Playing guitar standing up

[bboots]

Been playing my rally gl-300 LP for past few months until recently bought a strap to progress to playing while standing up.

Obviously it all feels so strange and awkward like playing a guitar for the first time but I know this takes time to get used to. My problem came when my left shoulder starts aching in only 5mins from the weight of the guitar and in turn affecting my fretting hand. Anything longer I would find it hard to focus on playing from the discomfort and practicing seems like a torture now.

I'm not sure if I should trade the heavy LP for a light Strat or should I just hang on and hope the shoulder ache improves over time? The strap itself is a very comfortable levy 3" garment leather, so the problem isn't really on the strap I guess. Or is there anything I can do to reduce the shoulder pain?

Hope seniors here can advise. Thanks in advance.

 

[cryingstatue]

Hey man,

let me give my 2 cents worth...

the muscles you use to play the guitar sitting down will be different from the ones you use to play standing up... ok not all but you get the idea.

so aching and feeling uncomfortable is normal till your muscles get used to the standing up process because you have never really used your muscles that way before.

posture is also important... are you slinging your guitar very low? the guitar body should be slightly above your navel. most importantly... is the balance of the guitar off to the right? aches can occur because your left arm is trying to hold up the neck while playing the guitar... optimally, all your left arm is supposed to do is to reach out and play... not used to support the weight of the guitar. that will cause a strain on your shoulder as you will be pushing your shoulders up to support the weight.

lastly while i feel its important to play standing up... its going to be a tiring effort if your intention is to practice standing up all the time. just ask our army brothers carrying their rifles all the time, its not easy. therefore i would recommend still practicing sitting down and standing up occasionally to get used to playing standing up(like when you finish a song or a lick and you want to play with the backing track) i think the most important thing is to feel comfortable while practicing

 

[Benjamin Hwang]

Hello,

I also own the Rally GL 300 Les Paul and i know how you feel man, that thing is super heavy (But it sounds awesome) Standing up and playing needs quite some time to get used to. Ive only gone jamming twice (which is the only time im standing) but I already can feel myself improving.

I also agree with cryingstatue that you should not be standing up all the time while practicing, just stand up occasionally when you feel like it.

I think it just needs getting used to. Give it 2 weeks or so then decide again! The Rally GL300 is simply too good a guitar to let go, unless u compare it with a Gibson of course

 

[an2]

My say is:

Keep the guitar - because its awesome. Yet at the same time if you really cannot take the weight while jamming or performing, get a lighter guitar.

I love LPs but I really haven't gotten used to the weight even after performing on a regular basis for the past couple of years, so I got myself a much lighter telecaster and put in humbuckers same same but different

 

[zyang]

i had this kind of experience with my previous guitar as well.
The solution for me is to get used to the standing up position.
Other then that,i get myself a heavily padded strap.

But seriously, rally is a very good guitar and you shouldn't let it go.

 

[icycool123]

1 piece of advise, don't ignore the pain. Some people can take the weight better then others. Also you'd want to avoid injury to your shoulder/wirst. I've sold/traded all my heavy guitars. I don't play anything over 8 lbs now. You should be able to buy light weight guitars cheaply. 1 e.g., is the yamaha rgx a2. probably can get for around $ 400-500 2nd hand.

 

[Godsmen]

If you really into LP shape axe, do consider Edwards models. Light and awesome tones!

 

[17wil]

adjust your strap higher.

 

[bboots]

Thanks for the advices guys, I kept the rally and continued to practice standing for the past mth+. Playing time has improved to 15min or so before my shoulder tired. otherwise i would lift my left leg on a chair to partly support the weight of the guitar on my left thigh. Now I find it awkward to play seated with the guitar resting on my right leg, the posture when I first learned the guitar.

 

[b44styreraug]

Sit down and adjust your guitar to the height that fits your sitting position. In this way, you can kind of play your guitar at the height as if like you are sitting down.