Left-handed guitar
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Other music related lounges
Forum Name: Tech Talk
Forum Description: Discuss musical instruments, equipment, hi-fi, speakers, vinyl, gadgets,etc.
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=48301
Printed Date: November 25 2024 at 10:47
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Left-handed guitar
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Subject: Left-handed guitar
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 21:28
|
I have a willing teacher in the form of a musician son who's home from college for the summer, so I've decided to try my hand at guitar. Problem is it's the wrong hand. I'm so left-handed I can't even manage to pay someone a compliment. Would appreciate some suggestions on a reasonably-priced left-handed guitar (i.e., not a McCartney limited-edition signature series). I've been told acoustic is the best way to start (especially considering that whole preference for folk rock thing I have going), but since I don't play I obviously don't know what I'm talking about. Thanks in advance for any advice. ------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Replies:
Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: May 02 2008 at 21:36
|
I have taught many left-handed people how to play the "regular" guitar. I don't understand why people feel the need to switch. It is the left hand that does all the fingering on a regular guitar, the right hand just does the picking. If you ask me a regular guitar is made for left-handed people, it's the right-handed people that should have a reversed guitar, if anybody should. ------------- Help the victims of the russian invasion: http://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28523&PID=130446&title=various-ways-you-can-help-ukraine#130446 |
Posted By: N Ellingworth
Date Posted: May 03 2008 at 09:00
|
I am a left handed guitarist but I play in the right handed way, why anyone would play guitar with their weakest hand on the fretboard is completely beyond me. My advice is to go to a guitar shop and ask for some advice and try a few left and right handed guitars, whichever one feels the most natural is the type you should start learning on. |
Posted By: clarke2001
Date Posted: May 03 2008 at 15:05
I'm not so sure, and it's not that right hand "just" does the picking. I heard (and witnessed) more than one case where leftie guitarist played rightie-guitar, developed up to the a certain level...and stopped there, despite the will. The majority of the human population are right-handed, and the majority of guitarists are playing "right", as they were playing it from the beginning of the string instruments. Why there are not more guitars who are playing fretboard with their "better" hand? I might be wrong, I don't know...but I know when I was a little kid and grabbed guitar for the first time, I did it like a leftie. Which I am. (My father, who plays a guitar, isn't.) ------------- |
Easy Money wrote:Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: May 03 2008 at 15:26
Agreed 100%. I'm also left handed and play a regular guitar ... I never had any problems. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to: 
|
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: May 04 2008 at 03:58
|
http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=47088 - http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=47088
Here's an older thread you should definitely look at.
Among other things, playing right handed has the massive advantage of a far wider range of guitars available to you, for now and in the future, and generally you have to pay more for lefty guitars
 There are so many left hand people that play right handed and are remarkable virtuosos on the instrument, so I fail to see why you would want to play left handed when playing right handed offers so much advantages. ------------- 
|
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: May 05 2008 at 13:44
|
Just learn like Adam Jones from Tool did and play as if you are right-handed. It is slightly irritating to me when I see left-handed people playing the wrong way (and yes, right hand on the neck is the wrong way, folkes). There is no reason for it. You use both hands regardless. It's like a video game controller, or driving a car; if both sides of your body are functioning, why switch which hands do what task? It's no more difficult.
Plus, right-handed guitarists have MUCH more selection in style and money-saving department. Trust me, this is a good thing. If you ask me, custom left-handed guitars are rip-offs; just a bad reason to manufacture crappy versions of the same guitar, then charge more for it!
|
Posted By: Viajero Astral
Date Posted: May 17 2008 at 23:35
|
Im a lefty too, what I did was bought a classic guitar and I just change the position of the strings and problem solve. you can do the same thing with any regular electric guitar, of course some of them can be unconfortable because of the frets, so buy an SG, Flying V, or just buy any guitar just like Jimmy Hendrix did. ------------- 
|
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: May 17 2008 at 23:53
|
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.
