My Ergoplay improved my posture

Classical guitarists often will have a sore back after practice. While it is common, it is not a good feeling and is not sustainable for a life of playing guitar. In fact, most instruments have their own intricacies which emphasise that playing an instrument was not designed with the ergonomics of the human body in mind. If you have ever seen a violinist’s neck where their violin rests, you may notice red marks from constant rubbing. This is just one example of many. Just like playing a sport, musicians run the risk of getting injured trying to perfect their craft.

Best case scenario is to avoid getting injured in the first place!

Guitarists tend to have several problems which regularly occur - and this occurred for me too! Classical guitarists, and particularly young guitarists, expect that they should be able to see every inch of the fretboard. This leads them to crane their head forward and twist their back to see their left hand. The reason the left hand gets all this attention is because it is typically doing much more challenging movements, and for the large percentage of the population that are right handed, it needs more effort to get it to do what is required. By putting themselves in this compromising position, pain can begin to creep in slowly. Younger guitarists tend to not notice and recover quickly, but it can become a problem as they get older.

To make matters worse, is the use of the footstool. I still recommend this to all beginner students because it is the most cost effective guitar support and the most reliable. I have never performed solo with any other support than the footstool because of fear of them coming off of the guitar mid-performance. So what makes the footstool so bad for posture? From a young age we are taught to have a straight back and our feet flat on the floor when sitting. I have already mentioned the common threat to maintaining a straight back before, but having two feet flat on the floor is impossible when using the footstool. Automatically this is a battle lost. The footstool raises the left foot off the floor so that the guitar neck is at an appropriate angle. Unfortunately, by raising the foot, it twists the lower back further out of position.

This is why the market of guitar supports took off. There are so many to purchase that it can feel overwhelming. Where to even begin?

I purchased the basic model of the Ergoplay several years ago now. You can see it here.

This is an amazing support because it is simple, without all the bells and whistles, and the suction cups generally stay on my guitar. The best thing, is that it allows me to keep both feet flat on the floor and the guitar is still propped up at the correct angle. I only ever use my Ergoplay when I practice now and have for years.

I used to be a guitarist that craned their neck and twisted their back. My posture was terrible. The Ergoplay helped solve a lot of this. It still took me a lot of effort, mirror-practice and videoing myself, but I finally got to a posture that was comfortable. Not only this, but my stage presence improved and all aspects of my performances. To summarise, buying a fancy new support or guitar gear will never make you or your guitar playing perfect, the hard work behind the scenes does that, and the rest of it just adds the cherry on top.

Keep working on your posture, both with the guitar and without the guitar. This is a skill like any other, whether it be scales or slurs, posture ties them all together.

All the best for now - see you in the next blog!