Good ideas, thank you!
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Hi Richard, Iām learning to play both acoustic and electric but the problem Iām describing is mostly with acoustic. The problem is the worst with dreads so I sold the dread and am now learning on a 000 acoustic, still having the problem but its less pronounced with the 000 as compared to the dread due to the shallower depth of the 000. For a visual, think of a straight line (guitar) tangent to a semi-circle.
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Thatās an excellent bit of advice and I understand what you mean. Iāll definitely keep that in mind to avoid that issue.
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Okay so Iāve actually already completed grade one but Iām coming back to this as it isnāt getting any better
here are my 2 problems in regard to holding the guitar
-
when my right arm rests on the guitar as Justin demonstrated (thereby supporting the guitar ) my hand is reaching the actual neck where picking should be done much lower. unless I weirdly swirl my wrist (I donāt have particularly long hands)
what am I doing wrong? -
the guitar neck is shifting outward to about a 35-degree angle away from my body.
is that normal, or what could be done to have closer alignments with my body.
Thanks!
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Hi, i have the same problems and donāt know the reason. Iām just explore some 3D & 360Ā° hand view tutorial videos in youtube to understand better. That videos help me a lotā¦ If you want video suggestion or link let me know, I will be happy to help you <3
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Josef, That position is completely normal, in my opinion. Look at the video on the Website for this lesson. Notice that Justinās left shoulder is further back and his left arm projects out from his body. Justinās body is rotated about 35 degrees counterclockwise, but he faces the camera and holds the guitar to face the camera. Look at about 2:20 on the website video and you can see the angle of the neck of the guitar away from his body. It would be nice to see a split screen early in the video showing forward and side views to show this position of the guitar.
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Hey. I have wrist pain when i play. How do you guys fix that? Any tips?
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post a picture of your typical position that generates the pain will help a lot. There is too much going on to just guess - youād wind up with too many suggestions that wouldnāt fix it. 
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^^^This.
Also,ā¦
Which part of your wrist hurts? Back or front? Pinky side or thumb side?
Fretting hand or picking hand?
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Yesā¦ it takes time to get used to all of this stuff. I just realized that I have been gripping the neck of my guitar way too hard, trying to prevent it from falling. Now I am comfortable enough to just let it be, and I improved with my chord switches. I see that the guitar is not going to fallā¦ beginner painsā¦ LOL!
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The first time I watched this video, I tried so hard to get comfortable positioning my guitar on my right knee, but ended up with intense pain and a knot in the back of my right shoulder blade. I am a middle-aged, petite woman trying to learn on a hand-me-down acoustic Dreadnought style guitar, and the sheer depth of the right side of the body of the guitar forced my right arm in a jutting, uncomfortable position to the point where I was getting muscle spasms in my lower trapezius. What helped me was to research the classical position. I started holding the guitar on a curved pillow form resting on my left knee instead, which also put my right arm in a much better position. Standing up to play using a strap also helps immensely. Donāt know if others have had this issue, but itās what helped me. Hope it wonāt be a hindrance as I progress.
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Hello and welcome to the Community. I feel that a dreadnought might be too big for you. By all means keep striving for a more comfortable playing position, but if I were you I would visit a guitar shop and try some smaller models. Iād hate for you to lose motivation because you tried learning on an unsuitable guitar.
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I havenāt seen anyone mention it here, so as a complete beginner with a big, slippery acoustic guitar, I just want to say that what Iāve done is put some non-slip stuff on my leg to sit my guitar on. Even with a strap it was sliding around, and after googling expensive things to stick onto it, I remembered we had some of that stuff you get on a roll at the hardware store cut and sitting in a drawer. I sat that on my leg and can now balance the guitar nicely with my arm and donāt have to worry about slippage. Just in case this helps anyone.
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2 words --Bean Bag. I have a very slippery LP and found a small bean bag on my thigh works a treat.
Facecloth works almost as well.
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Thank you for your feedback and advice. I gave the Dread a few more chances, but alas, the shoulder pain keeps coming back no matter how I hold it. I also feel like I am spending more time wrestling with it to try to get comfortable than learning to play it. For these reasons, today I decided to order a Fender CPS-60s parlor guitar. I figure if I can handle a guitar that small, and actually use it, perhaps I will get something larger or of higher value later. I know that physically trying out a guitar would probably have been better, but I live in a rural area that doesnāt afford me that opportunity, so I just ordered directly from Fender. Hoping it will work out.
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Congrats on the new guitar Courtney. Iām sure youāll find the parlour a much better fit than the dread. Let us know how you go.
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Yeah, Iām a pretty big guy, and sometimes I wish I had gotten something smaller than my Taylor Grand Auditorium when I got an acoustic. A while back I tried a PRS parlor-size at my local shop and loved the feel of it.
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Good move! I love the smaller guitars. Dreads feel uncomfortable and I think they sound muddy. I started with an āOMā and now have an ā00ā size with my classical being somewhere in between.
Parlors are also called ā0ā size, although the actual dimensions of all these nomenclature are varied.
I have fallen I love with a unique parlor guitar. Trying hard not to buy it.
Parlors and 00s also often have slotted headstocks, which I like, wider nuts, which I like, and 12 fret to the body, which I like. See a trend here?
I also have dang annoying lousy shoulders. Small guitars in classical position work well for me so far, although I can tell that the longer I do this, those peculiarities I have developed are less important.
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I love that you suggested this. Iām going to try it out first thing tomorrow. I have a dreadnought that is far and away too big for me, and I cannot get it to stay positioned where the neck is tilted upwards, even with a strap. It wants to sit parallel to the ground, no ifs, ands, or buts. Iām very curious to see if your little truck works for me.
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Received my Fender parlor a week ago and I love it. I am still experimenting with how to hold it while sitting, and, while holding it on my right leg feels okay, I feel I have better control over the guitar in classical position (left leg), using a footstool. I notice I can more readily access (and see) the fretboard this way. I also like to practice playing standing up as well. Going with the little parlor was the right choice for me!
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