Posture question.

[Darren Bailey]

Being new to serious practice time I'm finding a little ache in the back. Do most here sit with a straight back chair or do you find standing helps? I do have a tendancy to lean forwards to watch my left hand and having seen Thile lean further assumed it wouldn't hurt. I think i need to be conscious of this now before too many bad habbits set in. Thanks in advance.

[Rob Gerety]

I tend to sit hunched over the mando a bit with my strap on holding the mando with the neck angled up a bit. Probably a terrible way to play. I also practice and play standing - off and on.

[Darren Bailey]

Sounds familiar - do you end up with back ache?

[bonny]

You may not be doing anything very wrong. Everyone gets sore when they practice a lot. This will always be the case as what "a lot" is is relative. You may be getting sore after a couple of hours where someone who can easily go a couple of hours will get sore after five or six....it's a matter of conditioning. My memory is that even when I was a six hour a day student and later playing for a living (in other words in great shape) that I would get sore hands and back if I went past my threshold.

The common and very correct advice is when you start to hurt you stop practicing and let your body recover. This can be anything from a five or ten minute break to "done for the day". Drink lots of water, listen to your body and you'll be fine.

[fishtownmike]

I take turns practicing sitting and standing. You need to get up and stretch those legs on occasion. i find it a relief on my back to stand on ocassion. They are different. Being able to play well doing one doesn't mean you'll do well doing the other. It also breaks up the monotony. I wear a strap always though. I wear the mando high since i find it a little uncomfortable to play it sitting on my lap.

[Pete Martin]

Good ergonomics means sitting in a neutral position, not hunched over the instrument. You can get into a lot of problems that way (doesn't mean everyone will, but the chances are greatly increased).

Also, don't drop your head way forward. It is better to lower the eyes and keep the head as neutral as possible.

Watch in a mirror and/or video yourself. If it looks uncomfortable, change it.

[journeybear]

I agree with everything Pete said. It's very common to keep an eye on your left (fretting) hand to make sure you're hitting the mark, but you want to avoid hunching over. I've seen some players who look like they have developed a huchback from doing just that, and I imagine they've caused permanent damage. I don't know for sure, but it looks ... wrong.

For practice I usually sit straight, with strap on (always mindful of the possibility of it slipping), and if it's band rehearsal, I'm usually too busy watching the other guys to worry too much about what I'm doing. For solos, though, and also sometimes for chord progressions I'm still learning, I lift up the neck to about 45-50 degrees and hold it out in front of me just a bit. That way the fretboard is in my field of vision without having to look down - which would negate the effort to stay in visal contact with the others. Since I tend to stand at gigs, I'd just as soon save my legs for that, and sit for practice.

Now, if I'm relaxing, maybe working out a song idea or just running finger exercises or scales or such (not calling it noodling, even if it is ;) ), I may be more or less sprawled in bed with the TV on and my feet up - horrifying posture, I'm sure, but relaxing, and still getting something done.

[Darren Bailey]

Thanks for that fellas, good advice and words of wisdom.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I think that Chris Thile leans as forward as he does, in order to be able to listen to his tone as he plays. We all know that there's much more coming out of the front,than you can hear from behind.
If i sat forward like that for more than a few minutes,i wouldn't be able to stand upright for an hour.
Sitting,i tend to lean back by about 12 degrees or so,in order to aliviate back pain,but if i do want have a more erect posture,i play standing up - but as in all things,it's whatever suits the individual,
Ivan~:>

[Mike Snyder]

I sat through the entire mandolin contest at Winfield last Sept, and one thing I noticed was the posture of the players. Fairly consistantly good, upright and straight. I do not remember one without a strap. Fella, if you practice the hours these guys do to get into competition at THAT level, you better not do anything to hurt yourself. Thile may get straight one day. We can hope.

[bonny]

When I was 16 I took a training course to be a ski instructor. During a free skiing portion I was criticized for dropping my hands. There was a woman in the course who had been a national team alternate that I noticed was on occasion dropping her hands without arousing any comment from the instructor. When I asked him about this the instructor laughed and said it wasn't affecting her ability to ski.

When I look at Thile playing I don't see his hunch creating any "choke" points in his shoulders, elbow, wrists or otherwise adversely effecting his ability to play like it could in another person whose understanding of the mechanics wasn't as deep.

[billkilpatrick]

... not a posture you're likely to bring home to mama - but what playing!:

x76AgWdh9Yk

mini-aches and pains abound til you find your own stance (right hand, left hand ... the whole kit and caboodle.) a comfortable playing posture, in my case, came after listening to heaps of good advise and then ... forgetting it - a natural process of individualization.

[Tbone]

I usually hunch over as well. I used to get knots in my upper back, the felt like they were under a shoulder blade. They typically went away after a day or two.

Then, I got a knot that lasted about a week. Long story short, it took a couple months of chiropractor visits to get it straightened out.

Just make sure to stretch your neck often while you play. Try to keep your shoulders as loose as possible.