How many Lefties?

[para_adams]

I got my first guitar in 9th grade. It was standard right-handed and I've played that way since. But before that wonderful day in 9th grade, I'd naturally played "air guitar" left handed being of the southpaw persuasion in most things. I'm now pondering how few lefty guitars are hanging on the walls of guitar stores I visit. It certainly seems to be lower than the 10%-12% of the population of left handed people.

Do I just not "see" those one in ten lefty guitars at the stores because I'm not looking for them? Or are left-handed guitars as rare as they seem to be?

How many natural lefties (like me) simply learn to play right handed because their parents found a cheap right handed guitar one sale or at the local garage sale?

If you're naturally left-handed and learn to play right handed, do you tend to find chording easier (using your dominant hand) but finger picking harder (using your otherwise useless right hand, LOL)?

Lastly, we lefties are in our "right" minds, lefties UNITE!

[Rudy4]

You don't see the guitar selections in your local store at 10% left-handed because it's simply easier to sell right-handed guitars for the average retailer. Ten percent of their customers being left-handed does not translate to matching that number in sales.

I'm extremely lefty and play guitar. I'm also strongly among the numbers that don't think handedness makes much difference in playing for the vast majority of new players, unless theyy already have pre-conception bias towards playing a standard guitar. (Yes, I use the "How many left-handed pianos are sold?" argument.)

Here's a copy/paste from my old website if you want to know what I REALLY think about handedness:

"I'm STRONGLY left-handed and play a "right-handed" instrument, although I'm using the term very loosely as I'm convinced that there is no "handedness" in musical instruments, it's only a self-perceived concept. If handedness were important in stringed instruments, then what we refer to as right-handed instruments would actually be "left-handed" since the much more complicated manual dexterity necessary to play a fretted instrument is done with the left hand on a "standard right-handed" instrument.
If a person's natural tendency is to favor a dominant hand to perform a task then it would seem totally natural to place the neck of an instrument in the left hand. Using guitar for an example, all the chord forming and individual melody development within a song is done with the left hand and the right hand can do as little as strum and still generate good accompaniment.
If one were to pick an instrument up and not try to “play” it, the dominant left hand would naturally be more suited to the complex tasks of chord formation and picking out melody, as it is the normal hand chosen for use when performing complex tasks. I personally believe lefties have a more difficult time with standard instruments because they come to the table with a preconception of needing a “mirror-image” of the right-handed world counterpart. That’s not an easy habit to break, and I understand if someone's feeling run counter to this. If you're brand new to playing an instrument you should at least give a "right-handed" instrument a try. You might just surprise yourself!
Many other musical instruments aren't so readily available in "lefty" configuration (i.e. piano, trumpet, etc. etc. etc.) and lefties seem to do just fine with the standard "Right-handed" version of these instruments. Breaking free of the handedness concept will greatly expand the lefty’s options where musical instruments are concerned.
Scissors? That’s a different matter altogether…"

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by para_adams

How many natural lefties (like me) simply learn to play right handed because their parents found a cheap right handed guitar one sale or at the local garage sale?

I chose playing rightie because I couldn't find felt-handed guitars in my small town and because Paul McCartney looked strange even to me.

If you're naturally left-handed and learn to play right handed, do you tend to find chording easier (using your dominant hand) but finger picking harder (using your otherwise useless right hand, LOL)?

I find chording and lead guitar (the left-hand side) easier than many righties I see. I am pretty darn comfortable with fingerpicking but find rapid flatpicking difficult.

We are in good company, though. There are lots of pros who are or have been lefties playing rightie, such as Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Mark Knopfler, Johnny Winters, Gary Moore, Steve Morse, Elvis Costello, Joe Perry, and Billy Corgan.

After fifty years of thinking about this and analyzing the effects, I'm confident there is a difference caused by handedness. You can hear it in the above lead players - a reliance on hammer-ons and pull-offs rather than mandolin-type rapid flatpicking that require greater reliance on the right hand.


Bob

[egordon99]

Lefty who plays righty here.

I also play piano righty. LOL.

[para_adams]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

After fifty years of thinking about this and analyzing the effects, I'm confident there is a difference caused by handedness. You can hear it in the above lead players - a reliance on hammer-ons and pull-offs rather than mandolin-type rapid flatpicking that require greater reliance on the right hand.

