The guitar stool – How it can improve your playing

The benefits sitting on a stool are often overlooked by guitarists; in fact I would be surprised if most of them even knew that there were benefits to using one. This article aims to shed some light on how owning a guitar stool can improve your playing, because as is often the case with many musical accessories, they offer more than meets the eye.

The two primary advantages a guitar stool offers are improved posture and improved playing. The first of these may seem like a no brainer but I’m sure a few players will be raising their eyebrows at the latter claim. Yes, sitting stool can really improve your playing much in the same way that sitting on a drum throne helps drummers.

In order to generate enough pressure on the strings to create a clear note you need leverage, this is usually caused by the hand resting on the neck and the fingers positioned parallel to the fretboard. This position allows the guitarist to exert a great amount of force on the strings which ensures a clean note is produced. The problem is that when players are slouched on a bed or couch they can find it hard to produce clear notes because they are not in a position to produce adequate leverage.

This is where the stool comes in handy, it encourages players to sit in an upright position which maximizes the amount of pressure the player can exert on the strings, thus allowing barre chords to be played effortlessly. Many players fail to play barre chords because they find it difficult to apply enough pressure, because the guitar stool forces you to play in an upright position this is made much easier.

I should note that an adjustable stool will produce the best results if you are looking to improve your playing, this will force your body to stay in an upright position which is comfortable. This kind of stool actually allows you to adjust its height to match that of your body’s.