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SUBJECT:	Question for those who play the guitar Back to Subjects
Roll Tide Apr 20 2011 at 10:24 AM	I remember when I first started to get into the jazz/fusion stuff in the early 80s one thing I noticed was how high up jazzers hold their guitar, compared to rockers who hold theirs slung real low. Is there a reason for this outside of "stylistic" preference?
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robby27 Apr 22 2011 at 10:55 PM	Slinging the guitar low might look cool to some people but it makes it technically impossible to make any fairly intricate move smoothly and cleanly. It greatly restricts the range of movement of your left hand fingers. It can make your playing sound muddy. I see lots of guys get away with it on electric guitars, but on acoustics, forget it. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed but, you’ll even see Slash prop his foot up on a monitor and and rest his LP on his knee to get it up high a lot of times when he plays a fairly intricate piece. Hendrix’s fingers were so long he could palm the neck of his ax and still arch his fingers high enough over the fret board to play cleanly. Pat Metheny seems to have exceptionally long fingers also but even he uses the more academically correct approach to playing. As a baseline, I just don’t think there’s any substitute for holding the ax high enough to maximize access and mobility of the left hand. Of course, for blues bending, maybe you’ve got to grab the neck a little lower, but this is an exception. My humble opinion, only. Hey, I’m old school.
barley Apr 22 2011 at 4:24 PM	It’s not how you hold it, it’s what you do with it. Like a cigarette. Or a gun.
foper Apr 22 2011 at 6:40 AM	I remember reading an interview with Pat (I think in Downbeat) a long time ago where he was asked why he held his guitar up so high and he said he likes feeling it resonate on his chest.
bluepno Apr 21 2011 at 10:47 AM	The teaching answer for this question is the guitar should be in a similar position when sitting and/or standing. An ergonomically neutral position is preferred. Jimi then threw the rulebook out of the window.
foper Apr 21 2011 at 9:10 AM	I hold it higher because it looks cool.
harn Apr 21 2011 at 7:07 AM	The way you hold the guitar depends on the style of music you play. Having the guitar higher up does not lend itself easily to string bending because you need to have your thumb over the top of the neck to push up against. Likewise, playing fluid runs a la Allan Holdsworth and the like is impossible if the guitar is slung low. There is no right or wrong; Segovia sat down, Jimmy Page had his below the waist and Pat has his at chest level, all three excel in their own areas.
Roll Tide Apr 21 2011 at 6:35 AM	Dazedcat, I was quite aware of the "The Basement" (may it RIP) connotation of "slung low." Thanks for noticing. :)
Dazedcat Apr 20 2011 at 8:59 PM	In addition, jazz guitar players already have women or at least have them in waiting so there’s no reason for them to sling it so low.
sunship Apr 20 2011 at 5:56 PM	You have to understand that holding the guitar higher keeps your wrist much straighter. This allows your thumb to stay low behind the neck, and gives far greater range for your left hand. Those players who hold the guitar lower will struggle for clean sounding chords. Take a lesson on how to hold the guitar from classical players and you will see that to achieve playing difficult pieces, you will need to hold the guitar the proper way.
plutorider Apr 20 2011 at 3:47 PM	I find it more comfortable and easier to articulate the fingers to make the chords, which are more demanding than the ones rockers tend to favour - most jazz chords are made of 4 notes of the scale, while rock chords have mostly 3 notes or even just 2.
Photon Man Apr 20 2011 at 3:23 PM	If you were to thread a needle, you would likely hold it up closer to your chest rather than around your crotch (I hope). It is a much more natural position not only in terms of sight, but also in terms of ease of motion around the guitar. Jazz guys typically focus more on technique whereas rock guys (not all) tend to go for the look of having the guitar down around their waist to look “cool”.
-m Apr 20 2011 at 2:46 PM	Personally I find I’m more accurate playing closer. In fact these days I prefer to sit when I play but I think this is more about having a very stable platform to play on (i.e. the fretboard).
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