Are You Left or Right Handed? and how do you play?

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by mtdmind

Very good poll! I found it enlightening. I was guessing that the majority would be righties playing right handed, but so far I am with the majority lefties playing right handed.

All that that means is that they’re the ones writing most of the responses. Meanwhile the majority right-handers are reading this thread as though learning about the peculiar culture of distant tribesmen in an unwashed corner of the world....

I’m an ambidextrous guy who plays musical instruments right-handed. Left foot and left eye dominant, I fire rifles and shotguns right-handed but pistols with my left. I drink water right-handed but prefer to drink coffee and beer with my left. Don’t know why - I do know that it puzzled hell out of the Japanese when I was over there. They tend to giggle when they’re nervous, and there were enough nervous chuckles from them that I (temporarily) tried to use my right hand for everything until I returned to the States.

We’re fortunate in that we don’t have the QUITE the deep-seated taboos regarding handedness as they do, although when you read the viscerally negative posts some people write whenever the subject of playing guitar left-handed comes up, it makes you realize that that deep-seated fear of left-handedness is NOT the exclusive province of the Japanese.

Anyway, I do some things lefty and others righty, regardless of the opinions of anyone else. I also fervently support the right for players to choose for themselves whatever works best for them, again, regardless of whatever sanctimonious sermonizing it might inspire among those who don’t share the same challenges.


Wade Hampton Miller

[beyeond]

Full on lefty, play guitar lefty. Looking back, it would've probably been better to learn righty, but I don't know if the 90's, Nirvana-loving version of me would have allowed it. It felt cool to be left handed back then!

[bluesfreek]

I'm right handed and play guitar right handed but I have two left feet...

By the way. Apparently Glen Campbell was left handed but played right handed.

Now what's going on here?

[OKCtodd71]

I'm the guy who voted Right handed plays Left handed. I was born with some bones in my left arm fused together and I'm missing some "material" that facilitates rotation of the arm. If I hold both hand straight out, palm side down and begin to rotate thumbs up, my left palm stops well before I can get to both palm facing each other. It will rotate no farther, I cannot hold my left arm out to accept coins from a cashier and I could never field a ground ball. Lifting heavy, bulky objects like furniture I carry my load with just my right arm and use my left to keep things balanced. Can't even dream of placing my left arm/hand into a playing position on guitar. I have very limited rotation at the wrist too, so the most basic strumming is very difficult/impossible. I tend to fake it a little like Springsteen moving my hole arm rather than flexing at the wrist as it should be done. I get by by not playing music that involves much rhythmic strumming, but, i try to do the best I can. I have more limitations from this that I bore you with, but what's important is I still play guitar! When I was younger I tended to focus on what I could not do and was frustrated by it, 10 years ago I let that go and decided to focus on what I can do, and even to look for unique things that others would never do, because they don't have too!
I spoke to someone recently who also is righty but lost a finger on his left hand, so now plays left handed. Anyway, that's why that one vote is at the top of the page.

[otto]

Left handed for writing, eating, darts, billiards, ping pong, hammering. Right handed for bowling, throwing, guitar, shooting and pretty much everything else. Right eyed only when aiming.

[Johnny.guitar]

Left handed but play right. I started on my brothers acoustic and it was right. Glad I did as the market for left handed guitars is pretty slim.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

All that that means is that they’re the ones writing most of the responses. Meanwhile the majority right-handers are reading this thread as though learning about the peculiar culture of distant tribesmen in an unwashed corner of the world....
...snip ...

Wade Hampton Miller

Good point Wade, so I've changed the question title.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by bluesfreek

I'm right handed and play guitar right handed but I have two left feet...

By the way. Apparently Glen Campbell was left handed but played right handed.

Now what's going on here?

possibly, the negative was reversed in the second autograph image - newspapers used to do that a lot.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

possibly, the negative was reversed in the second autograph image - newspapers used to do that a lot.

Wouldn't that be in both autograph images ?

[HAPPYDAN]

Kermit the Frog plays banjo left-handed, AND he's amphibious!

[51 Relic]

Yes I'm a lefty but play right handed . I always found it an advantage with electric ( Hybrid Picking ) and also fingerstyle as I have always played with a lot of hammer ons and pull offs . However I cannot get on with Flatpicking and only use a thumbpick and fingers

[folkmusikfan]

I am left handed, left footed and left eye dominant BUT play guitar right handed. I took a dew lessons in my teens. The " teacher" started me out right handed. When I started learning agaub about 10 years ago I decided to continue righty. No regrets. Play uke righty too. Funny but I cant imagine playing fiddle righty. Weird.

[bluesfreek]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

possibly, the negative was reversed in the second autograph image - newspapers used to do that a lot.

Nope. From what I understand Hendrix wrote with his right hand and played guitar lefty. I believe there is film footage of him doing so. Apparently he could also play a guitar strung up for right handed with his left hand with the guitar upside down. I'm not surprised. It was Hendrix after all.

[devellis]

Originally Posted by bluesfreek

Nope. From what I understand Hendrix wrote with his right hand and played guitar lefty. I believe there is film footage of him doing so. Apparently he could also play a guitar strung up for right handed with his left hand with the guitar upside down. I'm not surprised. It was Hendrix after all.

Yeah, not a flipped negative. I looked at the posters in the background (first image) and the clothing people were wearing (Which side had buttons and which side button holes -- opposite for men's and women's clothing) and it all looked legit.

I'm surprised I never new before now that Hendrix wrote right-handed. Of course, there's the distinct possibility that I knew it once and then forgot it. What were we talking about again?

[Inyo]

Note that a legitimate category of handedness is missing from the poll: Ambilevous--medically speaking, defined as "having equally bad ability in both hands." AKA, ambisinister--beleaguered by figuratively having two left hands; manually awkward, of diminished dexterity. Which pretty well describes my state of guitar playing much of the time, come to think of it.

Of course, approximately 12 percent of the world's population is left-handed, with the lowest occurrences in South Korea (2.0%) and Mexico (2.50%). Greatest sinister incidence, incidentally, can be found in the Netherlands (13.23%) and the US (13.1%--highest US lefty percentages curiously concentrated in the northeastern states; Wyoming has the lowest US ratio of southpaws). Canadians and UKers, by the way, are 12.8% and 12.24% left-handed, respectively.