Guitar Height Level

[sprinks41]

ok so i love playing guitar, but whenever i stand up to play it with a strap, i have to wear it high up near my waist line or above it. i cant seem to wear it low (like equal to my hips) and play it comfortably like i see pro musicians doing. anyone know the possible reason for this? only thing i can think of is cuz i'm just not used to wearing it that low yet. like maybe i have to start off wearing it high and work my way down?

[ManOverboard]

yeah start higher and work your way down and also whenever you practice do it standing and youll eventually get used to it

[Boni]

I have noticed noticed, I'll go check

EDIT: I have so the top of my guitar is just passed the waste, I've had it like since I first started, a long time ago

[wiggs1441]

well. you should just go a bit lower and lower each time and get used to it

[kevin5064]

i just started wearing it low when i first started playing, so i was used to it. after 7 year of playing i actually moved it up a little bit

[sprinks41]

yeah start higher and work your way down and also whenever you practice do it standing and youll eventually get used to it

yea i thought so. thanks a lot Sorrow

[Jeremy Kill]

I wear my guitar as low as Deryck does. When I first started playing, I never played standing up, using the strap. It just hurt my wrist to have it curled like that to play a lot of low powerchords. Then about two years later I used the strap more often, but the middle of the guitar was at waist height. When Underclass Hero came out and I learned most of the good songs on it, I moved the guitar lower so the whole thing would be below my waist if it was straight sideways.

After just playing songs with a bunch of powerchords in them, I started getting used to playing with a strap. It's just something you have to get used to.

Though, it's really hard to play songs with solos and good riffs with a guitar that low.

[Hentaiman]

Yeah I myself couldn't play with a strap in the beggining, but i started practicing playing the guitar with a strap standing up.
So now I'm pretty used to playing the guitar standing up with a strap, but its too fuckin' hard to have it as low as Deryck does.
I mean, maybe it even looks cool that low and all , but its definitely now comfortable, i also hold my guitar pretty high, not as much as Tom Morello hahaha, but still, pretty high, so that doesn't let me to get too crazy with it like Deryck, but at least i can play power chords, riffs and solos without really having trouble, although i think, like Gunner said, i'll be probably able to play power chords that low, but probably not solos and stuff.

Anyway, what do you guys recommend to do then? take it each time a little lower?

The easiet to explain where i hold mine is that the whole guitar is a little higher than my balls
While all the pros like Deryck hold it low enough to cover their whole crotch area haha

[asthenia]

the lowest i put my guitar is right where my crotch is. im not billie joe or tim armstrong and put it to my knees. but then when i wanna play more complex songs (like fcpremix by fall of troy) i raise my guitar to right on my waist. it all depends on what music i wanna play

[burnout]

yeah, i used to play the guitar as low as billie joe when i started out because tbh...it just looked cooler there. then when i started to play more riffy stuff i found it a little more troublesome to play it that low cos my little finger would find it hard to hit the strings, but still i persevered and sort of played solo's.
however now, i play really heavy riff based stuff and my little finger just cant cope so now i play it with the top of the guitar just under my belly button.
the guitar height just depends on what u feel comfortable with playing and if its just power cords mainly than u can probably afford to have it a bit lower.

[tanguyen]

This goes with all things (working, sitting, tv watching, other instruments, sexing) if you feel uncomfortable - stop. You could actually do alot of damage to your wrist if you try and work it too hard and too long in a "contortionists" position. There's always a height for the guitar where you can feel comfortable, and actually look cool, so give that some thought. And if you guys are playing sitting down, make sure the back is straight and try to avoid leaning your whole body over the top of the guitar so you can see when you're playing. Guitaring is an addictive instrument so if you're sitting there for 2-3hrs, bashing out some chords and stuff.. make sure you give a thought to your body

[d4rkst4r]

Yeah, I have mine as lows as derycks now. It's comfortable for me but if I'm trying to play a solo or something, I'll probably go sit down. The thing is, deryck can play that low because he doesn't play anything but powerchords, thats why it looks so easy for him.

[samueeL]

ye thats true, if I have guitar as low as deryck has, I cant use my little finger

[Laxman 41]

Yeah I basically started out playing around crotch level, and its good there

[Schniz]

Well, i haven't read all of the comments to this post.
You don't have to do like deryck. You need to play however you feel like.
If you will do something that not right for you - your guitar skill will go low. cause it's not that easy for you to do something when you are not ready for it. and you don't have to be ready!
A lot of pro musicians are "wearing" their guitar above their waist!! The looks is terrible but that's how they play
My guitar teacher always asking me why i wear my guitar so low.. well.. When i first bought a strap I used it low.. so I'm used to It. ;)

So, If you want to wear your guitar low like deryck, get used to it right now.. so in the future you won't have any problems. :)

Sorry about my English guys.. I'm from Israel :P

[LTS]

i wear mine high because i baught a shitty short strap and that's as low as it goes...

but it's just like i'm sitting down playing..

[Hentaiman]

Yeah, well, My friend's dad bought him another cool strap when he was abroad so i'm using my friend's strap now and it gets low, and like I said I always try to get used to take the strap lower and lower, I think i'm very close to hold it like Deryck haha, maybe its a little bit higher right now, but still Its pretty low but the good news are i'm pretty used to it, and on my strap I can't get it that low, yet its still better than the way I used to hold it pretty high.

And Schniz, its cool to know there are more people from Israel here!!

[Claudia]

Horizontally, it's navel height for me.
But somehow, no matter how low I wear it, it always looks dumb on me.