Left handed Guitar Lessons

SvenjaP

Hi,
I am looking for guitar lessons but I want to learn left handed.
Location: Dublin city centre.

Does anyone have any advice on where the best place is to find someone without going to an expensive music school? Maybe a music student or similar?

Thanks!

martinedwards

youtube has a million lessons.

the technique is the same, just the other way round, so any guitar teacher can teach you, regardless of thier right or left handedness.

CiaranMcDCFC

I am left handed and never learned the guitar but always imagined it would be easier for a left hander to learn from someone right handed. If you sit opposite them as they are showing you chords etc it will be like looking in a mirror and therefore easier to copy? I could be entirely wrong of course.

SvenjaP

Thanks for that. Ya I know there is a lot on Youtube but I get lazy and don't practice. I think I just need to sit down with someone to show me what to do.

Where could I find a guitar teacher? Maybe put a note up in Trinity college or something?

trad

See if you can get a chord book for left handed player and try to avoid the upside down right handed guitar approach.

Ravelleman

There's no reason a lefty can't learn from a right-handed teacher. The techniques are exactly the same. Put an ad up on adverts.ie in the services wanted section maybe.

SvenjaP

I will do that. Great, thanks for the advice!

Rigsby

Also check out "Gumtree".

http://www.gumtree.ie/fp-musicians-artists/c8034

b318isp

I know this is not what you want, but my father has taught guitar for many years - and he advocates learning right handed.

The is based on:

- Being left handed helps with learning chords and having a good grip from early stages
- You can pick up other player's guitars and play away
- If you really grow to like guitars, you will have a greater selection

My LH son is learning RH with no problems.

Ravelleman

I agree with the above advice but for some people it does feel 'wrong'. Luckily for me, when I picked up the guitar I had no real preference so I just went right-handed for convenience. I would probably describe myself as cross-dominant though - I write with my left hand but would throw a ball or play golf with my right hand - so that might explain it.

Rigsby

b318isp wrote: »

- Being left handed helps with learning chords and having a good grip from early stages
- You can pick up other player's guitars and play away
- If you really grow to like guitars, you will have a greater selection

I totally agree with points two and three, but not the top one. If you go with the most natural and comfortable way, then learning chords will be the same, whichever hand is fretting them. By "grip", I assume you mean physical, as apart from getting to grips on chords/theory. If so, then grip is not necessary (just a minimal amount is required) to play the guitar.

IMO, the best thing to do is to go into a shop, pick up a R/H guitar then a L/H one. Your natural instinct will tell you which guitar to go with.

b318isp

^ Yes, grip in terms of say barre chords. It can take a while to build up the strength in the thumb, particularly for children or those with smaller hands.

My Dad would say that the left hand needs finger dexterity for chords, while the right needs wrist dexterity for rhythm (on a RH instrument).

Also note there is no such thing as a left hand piano, flute, saxophone, violin, etc. (AFAIK)

Rigsby

b318isp wrote: »

My Dad would say that the left hand needs finger dexterity for chords, while the right needs wrist dexterity for rhythm (on a RH instrument).

I dont understand the logic here. For someone picking up an instrument for the first time, having decided which way to play (R/H or L/H), surely the dexterity required would be the same for the fingers of either hand ? Same thing for wrist dexterity.

-=al=-

I find it easy peasy to look at righties and pick it up easy... if anything it's better since the tabs are almost laid out perfectly for the lefty neck

Shouldn't make a difference really :pac:

And as for the lefty/righty playing thing... I'm right handed and play left since it's 100 times easier and better... I've almost seemed to pick stuff up faster than most of my mates who are the righty righty jazz

I can't even sit the guitar properly on my lap right handed

There is no need to be forced to play right handed in this day and age there is enough available + it's piss easy to pick up a righty guitar and jam out chords upside down

b318isp

Rigsby wrote: »

I dont understand the logic here. For someone picking up an instrument for the first time, having decided which way to play (R/H or L/H), surely the dexterity required would be the same for the fingers of either hand ? Same thing for wrist dexterity.

