As practising usually takes place when sitting down, one tends to become comfortable with the guitar at that height. When you start making use of a strap, playing guitar may seem a bit uncomfortable at first. One thing you should aim for is to make playing standing up as comfortable as sitting down. This may take a bit of work, or may simply come after an hour or 2 of getting used to standing up while playing. The main idea is to find a strap height that you are happy with from both a comfort and visual perspective.
In order to find the perfect strap height for you, identifying what type of guitarist you are can help a great deal.
- Rock guitarists like to have their guitar hanging around the centre of their body, usually resting on their waist.
- Punk guitarists have their guitars hanging down by their knees. This is more of a trend associated with this genre.
- Jazz guitarists like to have their guitars higher, usually in the same position it would be in when sitting down.
Ability is Important
The ability to play your instrument well is much more impressive than the height of your strap. Too many guitarists resort to hanging their guitars extremely low as replacement for their inability to play well. Unless you have extremely long arms, you are actually hindering your ability to play properly if you do this. The higher your guitar, the easier it will be to play.
Copy Your Favourite Players
Take a look at some of your favourite guitar players and where the height of their straps is set. This can be a good starting point in order to find the perfect height for you. Slash has his strap set relatively low while John Petrucci has his guitar dead centre (which is also the height I like to have my guitar set to).
Take a Video
Asking someone in the audience to take a few minutes of video of your gig can be a great way to see how you come across on stage. Does your guitar look too high or too low from an audience perspective? You can make relevant adjustments based on how you want to present yourself on stage, although you should try to always have your guitar in a position that’s comfortable for you over and above image.
What Works for You?
What works for one person won’t necessarily work for someone else. Let us know which position works best for you in the comments below. Do you like you strap low, high or centre? Do you notice any improvements in your playing when lowering your strap height?
