# Standing or Sitting?



## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Do you practice/play mostly while sitting or standing?

If it's technique stuff, then I'll definitely stand. It's the whole "practice the way you perform" thing (even though I haven't gigged in years.) Sometimes, I'll sit. Especially if it's stuff that requires thought.

It's not that I can't sit hunched over my guitar. I do that like everyone else. It's just that what I play while sitting down doesn't always transfer well to standing up; so I mostly stand.

But sometimes, I just wanna sit. I'd love to discover a way of sitting that closely mimics standing, so that whatever I practice can transfer easily with no adjustment. The closest I have right now is sitting on a low stool with one leg down, sorta like a hockey kneel. Not exactly ideal for long periods, though. There's also the classical guitar way of sitting, with the guitar balanced on the opposite knee. It's okay, but the positioning is still weird.

So, in terms of ergonomics, I still prefer standing. At least until the blood pools in my legs and I pass out . (Kidding, I'm used to standing for long periods. I'm just being lazy.)


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## fogdart (Mar 22, 2017)

I stand, but my wife prefers if I sit.


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

i'm fidgety so i stand, sit, walk around while practicing

i have my classical guitar rigged up with a strap so i can play it standing in a reasonable approximation of the position it's in when i'm sitting with my foot on the little stool. i practice scales (when i have to) by walking around and playing to the rhythm of the steps

i'm just getting back into playing after injuring my left arm so i sit more than usual with my tele up on my left knee like a classical guitar and the headstock up by my ear and play in 5th to 12th positions 'cuz i can't turn my wrist far enough around yet to fret it beyond the second string any other way. 

i get what you're saying about practice in the position you'l be performing. many years ago when i was in college i was accompanying a voice student for her final recital. we had planned that i would sit and she would stand beside me but a couple days before she had this idea that i could walk around behind her while she sang. we had practiced the other way so long that i couldn't remember how the songs went when i tried to play them standing up and we had to stick with plan A

j


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

Grab n Go said:


> It's the whole "practice the way you perform" thing (even though I haven't gigged in years.)


This is something I've never considered. I always sit when I practice, but stand when I jam with the guys.
I get a bit mobile when I jam, so practicing that way would be somewhat odd.
I'll give it a try, it feels like there's some truth to this and maybe I'll get some insights.



for this guy practice must have been an adventure!


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Sketchy Jeff said:


> i'm fidgety so i stand, sit, walk around while practicing
> 
> i have my classical guitar rigged up with a strap so i can play it standing in a reasonable approximation of the position it's in when i'm sitting with my foot on the little stool. i practice scales (when i have to) by walking around and playing to the rhythm of the steps
> 
> ...


I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue.

Also glad that you're back playing after your injury. Getting the mobility back is a pain, but better than not being able to play.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

CathodeRay said:


> This is something I've never considered. I always sit when I practice, but stand when I jam with the guys.
> I get a bit mobile when I jam, so practicing that way would be somewhat odd.
> I'll give it a try, it feels like there's some truth to this and maybe I'll get some insights.
> 
> ...


I think they had a whole block of time dedicated to practicing "stage craft". Be it playing with your teeth, swinging your guitar around, doing EVH jumps or lighting stuff on fire.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Sitting, all the time. Usually the couch, sometimes a chair, occasionally a stool.


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

Grab n Go said:


> Getting the mobility back is a pain


ha ha i played my wife a nice sad William Prince song the other day and i had tears in my eyes when i was done she thought it was so sweet i was carried away by the emotion of the song but it was my arm hurt so bad 

physiotherapist remiinds me that if you land on a joint hard enough to break a bone there's all sorts of other soft tissue stuff that is injured and then sits there motionless several weeks getting stiff while the bone patches itself so lots to fix after the cast is off

but it's coming along and that's good. i don't usually recognize how much of my mental well being relies on being able to sit down with an instrument for a while every day


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## hollywoodcrash (Nov 14, 2019)

I know that at the band's first rehearsal last week (before Metro Van lock-down again) I was rusty, and I attributed that to playing off the computer, sitting down. So I made my first pedalboard, finished it yesterday, and am trying to stand more. But when a new song comes, I need to capture it off the DAW on the computer, and that equals sitting. Short version, you have to practice the position you do the most to improve I feel.


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## Fred Gifford (Sep 2, 2019)

always sit, too lazy to stand


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Both, it depends on how I feel & the context.
But unless I am playing my classical, I'm normally standing-especially if I am using pedals..

As well a few years ago I injured my right shoulder & had trouble putting it over the guitar to play--but standing I could hold the guitar at a different angle and play.

Before that I had been in a car accident (Other guy's fault)--and I had to sit to play.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Depends what I’m doing. If I’m going to be playing somewhere then I’ll run through my songs standing up because some riffs feel different standing so want to get used to that. Lottsa times just sit back on the couch and play for a few hours; did that tonight but also put on Music City Roadhouse for an hour and played lead parts for whatever came on - that’s a bit more like slingin the hash so stand up for that ... lol


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Electric standing, acoustic sitting. Mostly because my acoustic is strapless (no end pin). I much prefer standing while playing.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Playing piano for most of my music career, I've always played sitting down. No use changing this late in the game.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

At home I mostly sit, though sometimes with an electric I wander around the room a little.

