Left-handed guitar

Okay, neither of the hands really does more work, that was a bit clumsily said. But my point is, that when people say that the right-handed techniques should actually be natural for lefties, then the left-handed techniques should also be natural for those who are right-handed. There are many different opinions, but I think that learning to play guitar shouldn't be made more difficult for lefties than the righties.

It is true that the left hand does more work when playing right-handed, but in that case shouldn't the right-handed people use lefty guitars? Guitar is indeed played with two hands, but their task is different, unlike with piano and some other instruments. From that reason, I'm able to play absolutely normal keyboards, but I need a left-handed guitar. There are people who have learned to play the right-handed way (Gary Moore, Robert Fripp, Steve Morse...) but most people are not capable of doing that. I think that every musician should have the right to play the way they feel natural. Even if that hasn't been possible for centuries.

MikeEn- Perhaps it is to do with the left and right sides of the brain, not the fact that they are left-handed that some people have enormous difficulty (left-handers) playing a right-handed guitar. You seem to be a creative person- musically, anyway, so the right side, the creative side, of your brain is fairly active. This may be why you have no difficulty playing right-handed when you are a lefty, but other (dare I say, less creative) people do. It may be conceited of me, but this is the reason I have come to think that I have no difficulty playing in the wrong hand.

I have taught classical guitar and know that most lefties cannot change hands- even when they are just beginning.

Just food for thought, or total crap- one of the two.

cobb2 wrote: There are a couple of downsides to being lefty- Guitars prices are usually 10% more and you will usually have to order it and two,  you can't just pick up a guitar lying around and show-off your stuff. Upside- you can leave your guitar on the stand at a gig and no-one will come and pick it up to show you how much better they can play it.

Very true.

It often happened someone grabs my guitar (without asking), placing it on  a hip, staring for a second, and after a "What...but...er..oh." puts it back.

Indeed thank you Trademark, I remember I just couldn't be bothered to argue with that point raised, because it was laughable at best. (not your point Trademark, the one you replied to).
I don't mean to sound like a.. well... meanie, but I don't think people should blatantly put forward comments on things they are not really educated on.
 Because in the case of just telling a potentially left hand player to "Just string the guitar up the other way round and turn it around, and you have a left-handed guitar. No need to buy one", that can at the serious detriment to the person you are giving 'advice' to.
I don't say things like " it's not really as simple as that" because I'm a retard and don't have any clue. If something "is not really as simple as that" it should imply there is obviously greater complexities one should take to the time to research and to see what is actually correct and less likely to cause problems for ones self or others.
The problems are obviously less for an electric guitar, but again, it's much easier to save the pain of potential hassles like bridge saddles not being able to correctly intonate to compensate for the fact you now have the heavy gauge strings at the side of the guitar and buy "the right tool for the job" in the first place.^Indeed thank you Trademark, I remember I just couldn't be bothered to argue with that point raised, because it was laughable at best. (not your point Trademark, the one you replied to).
I don't mean to sound like a.. well... meanie, but I don't think people should blatantly put forward comments on things they are not really educated on.
 Because in the case of just telling a potentially left hand player to "Just string the guitar up the other way round and turn it around, and you have a left-handed guitar. No need to buy one", that can at the serious detriment to the person you are giving 'advice' to.
I don't say things like " it's not really as simple as that" because I'm a retard and don't have any clue. If something "is not really as simple as that" it should imply there is obviously greater complexities one should take to the time to research and to see what is actually correct and less likely to cause problems for ones self or others.
The problems are obviously less for an electric guitar, but again, it's much easier to save the pain of potential hassles like bridge saddles not being able to correctly intonate to compensate for the fact you now have the heavy gauge strings at the side of the guitar and buy "the right tool for the job" in the first place.

And yes, you can actually buy left handed violins, but they are not common.





Edited by HughesJB4 - August 21 2008 at 14:18

BaldFriede wrote: HughesJB4 wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Just string the guitar up the other way round and turn it around, and you have a left-handed guitar. No need to buy one.   Yeah okay, it's really not as simple as that. With an acoustic guitar it is; I have done it myself.

If you don't mind never being able to play in tune this might just work fine. Unfortunately, in real life this simply doesn't work. On any guitar no two strings are actually the same length. The bridge of the instrument is placed at an angle and the saddles are filed to "fine tune" the string length. It is these small differences in the overall length of each string (due in part to the differences in diameter and tension) that allow the instrument to play in tune. The wound strings (especially the low E and A) need to be longer than the plain strings in order for the instrument to be tuned in the equal temperament manner that the precisely placed frets offer.

If you just re-string "upside down" It is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for the guitar to play in tune over the length of the fretboard. The bridge is glued in place and cannot be flipped over to work properly. As a matter of actiual fact you couldn't even get an E and G chord to both sound in tune in first position alone, much less any two chords anywhere up the neck. This is in addition to the fact that the heavy wound strings would not sit in the slots in the string nut. Re-filing the nut is a relatively simle thing to do, but it cannot change the placement and angle of the bridge saddle. An acoustic guitar (more-so than an electric due to the positioning of the braces under the top to promote a clear balanced tone) must be built specifically for left-handed players in order to play in tune, conversion doesn't work.

Edited by Trademark - August 21 2008 at 13:55

I have tried playing my dad's right-handed guitar a couple of times and I couldn't even get Smoke on the water right! I consider myself to be quite skilled player. If you are right-handed, and think that the lefties should learn the "proper" technique, why don't you try to play a left-hand guitar. Difficult, isn't it?

ClemofNazareth wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: Surely you realise that with a left-hand guitar you hold the neck and fretboard in the *right* hand ... Of course (he says, clearly missing the point of the question).

I play both keyboards and guitar, and when I compare both I have to say that on the (right-handed) guitar the left hand leads ... it does the main job, the right hand is only picking the strings.

Of course you can play a left hand guitar ... go right ahead. I'm just saying that in the end it is simply a question of what you're able to get accustomed to.

HughesJB4 wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Just string the guitar up the other way round and turn it around, and you have a left-handed guitar. No need to buy one.   Yeah okay, it's really not as simple as that.

With an acoustic guitar it is; I have done it myself.

ClemofNazareth wrote: Thanks for all the opinions and advice.  After much deliberation, I am the happy owner of a new Hohner acoustic (left-handed), and am well underway building up callouses on my very sore right fingers.   I did try both ways just to be open-minded, but in the end several unpleasant practice sessions with one of my son's right-handed guitars convinced me to go 'natural'.  It's really not about which hands fingers and which one picks - it's more about how the guitar is actually held, and holding it left-handed just felt much more comfortable (for me).

Surely you realise that with a left-hand guitar you hold the neck and fretboard in the *right* hand ...