Who plays sitting down?

[BassicJazzy]

I can only play sitting down I learned playing seated and never advanced to standing.

My impression is that some highly technical players learned seated and feel more comfortable that way. Probably helps keep focus, when everything isn't bouncing around? This is very true of guitar players, particularly classically trained ones. In the 70's you would never see Robert Fripp or Steve Hackett play guitar unless they were seated. Hackett later shifted to playing standing, but only once he was leading Genesis Revisited.

No crime in playing seated, or standing, or even laying down flat on your back on recording studio floor, rip roaring drunk, if your name happens to be James Jamerson?

 

[LowWay]

I think the performaxe is great but way too expensive, 150 euros for such a thing is really steep. I have a few cheap knocks off that I bought for 10 euros or so. They work great and not less than the Performaxe I think. Although I never tried the real thing because I don't want to pay that much for such a simple device. Here a video where I use it on my Alembic. I have four of these supports, each for another bass.

I got the actual performaxe before the knockoffs existed. I’d love to know where to get the knockoffs. I could use a few more.

 

[Gervais Cote]

I am 69 and I still play standing up. Should I consult?

No, you should just enjoy and keep going.

 

[sunbeast]

I got the actual performaxe before the knockoffs existed. I’d love to know where to get the knockoffs. I could use a few more.

When I just searched Safari for “Performaxe”, basically only the knockoffs popped up in the shopping section. There are a bunch on EBay, and some on Amazon, Reverb, and Etsy. Maybe search for “guitar leg rest” “leg stand” or similar based o the results I’m seeing

 

[mapleglo]

My band uses the same Mackie SRM-150 personal monitors.

My drummer uses the same one, and our keyboard player just ordered one, only ours are Behringer brand. They are all probably made in the same factory, and they just slap on different brand names.

 

[J Wilson]

I play seated.

I prefer a stool or anything with no arms. My favorite is a really top shelf drum stool with a back pad that will adjust to the height I want, need to get another one some day. Usually they spin easily to reach around and adjust things, Hope I can find another hydraulic one.

I've tried playing with the strap adjusted where it sits perfectly on my lap in the same position as if I were standing, but far prefer holding it like a classical guitar player with the lower bout riding my inside left thigh and the neck pointing at the ceiling at around a 45-degree slant, much better for me that way.

 

[Ignatius]

I play mando,steel guitar and bass in my current band. Sometimes it makes instrument switching easier if I sit. There are some songs that I swap b/t steel and bass, like. ‘Day after day’ so I would sit.

That was the deal until early 2023 when I got COVID. I am an official certified COVID long hauler. Sometimes I have to sit due to post exertional malaise.

I use a basic drummer stool, one that I got from my son when he quit playing drums. It works.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

In the category of "not stupid if it works", have you ever considered playing a headless? They are a LOT less weight forward and easier on the back. The new Sire M6, in particular, is a dream to play sitting or standing.

I actually have an 80s neck thru headless bass I need to finish...it's a pj setup.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I play sitting down due to severe back issues. I strap on my bass with my Duo Strap and sit on whatever is convenient. I was actually fired from a band because I sit, not stand and dance around. Their words. Anyway, a stool or a chair with no arms works just fine.

No words. .the jumping around on stage is a no no...I was classical trained on trumpet lol!

 

[InhumanResource]

I am a sitter also.... one of the main issues that one needs to make in purchasing something to sit on is- "Do I need a back?" Plenty of stools
out there but only some have a back.... chairs on the other hand.....

Oof. Those shiny vinyl guitar stools they sell at GC are a nightmare for me. I don’t know how anyone can sit on those things for more than a few minutes.