-------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Dim
Date Posted: May 17 2008 at 23:58
|
I'm left handed, and play guitar often. Epiphone electrics, and Ibanez acoustics tend to make a lot of left handed guitars, and are pretty common at my guitar center. If you have a GC around you check for some of those. ------------- 
|
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 00:06
Yeah okay, it's really not as simple as that. -------------
|
Posted By: N Ellingworth
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 03:33
| Indeed, you'll definitely need to replace the nut (or just turn it round) and probably have to do a huge amount of work on the bridge too in order to make the guitar playable. |
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 07:28
|
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).
 ------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 07:54
Surely you realise that with a left-hand guitar you hold the neck and fretboard in the *right* hand ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 08:21
Of course (he says, clearly missing the point of the question). ------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 08:39
With an acoustic guitar it is; I have done it myself. ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Viajero Astral
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 14:09
This guy doesnt looks like he have any problem too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXKYOJ5xeTM&feature=related - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXKYOJ5xeTM&feature=related -------------
|
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 14:20
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. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: May 18 2008 at 18:26
| Meh . . . if you ask me, he's making a mistake, but then again, Hendrix didn't let the lack of lefty guitars stop him from playing what he wanted. But that was Hendrix: the man could have been playing a crappy firstact and still made it sound like silk. My point is that, with right-handed guitars, you get better quality and more quantity for your money. No worries, though; most lefties go the extra mile as well; I just think it's unnecessary. However, being right-handed, I know not. |
Posted By: St.Cleve Chronicle
Date Posted: August 21 2008 at 10:48
|
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? |
Posted By: Trademark
Date Posted: August 21 2008 at 13:29
| This has me intrigued. I think I'll build myself a left-handed piano and a left-handed trumpet and violin to see if it makes a difference too. The guitar is the only instrument I know of that offers a "lefty" version. Kit drummers often set up "backwards" but there are no left-handed mallet instruments that I have ever seen and no one takes the orchestral chimes apart and puts them together backwards for the local southpaw percussionist. Even the orchestral stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello, bass) are never built special for lefties. You learn to play the way the instrument is designed to be played. If it really is better, then why after all these centuries.... |
Posted By: Trademark
Date Posted: August 21 2008 at 13:48
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. |
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: August 21 2008 at 14:09
|
I've been surprised and entertained by some of the opinions expressed on this subject. Just to show that it takes all kinds to make music, here's a few oddities worth checking out: http://www.myspace.com/paulbibbins - Paul Bibbins , right-handed but plays a left-handed guitar. A Jimi fan (big surprise) http://articles.latimes.com/2003/oct/03/local/me-tuttle3 - Wesley Tuttle , a 40's country musician who learned to play a left-handed guitar after losing three fingers on his left hand in an accident.
Bob Geldof, who appears to be playing a right-handed guitar http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c185/priariepacker/2096000423_9304c028c6.jpg - upside down .
Takes all kinds I guess....
------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: August 21 2008 at 14:17
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. -------------
|
Posted By: cobb2
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 02:03
|
Further to oddities in playing- has anybody seen that Roger Waters DVD with Snowy White and the other guitarist. The other guitarist is playing left-handed, but the guitar is strung correctly for right handed and all his chords and finger configurations are played upside down. Talk about learning the hard way. The guitar has been custom built because the volume and tone controls are on the bottom. I am right handed, but some thirty years ago my sister got the guitar lessons (she was lefty) and I did the practice- henceforth to this day I play left-handed. Swapping the strings on a cheap nylon string classical will make no difference- as stated above, but there are major problems on an expensive guitar that has been built correctly with the slope on the neck etc. 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. |
Posted By: clarke2001
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 03:47
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.  ------------- |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 04:05
|
I think that any left handed person is able to play a standard guitar ... without any problems, and as expressive and natural as they would be able to play a left handed guitar. The problem is only in the head of those people ... if they think that they can only play a left handed guitar, that's how it will be. Let me remind you again that I am left handed (I write using the left hand, the computer mouse is to the right of my keyboard), but I've always been playing a normal guitar. It never even occurred to me - back when I started playing the guitar - to try a left handed guitar. For two obvious reasons: 1. Playing the guitar is something which you need two hands for, just like playing the piano and keyboards. 2. On the normal (right-handed) guitar the left hand usually does the more complicated tasks. So: If you're left handed and you want to play guitar ... try to get this thought out of your head that you can't use stuff designed for right handed people. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: cobb2
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 07:58
|
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. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 08:10
|
^ that may be true ... nevertheless I think that left handed people should first start with a normal guitar and see how that turns out. Remember: you need both hands to play guitar. I haven't seen any left handed pianos yet, but still most left handed pianists do great on normal pianos. Technically, from the standpoint of which hand does the more complex stuff, right-handed people should play left-handed guitars.
