
One of the best teachers I’ve ever listened to. Very precise and a knack of making things simple. His easy to learn tips and methods correct your mistakes and get you playing better .......faster. Brilliant.....thank you Brandon
Man, i came here for guitar tips and left with life tips.
finally somebody teach ergonomy a lot with guitar... I liked this. Congratulations!
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im a turtle :(
Big fan of this cannel man. Keep up the good work.
I'm a trumpet player turned guitarist and what you said about slouched posture cutting off air support is spot on. I didn't realize it was the same for guitar. Practicing correct posture for now on.
Holy hell I was following along just in my chair correcting my posture and it was so relaxing. It almost felt meditative
I don't get it how this doesn't have millions of views yet...
This is by far the best guitar posture tutorial I have ever seen on TH-cam, I'm not kidding!
Thank you so much for all that advice. I'm certain this will have a great influence on my journey as a classical guitarist :)
Could you do a video on who you are? By that I mean when you got into music, the instruments you played, the environment of that, the artists you've enjoyed growing up, your experience. That kind of stuff. I can imagine it would be a very interesting story.
Thanks for the idea! I'll think about it. Cheers.
I'm pretty impressed with how the sound of my guitar improved with your posture tips. Everything sounds better.
Thank you for addressing the tilting issue to see all of the frets. As a new player, the urge to do this is strong but you’ve clarified why it’s not a good idea.
I'm sure if have severe swelling on my upper two right ribs from clinging onto the guitar for dear life whilst holding it at an angle! Very interesting.
"Head over heart..." like it, may well "borrow" it for my own students 🙂
As a teacher of the Alexander Technique my advice is to stand on your bottom! Joking aside, sitting and standing are essentially the same thing for the torso. You can read more about it here:
www.alexander-technique.london/2015/01/08/stand-on-your-bottom-what-the-truth-about-sitting/
The main problem is that people sit badly the moment the think of sitting down as it's unconsciously associated with collapsing towards a lower surface, so they arrive on the chair pre-collapsed. It can be helpful to not think of sitting down at all, but going into a squat and failing halfway down because the chair has got in the way. It changes the behaviour in what is obviously the same activity.
If anyone is interested I've just started a new Facebook page which combines my experience as an Alexander Technique teacher with being a guitar player:
facebook.com/TheEmbodiedGuitarist/
This seems like it could make me tense, or it could be just what i need. I even have trouble relaxing when i lie down, but it's the same concept. It's all about how you perceive things
Precise, clear and chill.
Really nice way of explaining things, with cause effect relation, mistakes and good practices.
The most important thing I've learned from this video is not to look at the fretboard! I was doing it all the time! Now I'm playing better, with more confidence and no more back pain!
You've got a new subscriber Brandon!
man hearing you play both inspires me to keep playing and also makes me wanna get lost in Italy during the sunset
After almost 20 years of playing guitar I realized that my posture leaves the guitar so loose that I am always spending energy on leaving the guitar at the right spot. Thank you for the help.
I'm so happy that I have come across your channel amidst the mass of other guitar channels.
You provide quality content, and have given me, a guitar beginner, a glimpse of what it means to take on the guitar and all its marvels with the professional, respecting attitude it deserves.
Thank you for that, Brandon.
I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and I have a habit of neglecting my posture. After watching this video I decided to make a conscious effort to focus on good posture and I immediately noticed an improvement in my playing. Thanks for tips!
Amazing tips!! My playing had been suffering because of my posture. A foot stool doesn't work for me, so I just bought a guitar strap to help with the 45 degree angle and it's made quite a difference.
Who else noticed how slouched over they where when he started talking about it and tried to sit like he said 😂.(by the way, the guitar tips series has been *incredibly* useful so I thank you sincerely. I have started playing music on piano then got a guitar, all the musical know how's are here, but the Technics of how to play a guitar aren't. So again thanks for the series and for all the other fun videos. I loved the introducing videos!)
Pleaseee make more of these! These help soo much! Especially from someone as gifted as yourself
Thank you for taking the time to address this. Nobody wants to talk about posture and it's so important! Head over heart, heart over pelvis!
This was incredibly useful. Thanks. I never notice how bad my posture is until someone points it out. I think this can apply to piano players quite well.
Glad I watched this video! I needed to take advice from a smooth and calming voice about proper guitar posture! I've been trying to figure out why I hurt after I practice. This really helps... Thanks
Now that's a quality tutorial.
Best teacher ever. Thanks to you the legs crossed is perfect for me. Thank you
I love this guy, he makes me feel so relaxed and positive
Superb.Thank you.
I found the information about the backward tilt of the guitar very helpful. it's often omitted discussed when posture is taught.
The image of head over heart over hips is so memorable and gets rid of confusion.
I started playing older and always find my old calcified joints really gravitate towards playing better in the classical position even though I mostly strum play. I have been working a lot more on finger style in this position as well. This was a great video man! 👍
If you change the shutter speed on your camera you can eliminate the flickering from that LED light behind you. Thanks for all your terrific videos. Your talent amazes and inspires me.
Love your quality for great explanation of your own technique, it shows great discipline and allows me to learn way more from this video, I am a College Violinist and still found this video useful and resembles a lot of my lessons I payed for. Amazing work you put out man love your tips amazing teacher you are
A game changer for me ❤️ Thank you so much. Playing just for a year right now and never noticed how compressed I was sitting.
