Discover How to Hold a Guitar

ChordBuddy Makes Learning Guitar Chords Simple

As you learn guitar chords with ChordBuddy, you also should pay attention to how you hold the guitar. Depending on how you play—and the type of guitar you use—how you should hold your guitar will vary.

Most guitars are built for right-handed players, but there are left-handed guitars that some people use (in which all the right-to-left guides in this article can be reversed). For those using a standard right-handed guitar, the two basics that will not change regardless of your position:

• You will hold the guitar with the back of the body facing your core, reach your right arm around to the front of the body where your right hand will hover directly over the strings, often in line with the sound hole (if you’re playing an acoustic guitar.)
• Your left arm will reach underneath and around the neck while your left hand holds up the neck of the guitar so your fingers can move up and down the frets.

How to Hold a Guitar While Sitting Down

It is common for acoustic players to sit down when they play guitar. You don’t have to sport a strap. For many popular styles of guitar like folk, blues and rock, a good way to hold a guitar while sitting down is to rest the waist of the guitar on your right leg, rest your right arm over the bout of the body, and hold the neck from the bottom with your left hand. Players of flamenco or classic guitar often hold the guitar with the waist of the body resting on their left leg bringing the neck higher in the air and closer to the face to be able to see one’s own playing since those are inherently more technical and intimate styles of playing.

How to Hold a Guitar While Standing Up

Electric guitars are often held while standing up. To play in a standing up position, use a guitar strap. With an electric or an acoustic guitar, there are strap pins on each end of the body—one by, or sometimes directly on, the heel of the guitar (the small structure that holds the body to the neck of the guitar) and one at the far end of the body.

A strap should be securely fastened to each strap pin and the strap should go from the heel strap pin over your right shoulder, diagonally across your back, around your right waist and fasten to the far end of the guitar on the other strap pin. Adjust the strap so that you can easily strum or finger pick with your right hand without reaching or straining.

Regardless of whether you sit or stand, the ChordBuddy makes it quick and easy to learn how to play the guitar. Learn more about the ChordBuddy system, and get tips and tricks to improve your abilities.