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: St.Cleve Chronicle
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 08:26
|
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. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 08:35
|
No hand does more work than the other really. Just like any stringed instrument, you need to be able to synchronize the movements between both hands. The fact is, you have to learn to be able to do it if you want to be able to play with any reasonable amount of technique. My right hand is my dominant hand, but if you look at the first page of this thread, I give a link explaining how my left hand actually developed faster than my right in accuracy. -------------
|
Posted By: St.Cleve Chronicle
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 08:58
|
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. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 09:11
Sorry, but I don't think that's true. The left hand does the main work on a right-handed guitar ... the right hand merely plucks the strings (apart from special techniques like tapping). The left hand is the one which you consciously move, the right hand acts automatically - at least that's how it should be. I remember my guitar lessons well ... it's even forbidden to look at your right hand while playing. All the focus is on the left hand, except when the right hand is used for tapping or some special effects (vibrato bar etc). ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 09:40
|
^Lol, I didn't mean that for all techniques. Bad wording on my part. Certainly for legato, the left hand is doing a lot of the work, but alternate picking , sweep picking etc, relies very much on both hands being '100 per cent' together to work. As much as I barely look at the right hand, anyone that has learnt to get seriously into sweep picking knows how much intense focus is needed on the right hand technique. In fact, I would say at the very least for sweep picking, more focus needs to go into the picking hand (except for exceptionally hard left hand sweep arpeggio pattens). -------------
|
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: August 22 2008 at 09:44
|
Sweep picking may be an exception - indeed, there you might rather sync the left hand movement to the right. But for alternate picking the right hand moves rather automatically.
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 02:25
this is such a blinkered, bigoted, out-dated point of view it leaves me breathless
 -many people are born left handed and have encountered difficulties, thankfully in these enlightened times these difficulties have been alleviated by forward thinking developers, not rip-offs.
as for guitar, what about Hendrix, MacCartney et al - they managed to do all right with left handed guitars, and Ian Paice plays his drums in the left-hand fashion. many right handed people prefer playing guitar left handed, and personally i play a left handed guitar due to a hand injury i received some years ago, have you ever tried to play a guitar upside down? it was hard to learn lefty at first but there is a lot of support nowadays. right handed guitars are more common obviously, there are not "crappy" versions of the same guitar, they are exactly the same as their right-handed counterparts, and they don't charge more! most makes have good availability, basses, acoustics, you name it!
there are absolutely no technical effects lost to left handed players, though don't ask for a left handed amp !
 to original poster - these days there are dozens of great quality lefty guitars and guide books on the market -i have bought many of them from ebay - good luck!
 -------------  Prog Archives Tour Van 
|
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 02:36
|
^Actually, many brands still do charge more for left handed models.
I know Fender does (every left handed Fender I've seen in Aus is at least 100 AUD more than the right handed equivalent) for sure, and so do many other brands.
I know Ibanez for eg, more than half of their super strat guitar range are not made in left hand versions.
And yes, most custom shops will charge slightly more for a left hand guitar to be made, given they aren't as common and of course custom shops don't mass produce either, so sometimes the cost of getting in left hand can be far more than just a left hand variation of a mass produced guitar. -------------
|
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 03:06
|
http://www.geocities.com/seanmhall2003/leftpianos.html - http://www.geocities.com/seanmhall2003/leftpianos.html I agree completely with this ... and it's the *same* situation on the guitar. Left handed people - please wake up and accept reality ... you need both hands for playing the guitar. Even if you're absolutely sure that your left hand is more capable of performing sophisticated tasks than your right hand ... consider the fact that on a right-handed guitar the left hand is the one which does these sophisticated tasks. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 03:25
|
....and on a left-handed guitar the right hand is the one which does these sophisticated tasks.
