Left handed person, Right handed guitar

eirebhoy

My brother bought a guitar a few years back which has gone to waist and I decieded to give it a go. If I am left handed would be possible for me to still play it? I downloaded an Ebook of guitar lessons already.

feylya

Best advice - learn to play right handed. It's not really any harder than learning to play left handed and you'll be able to find suitable guitars far easier.

Crash

ah dont listen to that i'm ambidextrous sorta and i play left handed. just pick it up and whichever way you instinctively play go for that feylya while getting guitars is harder, you can still get some nice models lefthanded

feylya

Don't get me wrong. The Iommi signature SG is gorgeous but I've found it's rare to see the same varity of left handed guitars for the same price as right handed ones.

cartman

left hander playin right handed guitar is wrong:/
its way harder i tried it, your left hand is the stronger hand and you need that for finger pickin and strumming

Magic Monkey

Then call me wrong.

I'm left-handed, play right-handed guitar (it's actually much easier for me that way).

Just go for it, and if you can play comfortably, good.

Creamy Goodness

Originally posted by feylya
Best advice - learn to play right handed. It's not really any harder than learning to play left handed and you'll be able to find suitable guitars far easier.

i'm left handed

i play guitar with right hand

it depends which hand you start playing with

start with right and you'll have easier times ahead and guitars won't cost as much for you.

D!ve^Bomb!

people, it doesn't matter if u write with your left hand or not, if u play guitar with your right hand then you're right handed at playin guitar and vice versa,

if you're a beginner then whenever you pick up a guitar use the hand that is most comfortable, dont think of wot hand you write with ffs

Doctor J

Whatever feels comfortable to you. You could re-string the guitar (Hendrix) but that would involve some technical work on the instrument. Gary Moore, for example, is a lefty who plays normal guitar (sorry couldn't help myself ) - ahem... Gary is a lefty who plays a right handed guitar strung in the right handed fashion and he's one of the finest guitarists out there. Another option is to just turn the guitar upside-down and play as is, ie with the bass strings on the bottom and the treble strings on the top. This technique has been used by many, many accomplished players - both guitarists from Atheist (jazz metal - very technically excellent), the bass player from Doves and some famous blues guy whose name escapes me at the moment, all play a right handed guitar turned over without changing where the strings are. Try them all, there is no definitive correct way, whatever works for you is the right thing to do.

eirebhoy

It really feels awkward holding the guitar in my right hand but I think I am just going to have to stick with it. If I turn the guitar upside down to play I would probably need one to one lesson's so I on't want to do that. I am definitely not going to buy a new guitar as I probably won't be bothered learning.

Crash

It doesnt take that much work to switch a rightie guitar to a leftie. tap out the top nut and switch it or buy a left handed version - will most likely require some sanding. adjust the bridge and that. you may get some slight buzzing on the low E so what i do is capo on the first fret and tune down a semitone.

/me fluffles my reversed guitars

feylya

Unless it has a Floyd Rose and what about the controls sitting right under your arm, pissing ya off?

Crash

the controls dont get to me, is handy enough once you get used to it. might just be i've developed my playing style to dodge em. I havent switched around a floyd rose tbh so i dont know.

acoustics tend to get buzzing (cept the backwards 12 string which works grand backwards, tis cool )

electrics, oddly enough i like having a floating tremolo on the wrong side. tbh i think you just adjust.

feylya

TBH, the bridge of a Floyd Rose doesn't need to be changed, apart from the arm postion. The nut wouldn't work too well though. Not without some modification.

Crash

all i know is i find it much easier to play lefthanded. while the choice of guitars is much more limited you do find some absolute beauties (they had a left handed12string in musicmaker a while back - so smooth.....) and i wouldnt change it

Al Pinionpants

Originally posted by Doctor J
Another option is to just turn the guitar upside-down and play as is, ie with the bass strings on the bottom and the treble strings on the top. This technique has been used by many, many accomplished players...

...and also Cormac Battle from Wilt, I'm just kidding ya Cormy, yer alright! :rolleyes: