5 Things You Need To Know About Finding Your Perfect Guitar Position

Today, I'm going to share with you how to find the perfect guitar position for your child, with 5 easy steps. These steps will be useful when your child is learning guitar online and when they sit down to practice.

If you want to view my supplemental video scroll to the bottom, otherwise happy reading!

THE 5 STEPS TO A PERFECT GUITAR POSITION

Step 1: Armless Chair

• Find an armless chair for your child’s size.

• Smaller children will require a children's chair, just like they require a specific size of guitar.

• The best way for you to find if the chair is the right size, is to get your child to sit in the chair and see if they form a 90 degree angle in the knee.

• This will make sure that the guitar will not shift and that they’ll be comfortable when practicing and during their lesson time.

Step 2: Shoulders and Back

• Check that the shoulders are level and that the back is straight.

• Posture is what keeps the energy flowing. When energy is flowing we are ready to learn. It might take a few sittings and a few habitual changes to accomplish the perfect guitar position.

Step 3: Left Leg

• Here in step 3 we are raising our left leg to “lock” the guitar in place.

• We’ll use a footstool or a stack of books to do this.

• Start with the knees spaced just beyond shoulder width

• Place the guitar between the legs.

• The guitar bout (aka body) will be sitting on the left leg and the right leg will support the other side.

• Now we’re starting to see the perfect guitar position happen.

With each step, it's important to have the previous steps in mind.

Step 4: Right Arm

• Introduce the right arm to support the rest of the perfect guitar position.

• With the right arm we are able to adjust the slight rotation of the guitar.

• Press on the top bout of the guitar to lock the rest of the position in.

• The contact from the right forearm to the top guitar bout is about 2-inches away from the elbow joint.

• With each step, it's important to have the previous steps in mind.

Step 5: Eye Level

• Eye level between the two farthest guitar tuning pegs.

• Imagine you’re drawing a straight level line from your eyes to the pegs. That is how high the guitar needs to go.

• Depending on the line level this will indicate if there is a need to lower or raise the left leg either by adjusting the footstool or adding or taking away some of the books.

And those are the 5 steps to finding the Perfect Guitar Position!

A FEW QUICK QUESTIONS TO ASK

In summary, whether your child is in an online lesson with me, or practicing guitar, here are a few questions they can ask themselves to make sure they’re maintaining the perfect guitar position:

• Am I sitting on the edge of an armless chair?

• Is my back straight?

• Are my shoulders level?

• Am I contacting the guitar bout with my right arm (2-inches from the elbow)?

• Are my eyes-level with the two farthest tuning pegs?

• Do I need to adjust the footstool (or stack of books)?

With these five steps and prompting questions in mind your child will find the perfect guitar position every time they sit down to practice guitar!

If you have any questions please comment below or contact me.

Happy learning,

~ Sanel

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