Why Should A Classical Rest On Your Left Leg?

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Why should a classical rest on your left leg?

It doesn't matter with other guitars, right?
 

fronobulax

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Welcome.

It's basically an ergonomics thing. The left leg position is more comfortable, can be used for longer periods and allows access to the neck and strings with less pain. The position is associated with classical guitars because of the way classical guitars are taught. There are a couple hundred years of experience in playing guitar that have been distilled down to "the classical method" and that experience includes position. But you can play most guitars in the "classical position" and you can play classical guitars in other positions.
 

adorshki

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Why should a classical rest on your left leg?

It doesn't matter with other guitars, right?

I see a first post, Welcome aboard!
Frono captured the gist of it, but the ergonomic thing is 2-fold:
Putting it over left leg at an angle puts the neck in the most ergonomic position for accurate fretting, that's universal no matter what kind of guitar it is except that some larger body sizes may be a bit more difficult to wrap the shoulders around.**
It also allows the right forearm to rest on the edge of the lower bout in a position that puts the fingers directly over each of their corresponding strings, allowing absolute economy of movement. It also gives good stability of the picking hand and all strumming motion is done by the wrist, not at the elbow which offers less control.
Finally, being braced between the legs and the picking arm means the neck is stable and doesn't need any effort to position it form the fretting hand.
What engineers would call a very elegant combination of factors.
In my very first guitar lesson the instructor spent the entire lesson explaining the ergonomics of the position and nothing else, it's that important.

**See me in my avatar with my dreadnought. At 62 I now experience some fatigue between the shoulders after about half an hour with a dreadnought, but not with my shallower grand orchestra size guitar.
 

GAD

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I often play my electric in the classical position. Chew on that! :livid:
 

adorshki

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I often play my electric in the classical position. Chew on that! :livid:

And Willie Nelson plays his classical mostly in the cowboy position.
Put that in his corn husk and smoke it.
PS you don't put the Bladerunner down there between your legs, do you?
 
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Walter Broes

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If you play a classical guitar any other way, you'll upset the universe. Kind of like playing Bluegrass on a Guild or a Gibson.
 

Jim

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The "classical-guitar position" also evolved to maximize the volume projected from the guitar, as holding the guitar this way kept the vibrations from being absorbed by the body. Very important in the pre-electronic amplification world.
Jim
 

Walter Broes

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Walter, is that a new avatar? It looks like a postcard from Hoboken, NJ.
I've had it for a while now, and it is in fact a postcard from the "original", old world Hoboken, Belgium - next to Antwerp, which is where I live. It says "groeten uit Hoboken", which means "greetings from Hoboken" indeed. It's a dorky little joke.
 

killdeer43

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WELCOME TO LTG!
I think the gang has covered just about every angle on this one, including the usual HA HAs and LOLs so you should have enough fodder to chew on for a while.

Hope you're feeling welcome by now, and aren't you glad you asked? :peaceful:

Joe
 
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