------------- Prog Archives Tour Van
|
Posted By: cobb2
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 03:50
| You are all forgetting the history of the guitar, when discussing why the hands are where. Plectrums are a (relatively) new invention in the wider picture. Since the lute, and probably some older medieval instruments, the right hand needed to be the most dextruos for finger plucking the strings- that's why the right hand is over the sound hole and the weaker left hand is holding the strings on the fretboard. Any discussion about modern techniques is moot- the structure of the guitar was set a long time ago. |
Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 06:29
|
regarding history everything was designed for right handed people as left handedness was regarded as "wrong", an affliction from the devil (up to about 50 years ago), the views of the poster i quoted reflects this, modern views are quite different.
surely your "weaker" hand or foot depends on if you are left -handed or right - handed...? which hand do you punch best with? which foot do you kick best with? when i did karate our sensei made us do two kicks to every one on the "leading" foot to try and balance them up.
kids used to get whacked at school for being left handed, the same as they were for being dyslexic - in modern times these "anomalies" were found to be the normal differences between people which occur.
if you are right handed (like me) your right hand is the leading hand which you naturally write with, and if you are left handed your left hand is the leading hand you would naturally write with - translated into other complicated tasks the leading hand - boxing, driving, operating machinery, drumming.... playing guitar, though in some circumstances this can be trained out, i once operated a very large and complicated machine in an engineering workshop, all the complicated switches were on the left and the chuck controls were on the right, it would have been easier for me if they had been the other way around but i over time i managed to learned it very successfully.
it's all to do with how the brain is "wired up" - the left hemisphere controls the right side, the right hemisphere controls the right side - if anyone has a stroke on the left side of the brain the right side is affected and vice versa. my niece has the rare gift of being ambidextrous - she can use both hands exactly the same, both "leading" hands. most people are right handed but can be trained to do things differently if necessary, but life is a lot easier if things are designed or adapted ergonomically , aren't they...? now try writing with the "wrong" hand or playing a left handed guitar and see how you get on...
 ------------- Prog Archives Tour Van
|
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 08:39
|
It's odd ... I don't consider myself to be ambidextrous, as I can only write properly with my left hand. But I use the computer mouse with the right hand and would have problems using the left hand. In the end I think that *everyone* can use both hands for everything ... if they are willing to learn it. Basketball players are also trained to compensate for their "handedness" ... some even practice with their strong arm tied to their back in order to develop both sides equally. I guess I'm using the mouse with the right hand because it never occurred to me to use the left hand. It was similar with the guitar ... I never even thought about trying a left hand model, so I never needed one. It's really all just in your head ... IMHO. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 10:06
it certainly seems to be Mike - there's human nature for you!
------------- Prog Archives Tour Van
|
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 10:43
It's in my head too ... I guess I could write with the right hand, I simply don't try.
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 04 2008 at 13:24
Then why didn't right handed people switch hands once the plectrum was introduced?  I took guitar lessons for several years ... I can tap, I can finger pick, I can do legato runs ... I just can't sweep pick because I'm too lazy to practice. All I can say is that from my personal experience, the left hand is much more busy. Your muscles improve anyway ... even if you're left handed and at the beginning the right hand is too weak, it will soon catch up. Just play some Iced Earth every day ...  ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: Peter
Date Posted: September 05 2008 at 09:17
Hey Mike, you want an awesome display of ambidextrous guitar playing? Check this out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQZY87PDsnQ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQZY87PDsnQ
Ever seen this before, folks? Beside the technique, I think it's amazing that his brain can do that!
