Left handers who play right handed guitars

Protagonist · Post by **Protagonist** » Sat Nov 05, 2016 6:57 pm

I'm a lefty, but I've always played right handed. I guess really I only eat and write with my left hand, but do most other things right handed. I'm not sure if this has influenced my playing at all.

I have a friend who is a lefty and plays flipped right handed guitars.

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Thu Nov 17, 2016 4:11 pm

Can you strum well? Especially an acoustic guitar

Logrinn · Post by **Logrinn** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 5:29 pm

I recently went to IA Eklundhs Freak Guitar Camp where - besides getting exposed to extremely cool and very hard musical stuff - I learned about IA being lefthanded. But he's always played righthanded guitars because to him he's using the dominant hand where it counts; on the neck.

[youtube][/youtube]

Sloppy

Logrinn · Post by **Logrinn** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 5:31 pm

So using the Youtube code doesn't work like I thought it would.
Does somebody here know how to embed a Youtube video?

BearBoy · Post by **BearBoy** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 5:45 pm

Ask Robroe. He's a fucking expert.

BearBoy · Post by **BearBoy** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 5:46 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

Logrinn · Post by **Logrinn** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 5:49 pm

You seem to know too how to embed the Youtube code. Care to share how it's done?

BearBoy · Post by **BearBoy** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 6:13 pm

You need to remove the â€œsâ€� from https.

I also had to change the URL you had as the site doesnâ€™t seem to like the youtu.be type addresses. You need to use the old style longer URLs.

If you quote my post with the embedded video you should be able to see what I did.

Logrinn · Post by **Logrinn** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 6:29 pm

Excellent! Thanks very much for that, BearBoy.
Let's try again with another Freak Kitchen video (since IA is lefthanded, I'm staying on topic here

)

[youtube][/youtube]

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 6:33 pm

I write and hold my fork/knife (to cut) left handed.

I use scissors, and a desktop computer ambidextrously.

I play most sports right handed.

I play soccer right footed - which is an intersting trait, since that's primarily a right handed trait, but about half of lefties are also right footed.

I skate and surf goofy foot, but snowboard using regular stance.

And I play guitar right handed. Even though when I was a really little kid I played lefty. In my teens I switched to righty and have stayed that way since. Lefty guitars now confuse me, and I can barely play one.

I also flip people off righty.

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:15 am

mkt3000 wrote: I use scissors, and a desktop computer ambidextrously.

It's really hard to use right-handed scissors with your left hand.

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:21 am

Fakir Mustache wrote:
mkt3000 wrote: I use scissors, and a desktop computer ambidextrously.
It's really hard to use right-handed scissors with your left hand.

I am so used to it that it's not hard for me at all.

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:26 am

mkt3000 wrote:
Fakir Mustache wrote:
mkt3000 wrote: I use scissors, and a desktop computer ambidextrously.
It's really hard to use right-handed scissors with your left hand.
I am so used to it that it's not hard for me at all.

I guess it's not that hard with modern scissors, but I'm used to the old school ones with the painted black handle.

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 9:20 am

Logrinn wrote:I recently went to IA Eklundhs Freak Guitar Camp where - besides getting exposed to extremely cool and very hard musical stuff - I learned about IA being lefthanded. But he's always played righthanded guitars because to him he's using the dominant hand where it counts; on the neck.

[youtube][/youtube]

Sloppy

This is where we have different approach towards playing. I believe that strumming/picking hand is more important and does more intricate work than fretting hand.

I spent half a year learning to strum/pick with my non dominant hand and taught it to mimick all the rudimentary moves that I do with my dominant hand. The key word is "to mimick" as I didn't have any feel or control over what I did. Then I spent another half picking guitar once a day and playing it with my non dominant hand and I found that there was a little change and I firmly believe there won't be any huge progress. Maybe with years of playing only

Bottom line is neither way is wrong. Many lefties who play right handed guitars invented their unique style of playing like some sick bending, crazy lead playing and subtle fingerpicking. It's just I like strumming and I'm not gonna trade it for lead work

Post by **Doog** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:20 am

sunshiner wrote: This is where we have different approach towards playing. I believe that strumming/picking hand is more important and does more intricate work than fretting hand.

I would debate that generally, but I guess it really does depend on the player and style; maybe you're playing 'cowboy chords', but doing super-intricate finger picking.

Logrinn · Post by **Logrinn** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 10:52 am

I'm sure there are those that find the left hand to be the one being the most "important" one and those that find the right one the most important. Or rather, some find the dominant hand the one that matters most and vice versa.

But there's of course also the very tricky part of syncing the two together.
I find that I can accomplish a modicum of speed with my picking hand when just picking one note and I can also do some pretty rapid left hand stuff on the fretboard.
But I can't do both together at those extremes.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 11:27 am

I'm right handed generally, but picked up a guitar left handed initially, I was taught right handed because that's what was advised by my first teacher.

I wouldn't consider myself he most dexterous of player, either picking or on the fretboard, and I have to practice a lot to get a passage down cleanly, I've always wondered what would have happened if I had carried on lefty.

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 10:18 am

Doog wrote:
sunshiner wrote: This is where we have different approach towards playing. I believe that strumming/picking hand is more important and does more intricate work than fretting hand.
I would debate that generally, but I guess it really does depend on the player and style; maybe you're playing 'cowboy chords', but doing super-intricate finger picking.

It's just cowboy chords though

Yeah, everything is individual and I feel that strumming with non dominant hand doesn't work for me

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 10:54 am

This is something I think about quite a lot.

When I'm teaching a class on guitar, there will usually be one or two left handers. Because of the inclusive nature of comprehensive education, I'm not allowed to exclude them!

Usually, they won't notice there's an issue, they just see how to play guitar and get on with it. We don't have any left handed guitars so I get them to play righty and explain that probably the tricky bit in the early part is the fretting hand and they'll have the advantage.

Personally, I've found that my right (strumming) hand has needed more work and practice than my left. That might be because I'd played piano for 8 years before starting guitar so my left hand was already pretty strong and quick and able to jump around. When I started, my right hand was always very heavy and aggressive (it still is by default) so I had to spend a lot of time slowing it down so that I could pick with precision and finesse. I'm happy with it now, but it took a lot of work before it was able to get my right hand to keep up with my left.

Generally, I suspect it probably depends what type of player you want to be. I can totally understand how if you want to be a great rhythm or funk player or something, you'll probably spend more time struggling and thinking about your strumming hand. If you're a lead player you might want to learn to shred a la Kirk Hammet, with as many pull-ons and pull-offs as you can manage per picking hand action, then you'll probably spend more time on your fretting hand.

If you want to be as good as you possibly can, and want to be an all-round player, they're both the most important.

plopswagon · Post by **plopswagon** » Wed Dec 06, 2017 6:03 pm

I'm a semi-lefty. I write, draw, and throw left handed but just about everything else is right handed. I play right handed and used to strum hard and fast, now that I'm more of a couch player I tend to not even use a pick.

Joe Strummer was a lefty playing righty and believed that the strumming hand is more important than the right.