Unable to find the "right" position to begin.

Hi Everybody

I know that I'm no spring chicken to become a beginner. I bought a Yamaha F310 about a year ago after researching & finding so many positive reviews 'across the board' about it, but found I was getting cramps, pains etc (didn't understand why at the time), so my starting took a nose dive. Over the last year I've improved my health in various ways and decided to give it another try.

But I seem to have the very basic issue of finding a position of sitting and holding the guitar. I am trying to follow Jamey Andreas's video "The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar", because it's the most in-depth. I'm trying as many positions as possible and in beginning to learn, all I am doing to begin is using my right hand to finger - no left hand action at all (this last statement reading back sounds like I should be on an "XXX Adult" forum :lol: ) to know my right arm is in the right position & comfortable and for my fingers to also be in the right place to learn the string positions.

If I put it on my right leg, whether both feet flat (right leg straight out at a right angle, left leg spread wide and foot slightly forward), or the right leg raised (4"/6"), where my elbow wants to sit just at approx 11 o'clock or slightly towards 12 (as the guitar base/bottom curve rises up to it's highest point) means my hand with curved fingers is not over the hole (sorry for lack of 'technical terms'), and so to keep the elbow position but make my hand over the hole my hand/fingers seem to be more in parallel with the strings making me slide the finger over the string more rather than pluck it, and if instead I'm now resting the elbow at the highest point of the curve (12 o'clock) to get a better hand position & direction (more downwards like a "+" sign across the strings) which seems to make the blood cut off because I must be on a pressure point, and this position causes additional weight from my arm being more raised, to push down on the guitar body making it a) want to rise up so my left hand needs to hold it down & b) to start to slide outwards from the bottom.

By the way, I do not have a strap.

If I go for the classical sitting stance, raising the left leg and placing the bottom/base of the guitar 'against my inner right thigh', which in turn makes the 'head' rise at a 45 degree angle, this releases the pressure bearing down from my right arm and my right hand position seems to fall over the hole nicely but I then find I need to exaggerate my wrist so my hand is pointing downwards, which if I don't means I'm getting a sliding along the string sound when plucking.

I am trying different chairs, sitting on the edge, trying with a straight back but relaxed shoulders, head up.

I'm beginning to wonder if the Yamaha is simply too big, causing me these problems, or if it's my age and body shape (have a bit of a gut). I know that I 'must' get this right at my age from the beginning or all my back aches etc will just get worse and stop me from learning. Do I need velcro on the back to stop the feeling of it slipping from under me, rather than trying to grip it creating tension in my forearm.

As Jamey (please can someone confirm if Jamey is a man or woman as I see references on websites to "her" but in the video I'm seeing a man) explains, positioning, posture and how you hold it is the difference between bad playing and pain and playing good etc via losing tension in the body, so even before thinking of bringing in the left hand, I need to get the above right first.

If a strap will help, there's only one strap connector thingy on the base/bottom. Do I need to get a guitar shop to professionally put another one in at the base of the neck?

I might add, I'm not from where I live, so I've some big language barriers that stop me from getting good local help. I'm not in a band or have any friends who play. There's me, the guitar and help video's that all but Jamey's don't really help me to actually begin, even though they say they are for beginners. They focus on you learning chords etc.

I'm not even sure if how I am holding my right hand in relation to the strings direction is correct, because it doesn't seem to want to go in a 'southerly' direction (or at least without adding tension into the wrist to make it so). It seems to revert back to a more parallel direction with the strings, or at the most a south-west direction, which means my fingers are not at a 90 degree angle to the strings for good plucking. But then this could be because of my arm and elbow position.

I hope a member here understands how I've tried to describe my problems and experienced the same, and can tell me what I am doing wrong, what I need to do differently, direct me to some good online help that really shows in detail and explains in a simple way what to do.

Thanks.