By Laurie Niles: These days we might well be wearing pajamas to play, but we can still demand healthy posture of ourselves, whether sitting or standing!
But with no one watching, we are probably defaulting to the position in which we feel most naturally comfortable. Do you sit, or stand when you are playing?
![stand or sit]()
I actually prefer to stand when I play because it gives me a greater range of motion and thus more of a feeling of freedom. So that is my default, at least when I start out!
That said, sometimes I have to sit, due to sore feet. Of course if you are a cellist or pianist, you will sit down all the time; and certain physical constraints make it so some of us have no choice.
Posture is important no matter what, but sitting seems to require some extra attention to positioning. The Suzuki pedagogue William Starr, guest-conducting a Colorado youth orchestra in which I was a youth, told us to automatically straighten up when we lifted the violins or violas to our chins. It's a great thought to help form the habit of sitting up straight to play. No matter how slouched you get while talking or resting between playing, when the violin or viola goes up, so do you!
When I sit, I really have to be positioned on a right-height chair, with both feet planted firmly on the ground and plenty of room to bow. I remember a stand partner once telling me that she never would wear a dress or skirt for a concert "because I have to sit like a cowboy!" Somehow that idea always makes me want to sit straight!
Please participate in the vote, and then tell us all about it. Also tell us about your journeys with playing-posture and whether you feel like you have accomplished a posture that serves your playing, avoids injury and looks good!
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