Should a lefty start out on a left handed guitar?

[Seagull S6]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Contrary to popular opinion I'd downplay anyone's need to play a specifically oriented instrument. Guitars aren't specifically right-handed, but simply mimic the vast majority of instruments that are noted with the left hand.

The "need" for a lefty to play an instrument set up as a mirror image of a standard instrument has much more to do with social pressures resulting from a basic misunderstanding that anything relating to handedness. The need for a left-handed version of whatever the task at hand requires starts becoming programmed as a mindset as soon as we start to be taught to write.

The hand interacting with the fretboard of a standard guitar requires a much higher degree of physical manipulation than the right hand, which might need as little "skill" as performing a simple strum pattern.

Although there's always a high-dollar answer to the left-handed piano argument the bottom line is simple economics, with the VAST majority of pianos NOT relating a handedness qualifier. There's always a manufacturer willing to accept someone's money if they feel they must have a reverse configuration for a keyboard before their brain will allow them to interact with an instrument to create music. That's plain silly.

I'm STRONGLY left-handed and I'm very fortunate that no one ever tried to tell me I needed a "left-handed" guitar.

Excuse me, I have to go out and find myself a left-handed bicycle now...

Guitars are hand orientated. There is a reason they have been made for centuries like they have. It is because although it is more strenuous, all the fretting hand does is clamps chord shapes and notes while the picking/strumming hand is what actually makes the music. If what you say is true, it would not matter which hand you naturally hold a chisel and hammer with would it?

L/H piano? Christopher Seed, a virtuoso pianist, had always felt that a R/H piano limited his playing ability and had a L/H piano built for him and did find that using his dominant hand for melody improved his articulation and timing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cowjrSTHKTw

If you have found what works well for you, that's fantastic, you are in good company. Mark Knofler is left handed and plays right handed to very good effect. So no. Not everyone needs to play a correctly handed instrument, but some of us do.

[Tony Done]

Originally Posted by TBman

If they already bought their guitar, then don't say anything to them. As a "righty" I never really understood why right handed players fret the chords with their left hand. It would seem that the dominate hand would do the intricate high dexterity work (ignoring finger style and high speed flat picking, and intricate rhythm playing for this discussion)

The explanation I have heard for this is that the dominant hand evolved for manipulating, and the weak hand for grasping, which is pretty much the difference between picking and fretting. The other explanation I've seen is that the fretted instruments evolved from plucked instruments like harps, and the dominant hand did the bulk of the picking work.

Would you lefties that play right-handed say that you are weakly left handed? Conversely, are the lefties that play left-handed strongly left-handed?

[Steel and wood]

I read in a guitar magazine that guitar manufacturers build left handed guitars for around 1% only of the guitar playing population. (Those with extreme left handedness who find it impossible to play right handed).

I remember hearing about John McEnroe (the tennis player) who had a substantial collection of high end left handed guitars because just like his tennis, he was unable to play right handed.

[Montesdad]

Originally Posted by Bone28

About a quarter of my beginner guitar students are left handed! Should I encourage them to play left handed (with a left handed guitar)? Many of them already have a right handed guitar.

I thought I would consult the wisdom of the forum, especially left handed folks.

I'm fairly left-handed, mostly ambidextrous.
I play righty - playing lefty doesn't seem correct.

Sometimes right with matters, sometimes left - I go with what feels more natural.
Golf, irons and drivers right, putter left
Rifles and shotguns left, pistols right - and I'm left eye dominant

I'd let your students decide

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Bone, I've taught a lot of students myself over the years, including a lot of lefties. What I have found is that some lefties can learn right-handed pretty well, while others simply cannot. It depends on how strongly left-handed they are.

What I've always done is start by saying: "Well, let's try it right-handed at first, and see how well you do." And a lot of them do just fine. But others try and can't make it work right-handed.

All this talk about how much more convenient it is to play right-handed is completely irrelevant if the student cannot do it. And unlike some folks, I find that trying to browbeat left-handed kids into playing right-handed is worse than useless - if the students are so strongly left-handed that right-handed playing is outside their grasp, continuing to insist that they learn right-handed is actively destructive and demoralizing. Chances are that you'll scare them off playing entirely, possibly for life.

