Chairs for playing guitar

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Hi all,
Do you have any recommendations for chairs for guitar playing? I have a lot of difficulty with posture and stressing my body while sitting playing guitar. This reduced how much time I can spend practicing.
Thanks,
Rick

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Hi there,

Personally, as long as there is some support for my picking hand-side leg and no armrest, most chairs will do for me. For some time, I’d been thinking about buying a dedicated guitar stool of the kind you can see in music stores, but I found my IKEA stool does just fine, its height is adjustable and it’s much cheaper, too.

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My wife got me one of these for my birthday and it is so comfortable. I love it.

Guitar chair

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Jozsef, how do you support your leg? On the metal ring footrest?
Thanks for the post!
Rick

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Are you in Australia? That is the Ikea that the link brought me to. And it is not on the USA website.
But I can look for something similar since it is so basic.

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Yes, that’s the way I do it.

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I live in Hungary but tried to link an English version of the website. I had no idea it would lead you to the Aussie version but now I can see “au” in the URL.

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I have a cheaper version of this. I wish it had a back.
Footrest, seat and back. Adjustable. I am short legged and had to do some modifications with a grinder.

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Hi Rick,

I’m glad you’re realizing your posture needs to improve. Good intervention. You might like to check how much tension you’re holding in your body that doesn’t need to be there eg you might clamp your jaw, tighten your butt muscles, raise your shoulders etc. This is called competitive tension. It will exhaust you and increase the potential for injury.

I bought a gas lift physiotherapists chair. It’s perfect. I can rest my foot on one of the rungs, adjust the height and it has a padded seat. Mine is black.

I don’t use it much these days as I now stand to play. That sorted out a heap of problems. In the beginning it was harder to play songs I learned sitting down, but it feels better.

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Good topic, for the last week or so I’ve been struggling on an armless office chair, rolling all over the place and not very comfortable.

Wasnt until I dropped into a local guitar shop and used a stool there that I realized how much better that was, so using a dining chair for now and I’ll find something better locally

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Thanks batwoman. With your foot resting on one of the rungs, the chair stays steady? It doesn’t move around?
Thanks, Rick

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I don’t mind armless desk chair to be honest, mine is quite comfy and I am not rolling around so it’s good. Have place to put my feet lifted a bit as well. A big improvement to what I used to use which was a £10 foldable chair from local supermarket.

I was thinking about a stool but I wanted something to support my back so that’s what I ended up with.

My chair

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Sometimes if I’m shredding at 180 bpm yair :rofl:

Ahem. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

It’s stable enough for me Rick. The padded seat seems to absorb any movement in my torso. I’ve also used a footrest, but after reading about what that can do to the spine I gave it up.

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Another alternative is to get a guitar foot rest, or a simple kids stool, then you can sit in any chair you like. I normally do it in my couch, with an IKEA FĂ–RSIKTIG ($4).

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Roc n Soc. Its a drummer chair that is really well made. Super comfortable, swivels, and height adjustable. Use it with a simple foot stool.

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I’m using a drafting stool at the moment, but I’ve been thinking about switching to a solid non-adjustable stool for recording. My drafting stool can make some creaking noises and such when I shift around and that gets picked up by condenser mics.

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I just use a kitchen chair, and a foot rest.

I haven’t read anything about this @batwoman , or noticed an issue. What potential problem is there?

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@mari it was way back when I was exploring best posture for playing guitar. I spent time learning about classical guitar placement and posture. This is the video I found most helpful.

My choice is to play standing. Even when I’m watching a video learning something I put the laptop up high so I can stand.

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Thanks @batwoman i bookmarked that video and will watch it later

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I’ve been trying to decide whether to get a new stool lately. I’ve been using a 24” wooden barstool, no padding, no wheels. I’ve decided it is a little too tall. I could obviously just add a footrest, but then I have to position the stool, position the footrest, etc. Most of my practice and play time takes place in my little office area of the house, often during short breaks from working at the computer. For the last week I have removed my big comfortable office chair and replaced it with a simple folding chair with a little bit of padding. It’s about 19” from the floor to the seat. So far I’m actually pleased with this. I find that I am sitting up straighter in this chair all day long, and it’s easy to take a break from work and reach for the guitar and not have to switch chairs or move. I was going to buy a physician’s stool because those tend to be height adjustable and roll, but I may just stick with the basic metal folding chair!

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