If you are left handed, you are likely to have better dexterity in that hand - making the act of learning the complexities of fingering and moving between chords easier.

Dexterity is less important in the right hand as it is only learning to strum (although learning fingerstyle requires some dexterity).

Ravelleman

Ultimately, it didn't make much of a difference for me as I'm rubbish anyway. There comes a point when you just have to make a decision and roll with it.

Mad_Dave

b318isp wrote: »

If you are left handed, you are likely to have better dexterity in that hand - making the act of learning the complexities of fingering and moving between chords easier.

Dexterity is less important in the right hand as it is only learning to strum (although learning fingerstyle requires some dexterity).

Surely by this logic the opposite is also true, all righties should play lefty guitars!

Ravelleman

Mad_Dave wrote: »

Surely by this logic the opposite is also true, all righties should play lefty guitars!

The world as we know it will surely be destroyed.

-=al=-

That logic seems to work great for me... I recycle though

macpac26

As a left hander and a beginner i had this dilemma about choosing whether to start off with a RH guitar. My answer came when i went into Waltons and picked up a RH guitar and it felt completely alien and really difficult to even hold properly when strumming. Some ignorant so and sos (mainly right handers) believe you should be able to play RH no problem and not bother to play a LH..this is complete nonsense! Moral of the story is that everyone is geared differently so choose your guitar based on what feels right to you not what others tell you you should play.

Pickup a RH and a LH guitar and start strumming and see do you notice a real difference between them. The real disadvantages with LH is the range of guitars, finishes and pricing. Gibson and Fender have been making real strides in recent years in offering a Lefty model in their range but any special editions or signature guitars will most certainly be RH only much to my dismay.

As for learning look up Justin Sandercoe & The Secret Guitar Teacher on youtube as a starting point, i also use Gibsons Learn and Master Guitar DVDs and the Metal Method series. I use many resources so it doesnt become boring.

Just a quick note on learning technique. Dont bother learning chord diagrams for left handed players just learn the RH versions from the get go. It will save you a lot of hassle down the road in my opinion.

Ravelleman

macpac26 wrote: »

Some ignorant so and sos (mainly right handers) believe you should be able to play RH no problem and not bother to play a LH..this is complete nonsense! Moral of the story is that everyone is geared differently so choose your guitar based on what feels right to you not what others tell you you should play.

This explanation doesn't take into account the fact that for any beginner - right or left-handed - strumming and fingering chords will feel unnatural at the start. An essential part of learning the guitar is developing dexterity and achieving muscle memory in both hands, as well as learning chord shapes and the like.

Perhaps your natural bias towards all things left-handed influenced this - the guaranteed simplicity of the backup option. Had you really tried to learn on a right-handed guitar, I would suggest that you would have had little difficulty.

You're left-handed, not a stroke victim.

Rigsby

Ravelleman wrote: »

This explanation doesn't take into account the fact that for any beginner - right or left-handed - strumming and fingering chords will feel unnatural at the start. An essential part of learning the guitar is developing dexterity and achieving muscle memory in both hands, as well as learning chord shapes and the like.

I agree up to a point. However, if someone who has never held a guitar in their life, goes into a shop and picks one up, their natural inclination towards being right or left handed will dictate how they even hold the instrument, before they even think about dexterity or muscle memory.
IMO, it does not make sense to go against this natural inclination.

I agree with macpac26 in that everyone is different, and there is no "one size fits all" solution.

Besides, what difference should it make to right handers, how someone else chooses to play ?

zafo

Shouldn't this be in the techniques and theory section?

Ravelleman

Rigsby wrote: »

I agree up to a point. However, if someone who has never held a guitar in their life, goes into a shop and picks one up, their natural inclination towards being right or left handed will dictate how they even hold the instrument, before they even think about dexterity or muscle memory.
IMO, it does not make sense to go against this natural inclination.

But this is my point. Dexterity and muscle memory are learned by the player. They should resist the instinct, which doesn't necessarily have any basis in reality, because, ultimately, they can train their right hand to do whatever is required. If you don't know how to play it doesn't make a difference what way you play as you have to learn the techniques and spacing either way.