Your videos are superb! I have found the joy in playing guitar again and ive improved at an amazing rate since picking up the guitar again! Huge thanks!
Hi Brandon!!! Thank you very much for your Postures recomendations!!!! The way you speak is perfect to those who have other maternal languages!!! I will suscribe myself rightaway!!!
I've been playing piano and guitar for most of my life (45+ years) and I did learn some valuable tips from this watching this video. Great job Brandon, and thank you for all the good work that you do for people musically!!
Very nice video! Could you possibly do a video for standing up? Strap height, location, position on the guitar, things to be aware of, ect?
I am almost 70 years old and you have led me to go back to the quitar.You are a great teacher
Really great tips the more I play i realize its the little subtle things that make your performance so much better thank you
Great tips my friend. I'm showing your videos to my friends and colleagues here in Brazil, everybody is enjoying! I hope one day you can come to here to show your work.
This is a proper teaching, thanks guru
I'm sure I'm constantly stuck in said turtle position due to terrible playing posture!!! Gonna be hard to undo. Thanks for amazingly education video.
Playing a 7 string e-guitar myself (yay wide fret boards lol), and even though I was motivated and full of inspiration... after a short amount of time, I simply didn't want to play anymore, almost every time I picked up my guitar. I did not know why, so I sometimes just forced myself through practice sessions (not ideal, believe me) - And now, thanks to you, I finally found out what the problem was. Not only am I guilty of tip-toeing, due to my chair not having optimal height (and thus my guitar being "too low" for me), but I also caught myself doing the turtle almost every time I tried fretting a note on any string. To be honest, I did the hunchback too a lot. I basically did everything you advise against in your video here, and finally, I can play not only longer, but more "freely", if that makes any sense. Moving around the fret board and even my alternate picking has improved in just a single session, simply because I followed your posture guide here. It's really incredible how much a proper posture can change the way you feel your instrument while playing.
So, hats off to you sir, this was an excellent video! (and sorry for that wall of text lol)
You have no idea how much I needed to see this. I always told myself being self taught was the worst thing I could’ve down to myself, and this video absolutely proves that. Thank you so much for this, not only have you helped me significantly, but you’ve also kept my stubbornness towards lessons in tact lmao
Your videos always make me want to pick my guitar up and start playing❤️
Excellent. The hand surgeons and chiropractors of the world thank you. Proper position can add decades to the ability to play without pain. One point: The cross-legged position can cause undue pressure on lumbar discs and can compress the sciatic nerve, eventually causing back pain and even permanent damage. If you have t done this already, it would be useful to do a video on how muscular relaxation of the left hand improves playing speed and intonation.
Thanks so much for this! I have been suffering from right shoulder pain when playing flamenco/nouveau flamenco and classical. I love your dynamics and expression when interpreting pieces, and especially your vibrato. Beautiful!
Head over heart, heart over hips is fantastic!
Also, that flaminco one is really good for a Pacifica guitar. Very confy, and keeps my back straight naturally.
I find myself coming back to this video quite often, for both myself and my students! Thank you for doing this video!
Brandon just produces great videos that give you free advice and make you better --- at everything.
Thanks for these tips. This is stuff that just applies in general across the board. My walking posture could use the Head over Heart, Heart over Hip thing too. And my chair is definitely getting simpler than this armchair setup I have. Really messes with my posture.
Have a great day.
I was doing the turtle thing my whole life and could never figure out why I'd get so tense after playing thankyou for this video it helped me alot
These tips are great! I never thought about paying attention to the tension in my jaw!
...your method is one of the most effective I have come across here...thanks...
Brandon, thank you so much, for the great tips on posture, it will help my practice.We all need you as a teacher. Stay healthy.
My first guitar student sat straight up or slanted way down, almost laying flat on his back. He couldn't move forward, so I really couldn't teach him anything. I laugh now but it was a rough 45 minutes, til his mom came and picked him up. She asked me how the lesson went and I dropped my jaw, "Ahhhh, it went really.... ahhh, good." That was the last time I saw that kid! 😋
People need more of this kind of video!
Thank you Brandon, you are a good teacher.
Hi, thanks for your videos, can you do a video about the easiest classical songs on guitar for beginners and some tips about how to play them specially the technic used. Greetings from Chile.
Because of my neck pain, looking down fret thank you Brother
The first thing I've learned in my classical guitar lessons is posture. It took time to get it right, without activily thinking on it. Many players don't mind the topic but it's key to be a better player, reaching higher notes, techniques and complex chord positions. Plus, think about it, 4,5,6,7 hours of practice per day with a harmful posture, for the rest of your life, you'll be 45 and you will need some surgery, painkillers or maybe stop playing your instrument with such a bad habit
I'm always so focused on first learning the piece, I forget these basics. Be comfortable, relax! Thanks for the lesson.
You are a gift to humanity.
This really helped! I have always struggled with playing for longer periods of time, these tips have helped to cure such troubles
Gave this man a sub quicker than I’ve done with anybody.
This was great. I struggle with the sternum fulcrum point. I find myself pushing into my sternum more than using the thumb as a fulcrum especially for barring. I would love to see a short sit down with proper fretting hand position, particularly towards the top of the neck. Your videos are always so helpful. Thank you.