Proper posture for a perfect performance !

Sitting here playing my uke, and as it goes in the back of ones head on occasion, I clearly recall the very early years of learning a little music .

One teacher I had was a renound guitar and piano teacher . I took both piano and guitar from them starting at 6 years old . A very very strict teacher . All errors had to be returned to and corrected and with stern correction .

Thumb directly behind the neck, fingers bent correctly, elbows here , wrists there ......... POSTURE POSTURE POSTURE .

GAAAAAAACCCKKK !


I thought they called it " PLAYING " music . Not torture . lol lol

But I suffered the torture and became a solid child musician . Public recitles, as newspapers deemed me as a most promising child prodigy of a student . On and on with all that nonsense . lol


All that to say ............ Todays perfect posture for perfect performance training equates to ONE THING .

These days, my daily performances go as such ....

In the living room , feet on the desk all the way to the knees, leaning back in my office chair with a uke flopped in my lap hap hazarldy . Left elbow resting on the left arm rest, right forearm being supported by the other arm rest . Sitting in my boxers and t-shirt.

The one fine tunining posture adjustment I am sure to always make is eating enough to make my belly poke out to tip the ukes bottom up and forward to make the fretboard more easily seen .

All while watching re-runs of Andy Griffith and Gunsmoke .

Nearly 45 years post all that , " POSTURE , POSTURE , POSTURE business, I'm having more fun than ever .

Now that's what I call , " PLAYING MUSIC " .


With all that said, I have one question ............

How's your playing posture with age and seasoning ? Mine's awesome . lol


Photo essay's are legal definitives here . lol

This is very interesting. I usually play sitting on the couch in the living room, but happen to be in the office at what I think is the only office chair in the house. I tried you method and immediately noticed that I hold my uke far too much in front of me, meaning I need to adjust it more to the right rather than centered on my body. I've been forcing myself to essentially contort and stretch my back in order to reach my right hand over to strum and pick. And since I've been working on fingerpicking lately, I think that has made it worse. Very interesting!

I usually sit on a big overstuffed chair with no arms, and squirm around to maintain comfort. I go from sitting up straight (doesn't last long) to being a total slouch. Leading a jam session, I stand, until I can't stands no more. I move around a lot, but not as much as Gardner, of course. Wears me out to watch her dance around like that.

I sometimes play slouched back on the couch and find it fairly comfortable, but my arms can bother me after awhile. I try sitting upright in a firm armless chair, but find that I tend to hunch forward and it's very hard on my back. I play for many hours a day (God, you think I'd be better by now!) and am considering investing in a more comfy yet supportive armless chair.

I'm still in the learning phase just now - but my intent is to just relax, sit back & play - however that may turn out.

I'm in it for my own enjoyment.

Like your style!
I usually sit when performing on stage, so I try and play at home sitting in a similar height chair, so usually I'm sitting up straight on a dining chair. That way, when I'm on stage everything feels very familiar.

I think posture all depends on what type of player you are. A singer/strummer can be a lot more relaxed. But for fingerpicking? Ukulele placement is important. I rarely perform for people. But when I do I like to stand. So I practice playing standing up a lot. Posture is important. To me.

I figure that everything will find its own place, I don't need to help it, it will just come naturally.