Seems I'm able to post now, can anyone help with my classical posture on electric ?

[Boss Man Zwiebelsohn]

Master of Puppets can make an interesting CG etude!

Same girl playing it on a plank:

Note the difference in neck angle.



Indeed. I find that it's good to
- be very conscious about your thumb position; should be opposite the middle finger or even a bit further back
- be very conscious too about minimising the finger/thumb clamping pressure; try to use the weight of your left arm (and use the weight of your right arm to keep the instrument stable). Might not be easy with a plank!
- thin necks (as on e-guitars) are a sure way to get fretting hand issues esp. when you play with a lot of (clamping) pressure.
- be conscious too about unnecessary tension in your shoulders and pectoral muscles.

+++ on the sitting support: use a height-adjustable piano stool or a straight chair of appropriate height, possibly with a wedge-shaped cushion that tilts you forward ever so slightly. Also prefer a support under the guitar rather than one under your foot; having both feet flat on the ground and the upper legs more or less horizontal is much healthier. If you do use a stool, try also turning it arounc 180° to what's common so the back is higher. And still keep both feet flat on their respective supports!

NB: I can't play long with my legs crossed like in the 2nd video above but I guess everyone is different in that aspect. Still not the best for your lower back, IMHO.



I haven't yet been able to see where it runs in the shoulder but I'm sadly familiar with the sensation in my fingers after my cramped shoulder-blade-area muscle episode earlier this year.

1. Girl looks like a robot covered in silicone.

2. Girl hasn't understood the sound of thrash (2nd video). Too many mids and no bass. And not muted enough.

3. No, I'm not a misogynistic asshole. I actually like women who play rock music that sounds like rock music.

[Christian Miller]

Yeah, the New Wave of Brit metal. Regarding thrash I also liked Celtic Frost from Switzerland. And I have to admit that I was a huge Helloween fan. Which was a bit like Maiden with a sugar coating in retrospect. Yet Keeper Of The Seven Keys is still a great opus.

If you don’t know this guy you should

You can keep your instagram guitar widdlers. This guy is crazy talented.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RJVB]

3. No, I'm not a misogynistic asshole.

Don't bother enligthening us what adjective we should use instead, then

[ccroft]

I think this is precisely it for me. It's way above my level so i have to take it slow and be relaxed when it comes to playing. Tension isn't good in the arms i suppose.

Yeah...tension is bad anywhere. On the repetition thing: if you're obsessed with this tune just remember that, as Christian has pointed out in other threads, learning guitar is cumulative. Work on something else that's totally different to give those stressed body parts a break. Whatever you work on will help you play MoP better.

And someone mentioned stretching. Notice how athletes do things before the big event that sometimes look unrelated to what they're about to take on. But it helps them.

I overdid it trying to get something up to bebop tempo recently. Tendonitis flare up. I just had to stop it for a while and slow down. Reading Bach slows me way down and is relaxing. And it helps develop another skill. It's all guitar playing.

Relax and be more patient. You're not gonna get there in a week or two.

[Boss Man Zwiebelsohn]

As I criticized the palm muting and the general thrash sound in the video of the OP as well as in the video of the "girl with the plank", I thought it would be a good idea to demonstrate what I would consider a perfect example of a good classic 80ies thrash metal guitar sound -- the third (and concept) album of the beyond the underground rather unknown band Holy Moses (with front woman Sabina Classen) from Hamburg, Germany.

[magmaro]

When you say damping technique does that mean palm muting? And yeah thanks for the constructive criticism, I'm very new to guitar so everything helps ! Gonna take a lot to even get this song sounding good at the correct bpm.

[magmaro]

Yeah I've noticed that there was wayyy more pressure in my fretting hand then anything I've ever experienced, to the point of heavy fatigue and soreness. I'm debating just ditching this posture in general because I only used it to keep my wrists as straight as possible. I stretch for a couple minutes before I practice but nothing too rigorous. Maybe I should try those other rotation stretches cause i only stretch my wrists and what not. And yeah it makes more sense to use classical posture for an acoustic guitar, it doesn't feel good at all for my back or hands and having the fret board near me is really nice. I think I'll go back to the regular position lol. Thanks for the feedback and your two cents.

[magmaro]

Thanks for the feedback. I have a regular black folding chair, a gaming chair and a spinning bar stool to choose from. The stool I think is better for my posture but don't use it as much because putting my feet on the metal things kinda hurt (wearing shoes combat this so i should probably just use it). Should probably listen to my body in terms of posture for sure lol.

[Boss Man Zwiebelsohn]

[...] wearing shoes combat [...]

You probably know that, from an osteopathic point of view, everything is connected to everything else. So your discomfort may also be due to the wrong footwear. The classic footwear of the classic thrash metal of the 80s are basketball shoes -- whether Puma or Adolf Dassler is really a matter of taste, which, as we all know, is debatable -- or skater sneakers. Many of the pioneers of this style of music were skaters. Why do you think a skater magazine is called Thrasher?



It may well be that your shoes (are you talking about classic parachutist boots or those Alpha Industries nylon things -- the latter also cause allergies in some people?) are to blame for your discomfort.

Actually, real thrash metal is also performed standing up, so I would also practice it standing up, even headbanging works better standing up.

(By the way, the only job of one member of the huge Metallica crew is taping Lars Ulrich's shoelaces with two strips of gaffer tape before show time.)

Sorry, for the long post but IMHO footwear in metal is one of the least talked about topics in music history.

[Boss Man Zwiebelsohn]

When you say damping technique does that mean palm muting? And yeah thanks for the constructive criticism, I'm very new to guitar so everything helps ! Gonna take a lot to even get this song sounding good at the correct bpm.

Yes, I mean palm muting. The secret is how far you move your palm "into the string" from the bridge. And keep your picking hand as relaxed as possible. Like an athlete. Go into maximum tension from maximum relaxation.

[RJVB]

Yeah I've noticed that there was wayyy more pressure in my fretting hand then anything I've ever experienced, to the point of heavy fatigue and soreness.

That's really something to watch out for!
Besides stretching, do you do any kind of warm-up exercises before you start practising?

Try placing a chord with what you think is minimum pressure and then release pressure (finger per finger) until the point where the note no longer sounds clean because the strings buzzes against the fret. Use this exercise also to be attentive to where you place your finger: you'll need less pressure when you fret right against the fret rather than at some distance from it. If that's not possible because you also need to put a finger on an adjacent string then you can often improve matters by changing the position of your hand slightly, changing the angle of attack of your fingers.
Take your hand off the fretboard and start over, until you have redefined your perception of minimal pressure like this. Then take another chord from the piece you're working on, figure out that one, and then work on making the transition without using unnecessary pressure or stress.

You say you're new to guitar: did you take lessons with an experienced teacher at all?

[magmaro]

Appreciate it gang

[magmaro]

I see. Though i was talking about me not wearing shoes at all when playing guitar (I mostly don't) on the bar stool. I'm usually bare foot lol

[magmaro]

Yeah I looked up some videos and learned that exercise as soon as i started feeling the soreness, definitely helps a lot. I don't have a teacher, though i have a friend whos pretty good who helps me out.
And yeah I do stretch before I play but again not the full body stuff just my arms, shoulders back.