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Topic: Guitar angle on lap? |
Joel Newman
From:
Smithsburg, Maryland, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 8:04 am |
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| Allright I'm not really this anal retentive but, I guess I just think about this stuff. . . I'm noticing I seem to gravitate towards a slight angle of guitar to body ratio, meaning the guitar is not a perfect 180 degrees to my torso. The neck is pushed a little further away than the main body of the axe.It feels much more comfortable to me this way. Any thoughts on this topic? Or at least a good slap down? LOL . . . |
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Gerald Ross
From:
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 8:28 am
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I don't even put mine on my lap. I use a keyboard stand.
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Gibson Royaltone, Sierra S8, bakelite bars
Pedals are for bicycles!
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 8:36 am
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I am a contortionist sometimes when I play. if I am into a lick or passage I find myself bent over the lap steel and sometimes the steel is definately not perpendicular to my body.
I believe is whatever it takes to make music.[This message was edited by Randy Reeves on 22 March 2005 at 10:34 AM.] |
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Ian McLatchie
From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 8:50 am
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Joel: Looking through dozens of photos of the great Hawaiian players, I can't see any consistent pattern. Some seem to have "perfect" technique, with the guitar perpendicular to the torso and high on the lap; in other cases the neck is angled slightly one way or another, and in a few instances the instrument is perched remarkably far down on the lap, as well.
With this and other aspects of instrumental technique, you probably should be concerned if you're straying too far from the ideal (for one thing, having the neck angled heavily one way or another can't do much for slanting), but if it's only a matter of a few degrees, hey, what works, works. If it sounds good and isn't putting undue strain on your body, nothing else matters.
Ever see the great Gypsy jazz guitarist Jimmy Rosenberg? By the book, almost everything about his technique is "wrong."
Good thing he didn't get around to reading that book, though, because he's as fine a player as you'll ever see. Almost anyone else who tried to emulate his technique would have industrial-strength tendonitis and worse within days. |
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Steve Pierce
From:
San Rafael, California, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 1:55 pm
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I think it has to do with how far below the elbows you play your instrument. I play with the lap steel a few inches below my elbows. To keep my wrists in a comfortable and ergonomic position I need to have my instrument on an angle falling away from me.
I'm sure if I played my instrument even with my elbows, then a perpandicular angle would be more comfortable.
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Steve Pierce |
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Terry VunCannon
From:
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 3:07 pm
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| I also use a keyboard stand as well as a sitting position. I have noticed that I sometimes position the neck of my lap steel out at an angle even on the stand. I don't think that it really makes much difference. Check my web page to see some different pictures of me playing both seated & standing. If I am playing both guitar & lap, I use the stand. If I am playing just lap, I like to sit. [This message was edited by Terry VunCannon on 22 March 2005 at 03:11 PM.] |
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