Chairs for playing guitar

I also use a drummer stool and rest my foot separately: Gibraltar Drum Throne Motorbike Seat with Backrest

I use a foldable padded piano bench. Yamaha makes them. Try standing up with a strap and playing from time to time.

Check out some videos on Alexander Technique. Itā€™s all about habitual tendencies that lead to bad posture and straining the back/neck. You can learn to develop awareness in your body and use it more efficiently with less tension. I know it probably sounds weird but itā€™s used and drama and music conservatories. I swear by it. Alexander Technique changed my life.

Iā€™ve been in home office for almost 2 years now. Last year I bought a simple folding chair from Jysk and it turned out to be good for playing the guitar as well. It has a kind of footrest as well which makes it more comfortable. I just have to pay attention to the distance between the chair and the table so that I donā€™t bump the guitar against it.

Funny you ask. I just saw a local listing of somebody selling this chair. Guitar throne

I did see some less expensive versions on Amazon when I looked for this one.

Thanks. Maybe Iā€™ll check out this book: Beat Back Pain with the Alexander Technique

Check it out for sure! If it sounds interesting see if thereā€™s a class or teacher near you. It can help you bring a feeling of ease to everything you do.

If anyone remembers the ā€œStar Trek, the Next Generation ā€œ with Jean Luc Picard? They all had great posture and the actors had studied Alexander method.

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I live in the middle of nowhere. There wonā€™t be an instructor around here. Googled it. Closest one is an hour and half drive on a lousy curvy mountain road. Iā€™ll try the book.

Hi all,

Iā€™m coming up to my 2-year anniversary playing guitar with Justin Guitar. Iā€™ve been playing on a lounge the whole time with no foot stool or anything. I have a dreadnought acoustic too, which can be awkward. My posture is probably terrible.

Iā€™m considering a guitar stool/chair. Has Justin done a video on this topic? Guitar stools, etc.

I feel like I want a back rest but Iā€™m not sure.

Thanks if you can help,

Kane.

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Iā€™m another looking at a seat solution. Currently having to contort myself round a WFH office chair with fixed arms so I have to perch awkwardly at the edge to avoid the body of the guitar hitting the chair arm.

My guitar / WFH room is a tiny box room so I either need to get a new office chair with adjustable arms or a foldable guitar chair / stool. Looks like there are a few options like this in that second category with integrated guitar stands which is ideal for this poky little room.

I subcontracted my wife to break out her angle-grinder and quick as flash the arms from my workroom typist chair were gone. Now I can sit more relaxed at work and after work wheel the chair round in front of the desk for practice.

Iā€™ve just found out what the random Allen key in my work desk is for - it unbolts the arms on the chair. They arenā€™t fixed at all :sweat_smile:

This should benefit my guitar playing but I may end up in a heap on the floor will working. A risk Iā€™m happy to take.

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I have thoughts on a lot of things and this is one of them. My thoughts only, but I am pretty good about body mechanics. (Neurologist and former massage therapist, I see a lot of problems caused by poor ergonomics).

I would be cautious about that folding chair/guitar stand. It looks flimsy, it is too high for shorter people, the foot rest is too far back. Everyone is different. Adjustable is good.

Height is very important. I have short legs and it is hard to sit in chairs made tall like this.

If you like one leg raised, the other needs to be on the floor comfortably.

You can put both feet on a support, like the picture, but better on the floor or a support a little in front to avoid tilting the pelvis back and creating a slouch.

Slouching is bad.

Let me reiterate.

Slouching is bad.

A back rest is probably helpful for most people.

Chair arms suck.

How you hold the guitar matters and will affect what you want in a chair.

I use the one pictured below. I am not recommending it, it isnā€™t great. I have adapted it a bit to make it shorter, but it led to a severe back spasm I am still working out of. it occurred because I was slouching and curling up over my guitar, twisting to the left trying to see my frets or bending forward to watch my right hand.

