Practicing while using a strap

[Charles E.]

I mainly play old time music and 99% of the time play while seated. Recently I went to a jam and all the playing was done standing up. I have a strap so I slung it up and to my dismay found it very difficult to play due to ergonomics.
So my question, do any of you practice playing standing up using a strap?

Thanks.

[pops1]

I play old time and mostly seated, but I use a strap always. It keeps the mandolin in the same position regardless of the chair, or if I stand. I will stand at some gigs, but very few.

[DHopkins]

I nearly always use a strap, seated or otherwise. It seems to help with the muscle memory, too.

[dhergert]

Same here, I always use a strap, standing or sitting.

One of the things I love about playing mandolin is that I can stand and play it with strap in place... I can only sit when I play my banjos due to their weight and my lower back, but I do use a strap all the time with them too, also for position consistency.

[LadysSolo]

I use a strap all the time for guitar and mandolin, whether sitting or standing. You only heed to nearly drop you instrument one time to learn the value of a strap.

[EdHanrahan]

Yep, strap always. The few times that I've played mandolin standing up, it was second nature.

[Walt]

I mainly play old time music and 99% of the time play while seated. Recently I went to a jam and all the playing was done standing up. I have a strap so I slung it up and to my dismay found it very difficult to play due to ergonomics.
So my question, do any of you practice playing standing up using a strap?

Thanks.

I always set my strap to place the instrument in roughly the same position as it would rest seated. Except for electric bass. The higher the bass, the better the bass player.

Did you try the single shoulder method? That is more comfortable and less confining for some people.

[Caleb]

I can’t play standing up at all. It just doesn’t work, and I sometimes use a strap while sitting.

[Astro]

Yes. I have to practice while standing just so it wont be awkward or tiring for my occasional gig.

Just make your self play while standing for a week or two and that will fix that. Then freshin it up every now and again. Its just like anything else...practice.

[prairieschooner]

Strap~~~but just learning

[Charles E.]

Thanks for the insights folks. I think part of the problem was that the strap was too long. I adjusted the length so that the mandolin is in the same place standing as sitting as per Walt's advise. This seems to help.

[DHopkins]

I was thinking about this strap thing. (I was bored.) I can't fathom anyone playing without a strap if they're standing. I suppose if you play only chords or chops, it might not be that big a deal. On the other hand, if you're playing an intro or outro or maybe a bridge or break, you're probably gonna be all up and down that fingerboard and and you wouldn't have to tense up and hug the instrument just to keep from dropping it, meaning there would be more freedom of movement.

[Ray(T)]

The late, great Red Rector used to play standing up without a strap. Personally, I always use a strap standing up but usually sitting down to play. I am, however, a great believer in not necessarily doing what everyone else does!

[CES]

I use a strap whether seated or standing, and I do practice standing up some. Not all the time, but enough that it doesn’t feel awkward when I play standing in church...

[Mark Seale]

I have my strap set so that the instrument position is mostly the same as when seated. More recently as I've been working on position and ergonomics, particularly with raising the peghead to a more neutral arm position, I've been using the strap when seated as well.

[V70416]

dave appolon played sans strap while standing. just amazing.

i like to stand and use a strap when i play just because i can groove better when moving around. it helps me.

[Carl Robin]

Standing now and then helps make playing feel more natural and at ease. Not that a little practice isn't required. It's worth the effort though, even if just for a few minutes at a time. Sometimes when my playing starts to feel jumbled, and clumsy for no apparent reason, standing up for a bit, helps me get back into the groove. Posture is easy to overlook, but it is a vital component.

[dhergert]

If you play an F-style, you absolutely have to use a strap -- that's what the scroll is for, isn't it???

[JeffD]

I prefer to play strapless but I go into and out of the habit. It started again when i got the reso. It is just to darn heavy not to use s strap and soon enough i had a strap on all of them.

I only play standing up under protest. I don't stand if I can sit. (I don't run if I can walk, and I don't walk if I can ride.)

[mandroid]

I mainly play old time music and 99% of the time play while seated. Recently I went to a jam and all the playing was done standing up. I have a strap so I slung it up and to my dismay found it very difficult to play due to ergonomics.
So my question, do any of you practice playing standing up using a strap?

Thanks.

One I use the strap on, sitting down , is my Djangolin,
and that strap is a Mariachi* guitar trap ..

for northeastern and southeastern folks , *that's what Willy Nelson uses
to hold up his guitar ,
Though mine isn't macreme' ..


I also used it on my wee pocket mandolin I brought
on my push bike tour/pub crawl in British isles..

[Jim]

Mostly practice mandolin with strap and standing. A good strap position is almost as important as a good setup. As for standing , I almost always perform standing and it feels better for me to play that way. For what it's worth I also play while sprawled on the couch in poor posture, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't lend itself to proper technique.

[Pete Martin]

My performing arts doc told me always wear a strap and have that mandolin in the same place seated and standing. You can look at my ergonomic videos on YouTube to see the holding position she taught me as well as other ergonomic things.

[David Lewis]

I practice standing up and sitting down. Usually with a strap but I also practice standing without a strap.

[Mark Gunter]

I read, or heard, early on, that it is a good idea to use a strap and in such a way as to keep the mandolin in the same position whether sitting or standing. That advice most likely came from Pete Martin's video he mentioned above, because I did watch and learn from his videos as well as others starting out. Anyway, that advice sounded logical and sensible to me, so I've done that from the start, and am happy with that habit.

As for practicing while standing: I think that is a great thing to do, and I don't think I do enough of it. V70416 (whoever in the world that is, post #16) makes a good point that resonates with me, it can be easier to get in a groove while moving a bit unhindered. Also, the others who advocate practicing while standing up all make good points that resonate with me. In the past, I've not only practiced standing, but also moving from room to room at times, and even several times while walking down the street or wandering around the yard. In my own experience, changing up the environment is one way to up your challenges and jump start creativity in your practice.

I don't regularly practice standing, like JeffD I'm pretty lazy in the sense that I like to sit, but I do it on occasion and should probably do more of it.

[DavidKOS]

The late, great Red Rector used to play standing up without a strap. Personally, I always use a strap standing up but usually sitting down to play. I am, however, a great believer in not necessarily doing what everyone else does!

dave appolon played sans strap while standing. just amazing.

i like to stand and use a strap when i play just because i can groove better when moving around. it helps me.

I'm one that has never used a strap, either sitting, standing or strolling. I learned the old way how to hold a bowlback and have never had need of a strap.

I can see how some folks may like them on their larger American style mandolins, but on my smaller European style instruments,I have no use for them.