child's guitar strap

[Elwood]

I bought my grandson (10) a beginner strat clone for Christmas but the strap is too long to help hold the guitar upright when he sits to practice/learn. When we fold the strap to shorten it to hold the guitar upright, it's so short it doesn't give him room to take the guitar off easily. One solution might be to get removable button locks, but that may be awkward for a child to grab the strap to attach it. Has anyone here found a good solution for a child's guitar strap?

 

I'm concerned that unless the guitar is held comfortably in the proper position, he'll give up on it. I guess we could always just set it up as a lap slide guitar.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

When we fold the strap to shorten it to hold the guitar upright, it's so short it doesn't give him room to take the guitar off easily.

 

Erm... I'm confused. Why can't he just take the strap off the guitar?

[Professor Monkey]

Er.. I just leave my strap on my lap when I sit..

[Elwood]

The strap helps because otherwise the guitar slides flat into his lap (same reason I wear a strap on both my Strat and bass). With the too-long strap the guitar is slanted out 45 degrees. I'm sure it's more of a problem with a glossy electric than with a light flat-bottom acoustic. Maybe an alternative would be to get him a setup where his leg is elevated, although I've tried that and find it uncomfortable.

[Professor Monkey]

I find it more comfortable to elevate the leg the guitar is resting on.

 

Why not just get a box and try it out, maybe it will help his playing too.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Two way tape a strip of rubber on the guitar where his leg cradles the guitar. He won't need a strap at all.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

When we fold the strap to shorten it to hold the guitar upright, it's so short it doesn't give him room to take the guitar off easily.

 

Erm... I'm confused. Why can't he just take the strap off the guitar?

 

I still can't understand why he can't take the strap off the guitar?

[miroslav]

Has anyone here found a good solution for a child's guitar strap?

 

It isn't just a child-strap problem...everyone deals with it.

 

Here's the trick...and it's got nothing to do with the strap.

 

You leave the strap so that it fits right for stand-up playing, and then when seated, you use a footrest that lifts the leg ever-so-slightly up, preventing the guitar from sliding anywhere. You also learn to use the inside of your picking forearm to further support the guitar and keep it up straight.

 

Any type of gizmos or weird strap adjustment will only become a lifelong crutch.

 

There are a lot of fold-up footrests out there, designed specifically for guitarists. Most will be fine for a child, but I find many of the fold up ones rather rickety for the heavier adult foot.

I found what I consider to be of the best footrests out there...and it really isn't intended for guitarists.

OK...I'm sure some of you will get a nice chuckle out of this...but trust me, if you don't need a portable fold-up foot rest, you can't beat one of these:

 

http://www.target.com/Medela-Nursing-Stool/dp/B000056JIH/qid=1198740408/ref=br_1_10/602-7891101-4503023?ie=UTF8&node=11051561&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1

 

I searched high and low for a solid footrest...and stumbled upon these while searching on eBay. This is one of the strongest footrests out there. You can stand on it full-weight and it will not move...and, you can even fit both of your feet on it if you like.

[Darcy H]

I had the exact problem when I got my daughter her first guitar. I looked everywhere for shorter straps, then ended up finding one thin enough I could tie a knot in it to shorten it sufficiently, but it didn't really end up helping.

 

What did fix the problem, as mentioned, was elevating her leg so it wasn't sloped, with a small footrest, as we couldn't find a chair low enough for her to keep the upper part of her leg straight, or at least, straight enough to prevent the guitar from sliding off.

[Elwood]

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody. I'll try the footrest and also look for a child-height chair.

 

It's puzzling why so many see no benefit to using a strap while seated. I play both bass and guitar, almost always seated, and the strap is clearly beneficial to me. Without the strap, the neck of my Strat wants to angle upward, then it starts to slide off of my lap onto the floor. I can't put my thumb in the proper position, because I'd need it to hold the neck down AND the Strat still wants to slide off my lap onto the floor. That's very distracting, especially when you're trying to learn. With the strap, however, the guitar is always in the proper and a consistent position, and I can concentrate fully on playing it, my left thumb on the back of the neck where it belongs and fingertips only on the strings where they belong, and my right hand positioned only for picking and not worrying about clutching onto the guitar or even balancing it. I'll concede that a strap is not essential when seated, but my experience has proven that it's definitely helpful.

 

Now imagine a 10-year old, even if a footrest balances the guitar. He leans over to change a CD he's been practicing to and the guitar falls to the floor and breaks. His little sister wants to come in the room and in his haste to shoo her out, the guitar falls to the floor and breaks. Now that the guitar is no longer playable and had been such a time-consuming hassle to learn it anyway, he tosses it in the closet and goes back to video games. My aim is to set up an environment for him that maximizes the results of his practice, at least until he discovers the joy of actually playing music, and minimizes hazards that could cause him to give up.

 

Perhaps a properly-adjusted strap just isn't practical on someone his size, so I'll try the other suggestions. Thanks!

[miroslav]

If the child will always play from a seated position...then I guess the strap adjustment is one solution.

 

But most guys play seated from time to time...and usually the strap is left alone, though it still sits across the shoulder and acts as secondary security so that the guitar doesn't end up falling completely off your lap. But most seated players will rely on a footrest to lift the leg and support the guitar.

 

If you really "strap in" a guitar...it doesn't feel quite comfortable, as it needs to be movable and adjustable while you play and move. And as I mentioned...the picking hand forearm also aids in keeping the guitar in position...so that the fingering hand is generally free to move, though it too provides a certain amount of support.

The strap is mostly there for stand-up playing, to carry the weight of the guitar....IMO.

 

Good luck.