Playing Stringed Instruments Lefty

In My Humble Opinion
1

I originally thought this thread should go in GQ. From what I can tell from asking around though, there isn’t a hard and fast answer to the question.

The question is, when should a new player play guitar (or any other instrument, I guess) left-handed?

I have heard from several sources that-- if it’s comfortable-- a lefty should play right handed if only because it’s easier to find guitars and easier to play whatever guitar happens to be available. Another consideration from this camp is that it can be easier to learn to play if the student simply copies what the instructor does instead of having to reverse or mirror them.

On the other side of the issue, I’ve talked to several people who changed from righty to lefty and had a lot of trouble. (In one case, the person gave up playing altogether.) A common comment was that learning chords is hard with either hand, but when it comes to flat picking, strumming or finger picking the dominant hand is a far better option. I have also found some comments where a new player is simply told to play right handed or go away.
Do you have any experience playing guitar or other instruments as a left hander?
Do you play left or right handed?
Do you have any experience teaching beginner guitar or other instrument?
What is your approach when it comes to a lefty or an ambiguous beginner?

I appreciate any opinions you might have, especially if you’ve given lessons yourself.

2

I’m a right handed guitar player, so I have no personal experience, except from talking to lefties. I have known three lefties who played guitar. One of them played a left handed guitar and had never tried a righty guitar. My general advice would be to start with a right handed guitar, however, there is a problem with this advice. A lot of right handed people start to learn guitar and stop because of some perceived difficulty (“the guitar’s too big, my hands are too small, I have no talent, my brain is too tense”, etc.) You have an additional reason that happens to be true (“I’m left handed!”). Learning an instrument requires a single minded focus that can be easy to lose (remember, you don’t have to learn an instrument). It will be more difficult for you, more because of the additional hurdle that your mind will throw up than because of any physical problem.

If you choose to go the lefty route, however, there are a lot more resources than there used to be. You have probably already run across Southpaw Guitars.

Good luck.

3

Another long-time righty player here. My personal belief is that there is no inherent advantage to using either hand. The tasks of each hand require the development of fairly fine motor skills. Whether the fretting hand or the picking/ strumming hand has the more complex job varies somewhat with the style of playing. I can play entry-level guitar left-handed, and have no doubt that I could play competently left-handed with lots of practice. I would advise a new guitar player to play right-handed, for the reasons stated in the OP.

4

Sorry for two consecutive posts, but I would like to add two things.

The only question I have ever submitted to Cecil Adams concerned this issue. How did it become standard for stringed instrument players to use the left hand to finger the notes and the right to pluck or strum them? As far as I know, he has not seen fit to answer. The question may be unanswerable.

Second, I am primarily a rock lead guitar player. In my view, the work done by my left hand is more complex and exact than the work done by my right hand, to the point that I feel a left-handed person might actually have an advantage by playing right-handed. Classical or finger-style players may have a different view of this.

OK, I thought of a third thing. Can anyone think of anyone who plays the violin, cello or double bass left-handed?

5

I struggle with that no matter who I’m mirroring (I’m a righty). I don’t think that should be a major consideration - either you are good at visualizing that way or you’re not, regardless of handedness.

When you’re starting out, you are not likely to be making a lot of fine motor movements with the fretting hand. You’ll probably do simple chords and things, and if you are not strumming with your dominant hand, it could be harder to produce any sound at all. No matter which hand you prefer, you have to learn a bunch of things to start playing and I don’t see the inherent advantage to a right-hander fretting with his right hand.

6

You can find occassional folk fiddlers playing that way. A classical technique simply isn’t possible if you reverse the instrument - the way the arm weight is distributed varies from one string to another, with the highest raising of the arm when playing the lowest string on a violin which needs the greatest power. Restringing a regular instrument won’t work, because the whole structure of the instrument (wood widths, bass bar, etc.) is asymmetrical. So you’d have to build a lefty instrument from scratch. And then apologies profusely to the player sitting next to you when your bowing arm thumps into theirs…

7

…oh, and one more thing…although it may not appear so, a classical technique certainly requires equal dexterity and precision from each hand.

8

A few thoughts:

  • well, since stringed instruments evolved from bow and arrow, to my knowledge, and the division of labor between hands was far more distinct, maybe it just evolved from that? Since (for righties) the left hand/arm was basically a solid pillar to hold the bow and the right hand/arm was the strength and control part. Just hypothesizing here…

  • To my knowledge, it has been tradition since the days of symphonies that left-handed violinists were strictly verboten - having one odd duck sawing their bow in the opposite direction was considered unacceptable. I am pretty sure that in the confines of extremely structured classical training, this norm has been maintained.

  • **Crotalus **- interesting that you would state that you feel, as a lead guitarist, the finesse work is primarily for your left hand (as a rightie). As a rightie player who is primarily a rhythm guitarist, not lead, I definitely feel that my right, strumming/picking hand is at least as finessed in its requirements. Palm muting, pinching harmonics, varying attack. Right now, my band is learning a song that was original done with a 12 string guitar so I am having to really vary my pick attack to open up the notes and let them ring more - requires a lot of finesse.

