Where do you sit?

[Antolina]

I'm wonderimg where most of you sit behind your steels. I've heard every thing from "wherever you like to the 13th fret" and everything in between.

[Phil Halton]

I make a special point to center myself directly in line with the 15th fret every time I sit down to play. I have a good reason for this. First, the fret number doesn't matter as much as the consistency factor--it could be the 13th, 15th or 17th fret, but I've settled on the 15th. I'm teaching my body to know positions and distances without having to think about it. If I'm not consistent in the way I sit at the steel, then fret positions and interval distances are going to be slightly different everytime I play which, for me, leads to intonation problems. And, as everyone knows, you don't have to be off much to be out of pitch and sound bad. On the other hand, a consistent position and posture gives a fixed reference point for the brain to creat a "muscle memory" that's very accurate--even with your eyes closed. So, the 3rd, 8th, 15th frets etc are always in the same place everytime and your hands and arms just go there without much need for adjustment--you can literally play with your eyes closed.

I have to credit Maurice Anderson for this nugget of information from his book "Secrets & Shortcuts". I'm blind, and this is the way I've overcome the very real problem of accurately finding fret positions when you can't see the fret markers (or the fingerboard for that matter). This, along with the other tips in that book, have been of invaluable help to me-- thanks Reece.

[Steve Norman]

I sit around the 15th fret, mostly because here my knees dont engage the levers by accident. to low on the fret board and my leg starts engaging the lkr

[Roger Rettig]

Belly-button lined up with the fifteenth fret for me.

[Andy Sandoval]

15th fret too. It seems to keep the leanin to the right to a minimum and creates a good reference point for me especially when playin on different guitars.

[Richard Sinkler]

On my Butt.

But seriously folks, I too sit centered at the 15th fret.

[b0b]

15th fret for me, too.

[chris ivey]

right behind my steel!

[George Kimery]

Center of the 15th fret is the standard. But, like everything else about the steel, whatever works for you and you are comfortable with to get the job done.

[James Collett]

15th

[Micky Byrne]

Roger....same as you with my Belly button in line with the 15th, but lately I'm having trouble finding my B/B too many take away Chinese and currys for sure

Micky Byrne United Kingdom www.micky-byrne.co.uk

[Jimmy Walls]

15th fret and as far from our drummer as possible.

[Jack Dougherty]

I was taught right of center.......
Been there ever since

JD

[Don Sulesky]

With my Belly Button in line with the 15th fret.

[Carl Vilar]

Same as many centered at 15th

[Richard Sinkler]

Every guitar I've owned and others I have set in on, once my legs are centered in the right knee levers, my belly button (getting hard for me to find also) just happens to line up at the 15th fret. I think I learned this location at a Newman seminar in the 70's, but always centered there. With everyone sitting at the 15th, I think it's, maybe not intentionally, built into the guitar by the placement of the right levers.

[Michael Douchette]

In the bathr...

Oh... "SIT."

Never mind...

[Jerry Roller]

Go to your room Mike.
Jerry

[Donny Hinson]

Where do I sit? Well, that depends on what guitar I'm playing (there are different sizes, and different pedal and knee lever positions, you know), and whether or not I'm playing a double-neck. Rather than lining up your belly button with a certain fret, learn to just find a physically comfortable position as soon as you sit down, even with your eyes closed. You shouldn't need your eyes to tell you what feels good!!!

[Jonathan Cullifer]

E9 or C6? It changes depending on what I'm playing and where. I have a hard time sitting in the same position for both necks, but I guess it's somewhere between the 12th and 16th fret. Also take into account variances in pedal and knee lever position between guitars.

[George Redmon]

Right of center, and a little over a foot away from the back, as near as i can tell.With the advantage of the "Bent Y" pedal design on my whitney, i can set directly over the 15 frett and still reach everything...don't get any better Thanks Paul.

[Phil Halton]

[quote="Donny Hinson"]Where do I sit? Well, that depends on what guitar I'm playing (there are different sizes, and different pedal and knee lever positions, you know), and whether or not I'm playing a double-neck. Rather than lining up your belly button with a certain fret, learn to just find a physically comfortable position as soon as you sit down, even with your eyes closed. You shouldn't need your [i]eyes[/i] to tell you what feels good!!! [/quote]

Donny, That's true--you don't need your eyes to know what feels good. But, do you need your eyes to know where to place your bar? Did you learn to play the PSG without the use of your eyes? I've found that what feels good and what works are often two entirely different things.

Your inference that eyesight is of little value when playing, or learning to play the PSG interests me greatly. I know a few blind Players, aside from myself, who would probably also be very interested to hear what you've discovered about the role of eyesight in learning to play this instrument.

You see, one problem we encounter is knowing how to place the bar accurately when changing fret positions without sliding our notes to give us audio feedback. A 10 fret jump for example--two fourth intervals. Or, another example, moving accurately from a D chord on the first fret to an A chord on 17 without any visual or aural feedback. Maybe its all in our heads, but these seem to be real problems for some of us. I think I've found a way to do this (with lots of conscious practice), but if you've already cracked this problem will you please share your method?

[Steve Norman]

would a fretboard with a small tic mark or brail device that you can feel with your thumb or palm work?

[Dave Mudgett]

Nominally, I sit centered at the 14th or 15th fret, but that might vary up or down a bit depending on the guitar, where the pedals are, which neck, and so on, as Donny and Jonathan suggest.

Phil - I can't speak for Donny. But to me - the eyes are useful but not sufficient for proper placement of the bar. The ears are critical, IMO. That is the number one issue I have worked on the last year - bar placement and intonation. For me, the only solution is a lot of seat time with careful and critical listening.

I need my eyes to quickly get "in the neighborhood" for large position changes. But having a more perfect non-parallax view of my fret markers doesn't seem to really help me play in tune much better. Only my ears can help me with that. That's just me, YMMV.

I also wonder how much more difficult this instrument would be to play blind than, let's say, fretted guitar or piano. Some players must be able to do it pretty well, because they can focus on singing while they play steel. I assume it's practice, practice, and more practice while not looking at the fingerboard. Yeah, braille-style markers sound like a good idea to get started on that, but I've never seen that.

[Jack Stoner]

I probably sit somewhere around the 15th fret, but I've never looked at exactly where I am.

I don't have to change positions to play the C6th (back) neck. I can reach all the pedals without having to move my left leg over to the right of the LKR on my Franklin.