Rigsby wrote: »

Besides, what difference should it make to right handers, how someone else chooses to play ?

It makes no difference to me but as a left-handed person who plays right-handed, I can say that it is much better not to have to buy from a limited range of instruments, which are quite often higher in price. From a social point of view it is also nice to be able to play other people's guitars and for them to be able to play yours

I am not personally affected by this but from my experience I feel that it IS worth recommending that people play right-handed. It will lead to less instances of disappointment in the future.

-=al=-

I agree with going with the natural way and highly advise it

When I first picked up a guitar back in 2000 in Waltons, I instinctively took it up and played the right handed guitar like a lefty

The sale person said "no no you're playing it wrong" So I flipped it over tried to play it righty and it was the most unatural thing in the world...

It's like playing football.. you're either naturally left or right footed with the odd few in between being decent with both... I think it's the same for guitarists

Or even bowling/golf/tennis for e.g ...I'd be left handed at darts/bowling but I'd use a tennis racket/baseball bat/golf with my right

Different things feel more natural and easier with different ways of doing them... I can easily pick up a right handed guitar and play it upside down... Yeah it's not ideal for playing fancy guitars or jams at a party... but being lefty has no way held me back... If anything it has made me better since it felt totally natural to play


Do what feels natural and never ever ever force anyone to play right handed if it's not there natural inclination ... It's no big deal in 2013

Ravelleman

-=al=- wrote: »

It's like playing football.. you're either naturally left or right footed with the odd few in between being decent with both... I think it's the same for guitarists

I don't think this is a good comparison as there are many, many footballers who have trained themselves to play with their other foot, despite being dominant in the other - one example that comes to mind is Morten Gamst. This only adds to their versatility.

-=al=- wrote: »

Do what feels natural and never ever ever force anyone to play right handed if it's not there natural inclination ... It's no big deal in 2013

It's not a question of being forced - it's advice. And the fact is that the selection of left-handed guitars available in 2013 is still terrible - not necessarily in terms of models but in terms of options.

Rigsby

Ravelleman wrote: »

If you don't know how to play it doesn't make a difference what way you play as you have to learn the techniques and spacing either way.

In that case, why not just go with what feels natural and comfortable ?

Ravelleman

Rigsby wrote: »

In that case, why not just go with what feels natural and comfortable ?

Because of the later selection issues.

Rigsby

Ravelleman wrote: »

Because of the later selection issues.

Ah ! We are at cross purposes here. I am talking from a purely "what seems natural" aspect. Granted, there is more choice in R/H instruments, but I think most left handers know this. Surely they dont need any advice in this matter ?

-=al=-

Yeah footballers train with their other non-dominant foot but would it feel the same as striking the ball with their dominant!? You can train but it still never feels 100% the same. You can even see it when most players strike a ball with the other foot, it's not as fluid or coherent looking

Sure I'm left footed and had many football drills with using the other foot and all that... but if you have a choice to take a peno in the WC final to win the game, wouldn't you rather use your dominant foot!?


As for the guitar thang, I'd rather have a choice of 2 guitars to play well than a choice of 2,000 to play averagely

I understand this varies for different folks for their different strokes when it comes to this (amongst other things) but I know for a fact if I played right handed for something like the selection issues I wouldn't be as nifty across 6 strings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpRVv_1aTF4

macpac26

Ravelleman wrote: »

Perhaps your natural bias towards all things left-handed influenced this - the guaranteed simplicity of the backup option. Had you really tried to learn on a right-handed guitar, I would suggest that you would have had little difficulty.

You're left-handed, not a stroke victim.

I really find this point of view frustrating. If it worked for you that it should work for me with "little difficulty".

As advice, i would always say play what feels the most natural, as you will develop your skills faster, feel more comfortable playing and as a beginner the last thing you would want is another massive hurdle of re-engineering your body and mind to play another way that feels unnatural just because youre limited by a range of guitars. Depending on the person this could be done over time but its not something id recommend at all for beginners. Its a longer road with no guarantee you will reach a higher level of playing than if you chose the LH route.

I guess whats important is do what works best for you be it LH or RH and enjoy the journey