You see, there's a continuum of handedness, and some of us are more strongly right- or left-handed than others.

1**2**3**4**5**6**7**8**9

If someone who is strongly and completely left-handed is a 1, and someone equally strongly right-handed is a 9, then someone who is completely ambidextrous would be a 5.

My mother was a left-handed kid, and back in those days teachers would smack children with a ruler if they used their left hands, in the misguided belief that they could "cure" the children of their left-handedness. If left alone, my mother would have probably have been around a 3 or a 4 level lefty on this scale, but the coercive methods used in schools back then nudged her more towards the middle.

Likewise, as a small child I favored my left, mostly, but once I started going to school it was just easier to do things right-handed. So I'm probably a 6 or maybe a 7, as opposed to my sister and father, who rank around 8 or 8.5.

Since most lefties seem to hover around 3 or 4 on this continuum, it might well be easier for them to acquire the skills to learn to play right-handed than it will be to go through the trouble of finding a left-handed guitar or to convert an existing instrument.

But some of those lefties you'll encounter simply do not have that option. If they're not allowed to learn and play the instrument left-handed, they're just not going to be able to play at all. And as a teacher, part of your job is to be sensitive to their needs and figure out how to reach them and how to teach them.

So if you decide to tell those strongly left-handed students that they need to cowboy up and learn how to play right-handed, that would be an abdication of your responsibilities, frankly. Even though we'll hear from lots of lefties who'll tell us: "I did it, so anybody can!"

Uh, sorry, but no - maybe a LOT of lefties can learn to play right-handed, but others simply cannot. Part of your job as a teacher is to figure out which kind of lefty student you're dealing with, and for those who are so strongly left-handed that they need to have a lefty-strung guitar, just start teaching them as though you're looking into a mirror.

It's really easy to teach that kind of lefty student, actually, once you get used to it.

So, short version: what I do with a left-handed student, always, is explain why it's more of a hassle to play left-handed because instruments need to be converted, etc. I'll say: "So let's start by trying to play right-handed, and see how that works out."

If it absolutely does not work, then they need to get the instrument restrung.

I would say that at least three fourths of the time, lefty students seem to do pretty well learning to play right-handed. But that leaves 25% of them who will need to be accommodated. No matter what some folks bellowing on the Internet will tell you.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

As good a summation as anything I've read Wade.

[Nymuso]

I've often wondered why we elect to attack the string with our dominant hand while the non-dominant hand seems to be doing the more intricate job.

[Silly Moustache]

I am a lefty that plays righty, and I have an opinion on this.

We live in a right handed world and so every lefty has to learn sooner or later to be ambidextrous.

Whilst I was beaten in school for being left handed, which ruined my beautiful left hand writing style, I feel that it makes for an easier life to learn to play right handed.
When I started playing drums then guitar it never occurred to me that I had a choice.

Firstly - why not have your dominant hand doing the complicated stuff on the fret board,

Secondly , as you develop your playing skills you have to go through a fair amount of guitar purchases to discover what suits your hands and style best. This is much easier seeking out right handed guitars than lefties.

As a teacher, you should not "force" anyone to go any way but it might be good to tell them the disadvantages of electing to be in a minority.

[Moocheng]

I see left handedness and right handedness as being a line with LH and RH at each end and ambidextrous some where in the middle. The decision on what orientation to adopt will likely depend where you sit on that line.

In my case, I sit firmly at the LH end, learning to play a right handed instrument was never going to happen.

Its something that should be left for the student to decide, and his/her decision should be respected not coerced to go in an unsuitable direction.


just a smile....when anyone spouts opinions, everyone should learn to play right handed I smile and offer them one of my guitars and say " here, learn that " ( only with people I know of course)

[Howard Emerson]

THE MOST IMPORTANT 'DOMINANT' TRAIT IS HOW A CHILD PICTURES THEMSELVES PLAYING.

IF THEY PLAY AIR GUITAR LEFTY, PAY ATTENTION TO THAT, FIRST AND FOREMOST.

IF THEY PLAY AIR GUITAR RIGHTY, PAY ATTENTION TO THAT, FIRST AND FOREMOST.

After that it's just a bunch of adults projecting.