 Nice music, too. ------------- "And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. |
Posted By: Peter
Date Posted: September 05 2008 at 09:26
 This one is really cool too -- not your usual arrangement, let alone guitar technique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjXN3OLgoqs&feature=related - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjXN3OLgoqs&feature=related ------------- "And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 05 2008 at 11:18
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa-nKS89ATI - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa-nKS89ATI She's playing different melody lines with left foot and both hands. Ok, left hand is mostly accompanyment, but she does some nice voicings. I played that instrument myself when I was a child (from 8-12, I think) ... I didn't get quite as fast as her, but I played a mean "In the Mood". And I guess this is child's play compared to what jazz drummers are doing ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
|
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 03 2009 at 16:54
Um . . . of course it's difficult to reverse your hands after you've already learned to play one way, but guess what? It's just as tough to coordinate your hands when you try and play guitar for the first time the 'natural' way, too.
Your point is rubbish, in that you are using a poor example: you've already learned to play the guitar with your right hand on the fingerboard and your left hand doing the pick work, so reversing it all now is going to be very difficult-- three times as difficult as it would have been had you began learning that way, but since your mind and body are already coordinated to use certain hands in a certain way, you're not just reversing the hands, but you are trying to un-learn what you've already spent years perfecting.
See what I'm saying?
|
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 03 2009 at 17:11
There are many posters in this thread that seem to be sharing my opinions on this, so you acting superior and throwing insults at me and calling my opinion "such a blinkered, bigoted, out-dated point of view it leaves me breathless" is quite uncalled for. When I said you use both hands regardless, I was referring to on the actual instrument; I wasn't saying that people use both hands just as much in everyday life.
I'm not sure why you thought it was good day to pick on someone and you chose me, but I'll tell you something: It is very low of you to meticulousely pick apart a post like you did and twist meanings around just so you can have an excuse to insult me. You and I can have our seperate opinions on things without throwing out personal bashes, can't we?
Don't insult my intelligence again, thanks. I may not be very knowledgable about alot of things (Dropped out of High-School, you see. Primarily because of bullies like you.), but I am NOT and idiot. Please don't talk down to me and tell me what I need to learn and say that my opinion is nonesense. It's an opinion, nothing more, nothing less.
You don't know what some people have gone through in their lives; you don't know when certain people were talked down to their whole young life and who was made fun of in school and was told they wouldn't amount to anything. You don't know, man. So why don't you think next time before you go off and say cruel sh*t like that?
Having said this, I will admit that what I said probably offended you since you play left-handed guitars. I retract what I said about them being poor quality rip-offs. I am sorry. However you are wrong about them not being over-priced. Every. Single. Left-handed Guitar I have seen is more expensive than it's right-handed counterpart.
|
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 03 2009 at 18:04
| I'm sorry for lashing out and taking offense. It was unprofessional behaviour, and I apologize; you didn't desevre that. You probably are right, and I probably am stupid about this stuff. I guess I shouldn't have spoken about things I obviousely don't have any business commenting on. Thank you for pointing out my flaws. I will try to correct them so that I can at least try to sound intelligent the next time I debate about this topic. |
Posted By: cobb2
Date Posted: February 03 2009 at 18:46
|
I recently purchased my first electric since 1978, when I bought a Gibson Les Paul Custom left and an Ibanez Artist EQ left. And I must say that it was extremely difficult to purchase a left hand model of the type I was willing to pay. What did I want- an Ibanez JEM77 Vai signature series. Not made in left. Had to settle for an RG1570L Prestige because I thought this might at least sound like the JEM. Whether it does or not I couldn't tell because I have never played a JEM. That said I am still happy with the RG. Most companies nowadays make very limited left hand models. Another choice I would have been quite happy with and willing to pay for was a Paul Reed Smith custom 24, but that was quickly nipped in the bud because PRS stopped making all left handed models years ago. By the way, I am right handed, but when I was a kid the only guitar in the house was my sisters and she was left handed- she got the tuition and I did the work. So by my example, I suppose there isn't much difference to which hand a guitar is played. So, lefties starting out- learn right handed. Your choice of guitar purchase later on will be greatly enhanced.
|
Posted By: JLocke
Date Posted: February 03 2009 at 19:01
I guess that's all I'm saying. But it's just an opinion, so . . .
It's funny, this thread has kept going, though the topic starter made his decision ages ago,
 . |