Bob

Hmmm, gotta admit that sums of my natural strengths and weaknesses well. At least I'm in good company.

[phydaux]

I'm a lefty who plays righty. Honestly I've always wondered if playing righty has held me back, or if it was just my abject lack of talent.

[para_adams]

Originally Posted by phydaux

I'm a lefty who plays righty. Honestly I've always wondered if playing righty has held me back, or if it was just my abject lack of talent.

True or not, I'm claiming that as MY excuse for being a mediocre player too, LOL!

[Jeremy]

Lefty here. The concept of a left-handed guitar never occurred to me when I first learned to play, so I just learned with what was available to me, not giving it any thought. I don't fingerpick well, nor can I flatpick very fast, but I think being a natural lefty gives me an advantage as far as dexterity on the fretboard.

[Mandobart]

If they allowed left handed fiddlers in the orchestra when I was young there'd be even more one-eyed fiddlers. So I learned righty. When I picked up guitar it made sense to me to do that right handed as well. This was all over 40 years ago, and I still do a lot of things left handed (aka sinister I always add).

One thing I didn't expect was using my right hand for bowing and picking improved my coordination with it, and I've become close to ambidextrous as a result. I recommend lefties at least trying to play play right handed for this and many other reasons that get posted here every couple months.

[antvas1963]

I’m lefty and play right.

[Stratcat77]

Lefty here who has always played a right handed guitar.

I agree with the thought that for many of us, having our dominant hand doing the fret work seems more important. Especially since I’m primarily a flat picker. I guess I could see the benefit of a stronger right hand if I were a fingerstyle player?

[tbeltrans]

When I started playing guitar, I had no idea there was such a thing as a left-handed guitar except I do seem to recall that Paul McCartney played a left handed bass. I never gave that much thought.

What I admit that I don't understand is this...

When first learning to play guitar, no matter how the person holds it, it will feel awkward. I doubt there was ever a person who first picked up the guitar and felt right at home, fingering chords and whipping out tunes, despite the urban legends about "talent". So why not go through the inevitable awkwardness with the much more common right handed guitar? At those early stages, does it REALLY make any difference? We would just get used to what we get used to.

Also, most of the books and learning materials one uses will be for right handed players anyway. Why force ourselves to have to translate it all to left handed? It seems like a lot of extra work.

Though I am left handed in most things, I have little problem figuring out how to use right handed tools one way or another. I never made a big deal out of being left handed and have always just adapted to what is.

Tony

[jricc]

Another lefty here who plays righty, thankfully...lots more guitars to choose from.
My guitar teacher from when I was 8 or so refused to teach me if I was playing lefty. Thank you Ronnie Prestia wherever you are...

[Jamolay]

I am lefty playing righty.

I have been playing about 1 year starting at 55 yo. I definitely thought about it and decided consciously on righty for many reasons. In spite of being left handed enough that just holding a guitar righty was awkward for a while.

Of course gear is one reason. But the main reason was brain development. I am a neurologist and feel (or believe?) that crossed tasks (developing the non-dominant hemisphere too) challenge our brain more and make it stronger. I also understand that cognitive/motor tasks like learning an instrument is one of the best ways to improve and maintain our minds and bodies.

This is my plan for staving off Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and hopefully any other potentially looming neuro-degenerative diseases.

Of course that isn’t all. I love music, love guitar music, love guitars and want to interact with my music rather than simply listening like my homemade audiophile days.

And then there is the gear…

One could argue that playing righty or lefty develop cross brain regardless, probably true, but this felt like the greater challenge.

I also believe that although we have innate handedness, there is no reason we can’t learn equal handedness.

I catch the air guitar right handed now and it seems awkward to hold a guitar lefty. So some progress is made, but the fine control of the fingers and finesse in strumming is a bit slow in development.

[DBW]

I grew up confused. I do some things left handed and some things right handed.

Left handed- bowling, baseball, basketball, football (throwing and kicking)

Right handed- darts, eating utensils, scissors (asked for the left handed scissors then found out it was awkward to use them), shooting (right eye dominant), playing guitar.

Ambidextrous- billiards (I usually do left handed), golf (I was naturally left handed doing this- my parents got me right handed clubs when I was a kid so I learned how to do it that way- still do), fishing (I usually do left handed).