left handed guitar

firefly08

Something I've wondered about for a while: Why do some people play left-handed guitars?

The reason I ask is: I am right-handed, but when I started to learn to play guitar, it was much harder on my left hand than on my right. I required greater strength and much greater control from my left hand. Admittedly some styles are very demanding of the right hand, but still, I'd say that overall, playing a right handed guitar is at least as demanding on the left hand as on the right, and often more so.

So what is the advantage for a left handed person to play a left handed guitar, or, as some people have done, to play a right handed guitar upside down? It doesn't make sense to me.

Rigsby

I think it is just a case of what feels the most natural to a person. As soon as a guitar is picked up by someone, they immediately position it to their most natural playing position. Same thing with people who write with their left hand. I don't think there is any advantage either way, as to play an instrument well is demanding, whether you are a leftie or a righty.

-=al=-

Right handed and I play left, I'm a bit of both but can't even hold a right handed guitar correctly on my lap

whatever's natural is the fella here + rather like having my main hand on the fretboard, legato came very naturally and quick for me and just feels right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutyA12z3Ok

Hannibal

It's natural to play it left-handed, it be like trying to write with your wrong hand.. it can be done but it will take longer to get the hang over as your flipping a part of your brain.

Noel Gallagher and Mark Knopfler are two pretty good guitarists who are left-handed and learned to play it right-handed unlike say Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney who played it naturally. Hendrix didn't even use a left handed guitar, he turned a right-hander upside down and it looks odd with the Strat

firefly08

It's natural to play it left-handed, it be like trying to write with your wrong hand.. it can be done but it will take longer to get the hang over as your flipping a part of your brain.

Maybe I find it odd because it didn't come naturally to me either way. When I try a guitar the wrong way around now, that's pretty much how it felt both ways when I started.

Compared to writing, however, the problem is that you only write with one hand. So if you have finer motor control in one hand than in the other, writing will feel more natural with that hand. Whereas, musical instruments usually require great skill from both hands. As -=al=- said, he plays the 'wrong' way around and gets along fine - which kind of confirms what I suspected - 'handedness' doesn't really matter with guitars.

In fact, I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any experience of lefties learning the piano - after all, it's not as if you can just switch it around . But my guess is they're at no disadvantage at all.

-=al=-

Yeah don't think it does, there is a lot of variation among guitarists for the left/right handed shizzle... Playing what feels natural is a big plus in my big book

If anything playing left handed makes playing piano easier since my right hand is in the higher registry.. Works out pretty good and makes sense to me at least!

I'd be left handed at bowling and right handed at golf all the same... lots of things I'd swap over for cause it feels natural that way

ciaranmac

My wife plays the ukelele left handed even though she's right handed at everything else. She says it just felt better that way, though she broke her left thumb as a kid and fretting notes was difficult with that hand.

Her brother told her Paul McCartney plays bass the same way - I looked this up and it seems to be an urban myth, McCartney himself says he is left handed for everything.

Hayte

I'm left handed but I've been playing right handed guitars for 14 years. The last 2 of that I've also been learning left handed, so now I can row both ways so to speak.

Left handed is easier I think. Your picking hand is where you develop the fundamentals of rhythm and I can go for longer periods without tiring with my left hand on pick duty. I also find it easier to maintain the correct poise and control velocity. Most importantly, I don't speed up/slow down nearly as much.

Playing both ways, I don't fret with much of a grip anymore, though in the early days of playing right handed, my grip was vice like and became very detrimental to my technique. Now I have a very loose grip both ways and a light touch. When I play right handed, I can still feel strain in my arm and wrist where it is locked in place. I tire easily on the fretting hand and tend to dictate rhythm and tempo on the fretting hand more than the picking hand which is a difficult thing to put into words. I do not feel it is desirable and the longer I have to play without resting my fretting hand, the sloppier my rhythm gets.

I think this can be overcome with wrist exercises and regular practice which is now an odd thing for me to do because I'm transitioning to a left handed guitar and therefore spend most of my practice time on the left handed guitar.

It may or may not be worth mentioning but developing rhythm for me is the most important thing about playing an instrument. If you've got rhythm you can play with anyone, anywhere and even the simplest of songs can come alive with excellent poise and the right ebb and flow. Sloppy rhythm on the other hand makes it difficult to play with anyone and its very difficult to zone out if you are inconsistent.

I personally think its better if your picking/strumming/finger picking hand dictates rhythm and tempo and your fretting hand follows the groove. As long as you do that then I'm not sure if it matters what hand you use.

It can also be difficult to identify if this is even the problem because if fret a left handed guitar with your right hand and you have a vice grip, you are going to tire easily anyway and the solution to that problem is to adjust your grip and find one thats comfortable and allows you to fret consistently.

As with anything music related, you make choices and you live with them. Some doors will open to you, others will close but the result will be the accumulated knowledge and practice that you have put into your craft as well as all of the choices you made along the way. This is part of what makes your sound unique, for better or worse.