Now I sit with my back on the wall, both feet on the foot rest or floor. I put a phone
dashboard sticky rubber thingy on the inferior lower bout of the guitar and rest it on my right leg roughly 4ā€ out from the hip and on the outside part of the thigh with the guitar nearly, but not quite parallel to my body and the head of the guitar up not quite as high as my left shoulder.

No twist, no bend, NO PAIN! Even though my spasm isnā€™t yet to resolve and bugs me at work, I can sit and play without pain as long as I want, although I now find my neck twisting to look at my fretting hand and given my chronic neck issues, I need to resolve this before it becomes and issue. Learning to play without looking!

The change in neck angle has taken some adjustment and I do misplace fingers more often. Learning. Worth it for no pain.

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Really useful post that @Jamolay , thanks.

My creative interim solution is below and it ticks off a lot of your points. Iā€™m short (5ā€™ 7") and donā€™t have long legs. With this setup I can sit in my preferred guitar position with my right leg over my left, with the left foot planted flat on the floor. I have no issues with the guitar body to the right and donā€™t have to twist to keep the neck away from the left chair arm. In fact, that left arm is really useful as itā€™s the perfect height and position for me to rest my left arm on and support the guitar neck.

In your experience is having only the left arm there now a problem because my day to day working might now see awful posture if I have one arm up and one down? I donā€™t think I even use the arms but subconsciously I might. Maybe I should just remove both, but then Iā€™ll lose the guitar perk of a support for the neck arm? Obviously I sit at a desk working for far longer than I play the guitar, so that should reluctantly be the priority.

I am glad this is working, but I will raise a few concerns.

How long do you think you can sit with one leg crossed over the other like that? I have heard and seen people do it, and may myself briefly if I am not in my setup space. Butā€¦ my leg goes numb and my hip hurts after a bit. Maybe just me, I am not a cross legged sitting person. But I caution on the sustainability of the leg crossed. That is why lots of people use a foot rest, but both of these twist the pelvis and can lead to pain later.

Now the arm rest. I think it is a bad habit to rest your fretting arm on an arm rest.

You should not be supporting any portion of the weight of the guitar with your left arm. The neck should stay in the same position and be stable without your left arm/hand touching it.

If you need to support the neck position with your left hand, how can you change cords or position on the neck quickly without messing it all up?

Your left shoulder should be in a fully relaxed position hanging at your side. There should be no elevation of the shoulder or contraction of the trapezius muscle.

The upper arm may flex forward at the shoulder a touch, but as little as possible.

The upper arm should be loose at your side with the elbow flexed and wrist neutral as possible to land were the neck is. Then the thumb provides a little opposition to the fingers.

There should be no weight to be supported by the left arm.

If all this works without using the armrest, leave it there. But it will be problem if your arm rests on it.

I see the electric in the background. They do tend to be neck heavy. I play them with the neck more parallel to the floor, but donā€™t like it as much. Probably a strap or some lift support would be good.

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More good points :+1:

The cross-leggedness isnā€™t an issue for me so Iā€™ve no concerns about that but your points about using that left-arm rest as a crutch make loads of sense so Iā€™ve removed that side too.

So now I have a versatile seat with no arms which supports most sitting styles, removes any awkward bits that get in the way of the guitar and removes any temptation to rest the guitar anywhere. Plus it has a back support PLUS I donā€™t need to buy anything. Itā€™s a winner!

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I take it playing on a bed is probably not a good thing then ? Great for laying out music or instruction sheets though.

I purchased a chair and footstool for about $75 US. Just a standard banquet chair and cheap adjustable footstool. I had back issues playing on a couch or easy chair. Iā€™ve been using these for about an hour a day for a year and donā€™t know why I didnā€™t do this sooner.

I use a gaming chair off of Amazon. Seem to recall it was around $100 delivered to my door. The arm rests fold up out of the way for playing guitar and fold down when working in the DAW. These chairs have great back support and are made for gamers that sit and play for hours. I would not be able to sit on a stool without back support for very long.

That looks exactly like my setup - foot rest and all!