This article was contributed by Guitar Jam Trax - www.guitarjamtrax.com

Are you having trouble playing guitar while on stage?

Some say that playing guitar on stage is difficult simply because they sit down when they practice, but then when they are at a gig, playing while standing up feels uncomfortable. Don’t let this get you down too much. If you took the time to ask this question, then it means you are serious about your playing and as a serious musician, you’ve definitely got what it takes to tackle this issue. So, let’s jump into it!

This is something I struggled with at one point in my career. When I sat down and tried to figure out what the problem was, there were two things I realized:

1) I was experiencing some discomfort while playing
2) I needed to actually “Practice” playing while standing up

Once I tackled these two issues, I noticed a big improvement in my playing while standing up. I continue to work on these two issues consistently and I find that it is well worth the effort.

Fist, let’s tackle the comfort factor:

Lighter Guitar - If your guitar is particularly heavy, you might want to consider getting a lighter guitar. This might be easier said than done for financial reasons, and that is understandable. But if it is at all possible, it is a worthwhile investment. I have a couple of guitars that I bought simply because of their minimal weight. With those guitars I can literally go all night. It really makes a difference.

Wider Strap - If a new (lighter) guitar is not possible, consider a wider strap. A wider strap will spread the guitar’s weight over a larger area of your shoulder, which makes the guitar feel lighter, and eases the discomfort. There are straps out there that are clearly intended for this purpose when you see them. They are not only wide, but they tend to be made out of very comfortable materials and have padding. A perfect example of a guy who does this is Warren Haynes, a very popular sideman who plays with The Allman Brothers, the Grateful Dead, as well as his own group: “Gov’t Mule” If you look at most photos of him, when he is playing a Les Paul (a particularly heavy guitar) he usually has a very wide strap on. That’s not by accident.

Leather is particularly useful when you want a strap that will not slide around too much.

Ok, onto the next issue: How to get comfortable playing while standing up.

In general, the short answer is: Practice playing while standing up.

It makes perfect sense that you may not feel as comfortable playing while standing up as you do while sitting down. It’s really logical when you think about it: You practice probably 1-2 hours a day (sitting down probably), but you gig maybe 4 or 5 hours a week (this is assuming you gig on the average of twice per week). So the majority of time you are holding your guitar, you are sitting down. Playing while standing up is the exception and in comparison, you do it pretty infrequently.

So, I would recommend a focused practice routine for playing while standing up. This may seem a bit odd, but here's something that really worked for me years ago when I was having trouble playing while standing up on stage. Try these steps:

1) Try to create a space somewhere in your house that will become your “Practice Stage”. You don’t need much, just a few square feet. But once you set aside this space, try to leave it “As is” at all times. Treat it as a sacred place. This is your own little nightclub in your house. From now on, when you practice, that is the space you will practice in.

2) When you practice, keep it focused. Emphasize quality over quantity. One good hour of focused practice with absolutely no interruptions is much better than spending the whole day practicing while taking phone calls, and watching TV.

3) For each session, try to play the actual music you will play in your show. Try to play songs that are actually from your set list. Resist the urge to just “Jam”. The point here is that you want to play things that you actually will play on stage soon. What you are doing is training your body and hands to play your music in a slightly different position.

4) When your practice session is over, put your guitar down and leave the “Performance Area”. Don’t sit there an drink a beer. What you want to do is condition your brain to accept this area as being every bit as special as an actual stage. What will happen over time is as you approach your “Stage” for each practice session, your brain will say “oh, here we go, time to play standing up..” and your body will go into that “Mode”. The muscles and you have trained, both physically and mentally, will snap into action and be ready for you. The end result, is that when you walk into a club, and approach the stage, those same muscles (again, both mental and physical muscles) will instinctively snap into place, you will walk on stage, and you will deliver the goods. Just as you practiced it.


There are so many variables that can throw us off when we are on stage. Many times, it isn’t necessarily what you think. We usually assume it is our playing, but sometimes there are other dynamics at play that might be making it difficult to play standing up. For example:

Try wearing your guitar a little higher / lower. You may be surprised that you are much more comfortable when standing up. You’ll never know until you try.

Try wearing more comfortable clothes – Sure, you probably want to wear particularly great looking clothes on stage, as you should. But, it might help to try and find stage clothes that look good, but are also very comfortable. I’ve always go my radar up for this. Whenever I come across a shirt, pair of pants, or shoes that seem to look great but also be surprisingly comfortable, I grab ‘em. It is very likely that you will feel a lot more relaxed on stage with clothes that are more comfortable, (especially shoes).

Here is something I did a while back that helped a lot: Try keeping your guitar strapped-on as much as you can when you are home. This may sound a little odd, but it really works. When you are doing everyday tasks like Watching TV, reading emails, washing the dishes, talking on the phone, etc, just keep your guitar strapped on. You don’t have to practice, you don’t even have to play, although there is no harm in strumming a few chords while watching TV. The point here is that these are activities that require very little brain power and minimal coordination, but they are things you do every day. So, while you do them. Keep your guitar strapped to you at all times.

What will happen over time is you will become a world-class master of an incredibly useless talent: being able to do everyday tasks with a guitar strapped to you. Now, other than an appearance on David Letteman’s “Stupid Human Tricks” there is no future in this newly aquired talent. But, there will be an ironic outcome to this: After being able to do just about anything with a guitar strapped to you, you will find that just “Playing the guitar standing up” will be actually quite easy!

I know much of this was very general, and some of it might have seemed a little unusual. But, tough problems require creativity and an open-mind. As you try some of these suggestions, you may find that you develop your own techniques that help you to address the problem even better. If so, GREAT! These suggestions are simply to get you started. The whole point here is a simple one: to get the guitar to feel like a natural extension of your body. Once this happens, you will find yourself on stage on a Friday night, packed house, blissfully strumming away and your audience will have no idea that you got there by wearing your guitar while washing the dishes!

 This article was contributed by Guitar Jam Trax - www.guitarjamtrax.com