 

[ryco]

I just play electric bass guitar. I play sitting or standing. In the morning I usually sit on a tall stool with my feet on the bottom rungs. I play right handed so bass is balanced across my right thigh. Never use a strap sitting down. Used to sit at jazz gigs on those little low cheap-o fold up stools, feet flat on the floor. I'm not too picky about what I sit on - play on armless chairs if jamming at a buddy's house or low stools at a casual jam down at the local pub. Even sit on my little Crate combo at band practice.
Saw in a Gary Willis 101 Tips book, according to him, when sitting one should hold the bass as a classical guitarist holds their instrument = on the left thigh kind of cradled down in the crotch, and with a raised foot rest under the left foot. Tried this for a little while, but fairly quickly pretty much went back to my old ways.
But for rock gigs and when practicing in the afternoon I stand. I wear my basses about belt buckle high and it works well for everything = finger, pick, slap. Just the way I've been wearing 'em for 55+ years. Just works for me at 70 years old; and YMMV, and I don't deal with any physical issues.
𝄢

---

 

[Topkat13]

I was going to give it a try at a small bar but when this dude offered to push my stool up for me I left.

 

[logdrum]

You can be in perfectly good health, strong and flexible spine, lean BMI and 21 years old with a 7 lb bass and still play sitting. It is a choice

Yeah you can also be 70 and still standing and strutting but it's no a big deal really. So many older people are still working standing all day or into sports and hobbies like rock climbing or completing this year's Boston and NYC marathons

No need to apologize
---- nor brag

 

[Nashrakh]

38M, I prefer seated but most of the stages I play are too small, so I gotta stand usually. (Even too small to bring a decent sized amp or pedalboard, FML)

 

[Giffro]

I use this DX-749 QUIK LOK Stool for home practices and any avail chair or stool for gigs. At 74 now I have had ops for a ruptured disc in the lower back (2004) and a bone removed from my neck (laminectomy in 2005) so sitting and playing is first choice, although I do really prefer standing and playing, as I have done all my career, but only for short gigs. Years of loading in and out heavy rigs and PA cabs have taken their toll.

 

[Rich Fiscus]

The point is, much like basses.. any person’s opinion on this subject comes with an inherent asterisk. For me a saddle seat renders the need for specific lumbar and so on irrelevant. As it does for many people. And others, particularly who want to sit more traditionally, are the opposite. It’s just not an area you can paint in broad strokes with. A flat seat is terrible to me, great for others. The only sure thing is that it’s individual-specific. No better or worse across the board, per se.

The only thing I can play sitting down on on nowadays is the Ballo stool - which doesn’t even have a backrest and works with a whole host of severe back issues at play. Never in a million years would have guessed that’d be the answer but it is. But I’d be out my gourd to think that means it’s sure to work well for someone else.

Try things on for size OP! Various options may surprise you.

This is especially true when your needs are dictated by injuries or medical conditions. The first step is figuring out what you need, and that may require trying a variety of options. As you’ve found, an active sitting option is often the best, but then there are even more variables in play, and more wrong choices.

Before my problems spread to my back and obliques, I was thinking about a Focal Mogo. It’s less of a leaning stool, and more a kickstand for your butt.

I never found one, because they stopped selling them a few months earlier, and I couldn’t use one today.

 

[brianrost]

For bass guitar, I sit for home practice, sometimes at rehearsals and sometimes when recording. I’m trying to remember if I ever sat on a gig.

For DB, I almost always stand. I have tried a stool and found the ergonomics mess with my intonation.

 

[brianrost]

I use this DX-749 QUIK LOK Stool for home practices and any avail chair or stool for gigs.

How adjustable is that stool? I find that many stools can't be adjusted to a comfortable level and my back and neck are not happy. At home I often just sit on a piano bench. I’d love a stool with back support.

 

[LowWay]

When I just searched Safari for “Performaxe”, basically only the knockoffs popped up in the shopping section. There are a bunch on EBay, and some on Amazon, Reverb, and Etsy. Maybe search for “guitar leg rest” “leg stand” or similar based o the results I’m seeing

Ordered a knockoff from eBay. We’ll see…

 

[DWA2469]

I practice sitting down, it's just easier for me. Every now and then I'll do a part of my routine or play a couple songs while standing up. Just depends on how I'm feeling that day, even if that feeling is usually to sit

I usually learn songs first sitting down but always play them standing before I take it to the stage, it is way different! (to me anyhow)