In electric bands I always stand, in acoustic bands I always sit. "Always" is too absolute, I do carry a drum stool to electric gigs in case I get tired.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I used to stand all the time even when practicing. I used to be able to stand all night for a 3 set gig. Not anymore. I get too tired specially in the 3rd set. So I've been bringing a stool for the last little while now. Sit down when I play rhythm nad usually stand during solos and high energy part of our sets. Right now, with the duo I play sitting down.


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## nbs2005 (Mar 21, 2018)

I mostly sit. The 2 band gigs I've done I stood for one and did a mix for the other. At home and for coffee shop stuff pre Covid I sat. I play better sitting; for some reason I can't get the guitar angle just right when standing.


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## geetaruke (Jan 29, 2017)

I learned sitting and remember feeling frustrated that it didn’t translate so well at first when trying to play standing. As things are currently with the Covid and all, I haven’t had reason to stand and play but I force myself to practice standing at least 10-20 minutes a day do it doesn’t become a foreign feeling again.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Like others have mentioned, I'll go either way with electric because they all have straps. I don't leave straps on my acoustics so I always sit when I play acoustic. I can put straps on them if the need arises (gigging) but that's the way it is at this point.

Acoustic jams always seem to be 'sitting around' whereas electric jams and gigs are standing up. I don't know why, just the way it works out. I have a few armless chairs just for this reason. 

Band practice last night for 2.5 hours and stood the whole time. We (well, me and bassplayer) have stools to lean on / sit on between songs or while chugging an 'energy drink' but we stand when we're playing - except the drummer, who I've come to realize is just fricken lazy. Always sitting. Always! I think I sing better when standing, at least it feels better.


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

High/Deaf said:


> I think I sing better when standing


does anybody sing better sitting down? i've never heard such a person

friend of mine sits on a little high stool to sing and play. i used to do that but the teacher i had years ago said it might feel comfortable but it's really just security blanket and your stereotype of how it looks that makes it seem like a good idea. sitting perched up there with feet tucked beneath isn't good for breath control or guitar playing. i fell off my stool during a performance one time. not drunk or anything just got into the music, leaned to the side, tipped over, and couldn't get my feet out of the rungs of the stool fast enough. Ha ha that was the end of that now I stand to siing. 

i can sing (barely) passable when playing guitar but take away the guitar and no way i can sing a solo line just standing there with my hands at my sides. i'm sure that's a security blanket issue too but is what is

j


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Sketchy Jeff said:


> does anybody sing better sitting down? i've never heard such a person
> 
> friend of mine sits on a little high stool to sing and play. i used to do that but the teacher i had years ago said it might feel comfortable but it's really just security blanket and your stereotype of how it looks that makes it seem like a good idea. sitting perched up there with feet tucked beneath isn't good for breath control or guitar playing. i fell off my stool during a performance one time. not drunk or anything just got into the music, leaned to the side, tipped over, and couldn't get my feet out of the rungs of the stool fast enough. Ha ha that was the end of that now I stand to siing.
> 
> j


Oh man, that is a rough wipe out! 

Yeah, as you said, standing is generally better for breath support. Sitting up straight should be okay too, but usually not as good as standing.

I can sing or play, but I suck at doing both. I'd better avoid high stools if I ever have to do both.


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

the one thing a stool is good for is keeping in position when i'm playing acoustic into a mic

just standing i'm kind of fidgety and move around too much but having a stool behind me to lean on does keep me from either backing off the mic or bumping into it

j


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Sketchy Jeff said:


> does anybody sing better sitting down? i've never heard such a person


Maybe better, maybe not, maybe just as good, but I can possibly think of a few. Dave Grohl, Levon Helm, Phil Collins, Don Henley? Maybe it's just a practice thing.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

High/Deaf said:


> Maybe better, maybe not, maybe just as good, but I can possibly think of a few. Dave Grohl, Levon Helm, Phil Collins, Don Henley? Maybe it's just a practice thing.


Certainly that is an impressive list of seated singers. Though three of the four stood up to sing when they stepped out from behind the kit.

I saw Ella's last concert in Toronto many years ago. She was under doctor's orders to stay seated while performing and she still sounded like Ella even that late in life. But in the second set, she said "Eff this, I'm going to stand" - okay, not her exact words, but that was the sentiment. I didn't hear an improvement, but obviously she felt that her best performance required standing - to the point that she was willing to risk further deterioration of her health.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

bw66 said:


> Certainly that is an impressive list of seated singers. Though three of the four stood up to sing when they stepped out from behind the kit.


That was just the drummers. I can think of a few keyboardists that did OK, too, Elton. Freddie. They stood too but they could sing pretty good sitting down. 

For every good one, there is probably at least one bad one. 











To be fair, he couldn't sing worth a shit standing either. IMO.


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## Waldo97 (Jul 4, 2020)

Guitar101 said:


> Playing piano for most of my music career, I've always played sitting down. No use changing this late in the game.


I sit playing piano. Some pianists stand, but I use the pedal and standing with my weight on one foot gets tiring.

Playing guitar, I stand. But recently I've been working on using a volume pedal and standng with my weight on one foot gets tiring.


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## dolphinstreet (Sep 11, 2006)

I find it is easier to play when I am sitting down. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Practice sitting. Band rehearsal I sit most of the time, but stand for certain songs. Live I stand. Studio I sit, unless I can't find what I'm looking for. If I don't get it in the first few takes sitting I will stand up.


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