HE

[Athens]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

I've often wondered why we elect to attack the string with our dominant hand while the non-dominant hand seems to be doing the more intricate job.

If your style is predominantly finger picking, both hands do some intricate work, so this line of thinking kind of doesn't apply. Just my opinion, anyway.

Left handed people don't seem to have a problem driving a car with the steering wheel on the same side as right handed people.

Computer keyboards? I don't recall ever seeing one with the keys arranged in a "left handed orientation".

Aircraft with sidesticks instead of control yokes have the pilot's on the left and copilot's on the right. I'm sure they don't decide if you're a pilot or copilot based on left or right hand preference.

We are amazingly adaptable animals (when we decide to be anyway ) and anything done with both hands can be learned either way from the start. It's switching once you've started that messes things up, again just my opinion.

Fascinating discussion though.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by TBman

If they already bought their guitar, then don't say anything to them. As a "righty" I never really understood why right handed players fret the chords with their left hand. It would seem that the dominate hand would do the intricate high dexterity work (ignoring finger style and high speed flat picking, and intricate rhythm playing for this discussion)

this has always been my thought as well.
hendrix played upside down. so anything can
be learned. so why not use ones dominant
hand to do the more intricate work. when one
starts learning it's usually simple strumming.
certainly easy enough to master with non dominant hand..

[Gary1953]

I have a nine year old young grandson that is left handed. I had him try a guitar both ways and he was more comfortable playing lefty. I got a Squire Mini Strat and reversed the nut and strings ala Jimi Hendrix. He got the guitar for Christmas.

[Otterhound]

As these types of threads unfold , the safe space mentality becomes projected by so many .
From personal experience , the hand that has the rhythm is the key . If you cannot carry the rhythm in your left hand you should have a go at playing righty as well as the reverse .
We are all wired differently , so there is no hard and fast dogma that should apply .
As an example . You never see left handed violinists in an orchestral environment , yet there are left handed violinists and violins . This is , in part , a matter of logistics . The left handed player will need to be at the left end of a row in order to not create a bit of chaos . And , let's face it , chaos is not desired in the orchestral setting/world .
An aspect that tends to emerge as well , is certain people attempting to impose their personal views onto others instead of encouraging the individual to act on their own behalf . Human nature , sadly .
The music does not care what your hand orientation is nor does the ear . Maybe we can all learn something from this .

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by Tony Done

Would you lefties that play right-handed say that you are weakly left handed? Conversely, are the lefties that play left-handed strongly left-handed?

A lefty, I have always been of the opinion that, in general, left-handers are a bit more ambidextrous than right handers. We all vary of course, but try to find a left-handed scissors, a left handed catcher's mitt, or a left-handed butter knife. You learn to cope, which is exactly what I did on the guitar - and have never regretted it.

[Rudy4]

Although my thoughts have already been stamped with "Mostly complete nonsense" I'd simply suggest that anyone arguing about the "handedness" of a guitar simply think back to when they learned. I'll virtually guarantee that the first attempts at learning on a standard instrument were spent hunched over and working very diligently at getting all of the fingers of the left hand to end up where they needed to be to create those first few chord shapes.

Although I'm willing to accept there may be a few exceptions to the idea that there may be individuals who absolutely require a "left handed" instrument, the reason is more about those individuals being culturally programmed to look at any task and believe that they have to do things "backward" to everyone else.

Again, I'm STRONGLY left handed, and if I had never seen a guitar played before I picked one up I can assure anyone where my attention would be focused. I'd use my left hand for whichever end seemed to cause the most problem for me.

Yes, there's all sorts of folks who post to internet forums. There's always someone out there to tell you that your opinion or life experience don't matter and they are "mostly complete nonsense".

Oh, and evidently I've been playing guitar WRONG for over 50 years! I'm going to have to inform my pesky left hand that all it needs to do is clamp down chords and notes. No more of that switching fingers around to work melody notes withing chord shapes or shifting up and down the fret board to incorporate all those other useless notes beyond where my hand is clamped down. Who would have guessed it was so easy?

I'm also a woodworker, and if you've ever played rock, paper, scissors you'll be able to figure out which hand I hold a hammer in. There's no "handedness" for either the hammer or chisel but I'll state most emphatically that the way in which they are used is where the handedness lies.