  • also, I would argue that the picking hand is the “actor” hand and the fretting hand is the “reactor” hand - just my sense of it, but I feel like I put my fretting fingers into a position, but my picking hand initiates the sound - so it is more suited to a dominant hand.

All conjecture on my part and ultimately, I tend to agree with posters who say that both hands demand skill and practice and are likely more interchangeable than the %'s of left-hand vs. right-hand guitars would indicate…

9

Beyond that, part of playing in an orchestra is using the correct bowing so that the section (first violins, second violins, etc) LOOKS as well as sounds like they are playing in unison. It is the first chair’s job to work out what bowings will be used (with occasional input from the composer/arranger or conductor) and communicate these to the rest of the section. It is something the audience is usually only aware of if it is missing. A lefty would stick out like a turd in a punch bowl.

10

Which helps to explain, in part, why you are an outstanding rhythm player and I am just adequate.

11

I’m a lefty who plays a left-handed guitar. The answer to your question is different for different people.

Some lefties are fine with playing right-handed. They will be limited in how proficient they can get with their picking/strumming hand, but this isn’t always a huge factor, depending on the type of music one plays. As Crotalus mentioned, classical guitar and finger-picking in particular ask a lot of the picking/strumming hand. But for just strumming folk-music chords, it’s probably not an issue.

Many lefties - I’m one - find holding a guitar in the right-handed position to be quite awkward. Then the choice is to play a lefty guitar, or play a righty guitar upside down (holding it in the left-handed position). Playing upside down is doable, but has its own limitations. One of the big drawbacks is having to figure out non-standard fingering for chords. Some chord fingering may be as easy as or even easier than the standard way, but some is much harder.

Playing a lefty instrument allows doing it just like everyone else. It’s just mirror image, and most lefties have a lot of experience in adjusting to that. I didn’t find it particularly difficult to interpret chord diagrams. The obvious disadvantages are limited guitar selection in stores, and not being able to share/swap with fellow players.

When I first went guitar-shopping, some stores that didn’t carry anything left-handed told me I should play right-handed, which would give me the advantage of using my dominant hand for fretting. My thought was, if it’s such an advantage, then why don’t you carry only lefty guitars so that the majority of your customers can benefit from it? Virtually no rightie wants to play a left-handed guitar. Think about that.

So, if it feels comfortable playing right-handed, and you don’t aspire to be the best you can be as far picking/strumming/rhythm, go with a rightie guitar.

If you want to play left-handed and are willing to deal with the limitations and frustrations of playing upside down, you can take advantage of using a rightie guitar but will have to teach yourself a lot of it.

If you want to play left-handed and want to play in the normal way, get a leftie guitar. Dealing with right-handed teachers and books should be a minor and easily solved problem.

12

I’m a leftie and I’ve been playing guitar right-handed for a little over a year. I’m far from what I’d consider a proficient guitar player, but I can tell you that while I picked up chords pretty quickly, I can only strum one of two ways and both are pretty sloppy.

I almost wish I’d learned on a left-handed guitar, but I do like knowing that I can pick up a guitar at a friends house and not have to worry about it being backward.

13

What have you got against violas?

14

My humblest apologies. It was an oversight. I love violas.

15

No point apologizing to me. Apologize to the viola! :smiley:

16

Thanks for the input all!
FWIW, the guitar is for my son. I have played Guitar for years and even given lessons myself, but I never came across the question with any students.
I am still interested to hear from anyone who may have given lessons to hear what they have to say about it, but I have made a decision on what guitar to buy. Thanks!

Do you think your sloppy strumming is a result of your handedness or your experience/ skill level?

17

I’ve given lessons to a couple of people, who of course were right-handed. While they didn’t have to reinterpret chord diagrams, they did have to adjust to looking at my fingers on the fretboard. It didn’t take long. And there are books with left-handed chord diagrams, but I’m so accustomed to working with standard diagrams I don’t find them helpful, and I fear they might be a slight hindrance for a student, who won’t be able to avoid standard diagrams.

And I’m dying to know what the decision was.

18

Interesting. Hadn’t considered those implications…

One other thought: It is my understanding that right- or left-handedness is dialed up in degrees, with a spectrum of full lefty, through mostly lefty, ambi, mostly righty and full righty. I seem to recall reading in a book about the brain that one way to detect this is the degree you write with your hand cribbed over - the more cribbed, the more you move to the extreme end of either side.

Perhapys you, Gary T are *more * lefty than, say Malkavia…which is why you really felt awkward trying it the other way, whereas other lefties seem to make the adjustment more readily? No implications either way, just thinking out loud…

19

Lefty who plays guitar lefty here. :smiley:

If I could go back in time and visit my 13 year old self (I’m 33 now), I’d tell him to FORCE HIMSELF TO PLAY RIGHT HANDED. Playing lefty has been a royal pain in the butt for me, mainly in that guitars are more expensive and harder to find. It’s also been a little awkward taking (back in the day) and giving lessons.

20

If it matters, I don’t crib my hand over when I write at all. I wouldn’t judge us lefties too harshly on how we hold our pens though… years of dragging our hand through our ink has made us overly cautious. :slight_smile: