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Who all out there is a lefty? Have any photos? Any anecdotes? Do you play lefty 'upside down' (basically a right handed guitar played as a lefty).

I guess I'll start it off...

Probably like a lot of leftys, when I was first buying a guitar, the guy in the store did everything he could to try to convince me to play right handed. quot;It's so difficult to find lefty guitars out there. You'll never be able to pick up someone elses guitar and play it.quot; Ha. Pretty stupid now that I think about it. I haven't had much trouble with either one. I should have told him quot;Yeah, you're right. Playing left-handed was a total drag for Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix. Those idiots should have just done it the right way.quot;

im a lefty who plays righty- so is steve morse, robert fripp, paul simon, and a few others. i did read an article with mr morse who said he was at a bit of an advantage over righties because his most dexterous hand was on the fretboard (and he can play!), and that makes sense- but only because i do it, too.
for me, when i started, both left and righty guitars felt very unnatural- i mean, my hands weren't trained. and they don't make lefty pianos or flutes. if it works, great. but i don't think there a wrong or right way.

Yeah, handedness comes in degrees... The thing about pianos and fluts though, those are linear sort of playing arrangements. You've got a bunch of keys are the job of both hands is to push them down. With guitar, well, obviously it's not that linear. For me, when I first started out, picking up a guiatar and trying to hold it right handed felt so foreign, so terrible to me. The absolute only way I could play was lefty. But that's just me -- I'm extremely left handed with everything.

They should do some kind of brain study or something on handedness and guitar... Find out if certain parts of the brain correspond to the picking and fretting hand (for righties and lefties.) Heh, maybe someday you would be able to get a brainscan that said quot;you know, you'd really be better if you had started out playing as a leftyquot;

I'm lefthanded all the way. The only thing I've managed to teach myself, is operate the computer mouse with my right hand. Took me some time though. Having to put the mouse on the other side every time I had to use a computer and put it back again for the next user was very annoying, and most of all, with the mouse on my left, on a public computer, I'm almost on the mousepad of the person working on the computer left of me . So that kinda bugged me. But at most other things I'm strictly lefthanded.

Not me, but Zacky Vengeance is an awesome left handed player:What makes someone's quot;handednessquot; when it comes to things like guitar, baseball, hockey, etc.? I know quite a few people that are right handed that shoot hockey left handed. Baseball favors righthanded fielders, but oftentimes a lefty is good against certain pitchers.

I wonder if you took two lefthanded twins and taught one guitar right and one left what would happen? Would the one playing lefty play better and pick things up quicker?



im pretty much ambidexterous, and i play guitar lefty. i can play pretty easily with a right handed guitar just flipped upside. my mind easily adjusts to the strings being backwards.

i havent had a chance to play a whole lot of guitars because of this, but i've found a few cool ones


Originally Posted by eric22rrYeah, handedness comes in degrees... The thing about pianos and fluts though, those are linear sort of playing arrangements. You've got a bunch of keys are the job of both hands is to push them down. With guitar, well, obviously it's not that linear. For me, when I first started out, picking up a guiatar and trying to hold it right handed felt so foreign, so terrible to me. The absolute only way I could play was lefty. But that's just me -- I'm extremely left handed with everything.

They should do some kind of brain study or something on handedness and guitar... Find out if certain parts of the brain correspond to the picking and fretting hand (for righties and lefties.) Heh, maybe someday you would be able to get a brainscan that said quot;you know, you'd really be better if you had started out playing as a leftyquot;

This is cool, and interesting- I never knew about degrees of right or left handedness. For me, I write lefty, throw righty (except darts), play drums either way- also eat either way. So I am not a true righty or lefty, so everything feels weird when I first learn.

I'm a lefty who plays righty. When I was starting, I too was told that it would be to my advantage to learn righty because of the more developed and natural dexterity in my left hand. This, coupled by the fact that back then (in the mid-'60s), left handed guitars were truly scarce and expensive. Also, that it's a right handed world in terms of pretty much everything. Any lefty knows what I mean.

To this day, I'm 100% grateful for that advice.

I've always wanted to string a lefty upside down and play it right handed...to see what alot of lefty's went through by having to flip it (strats inperticular, you knw what I mean).


Originally Posted by PFDarksideWhat makes someone's quot;handednessquot; when it comes to things like guitar, baseball, hockey, etc.? I know quite a few people that are right handed that shoot hockey left handed. Baseball favors righthanded fielders, but oftentimes a lefty is good against certain pitchers.

I wonder if you took two lefthanded twins and taught one guitar right and one left what would happen? Would the one playing lefty play better and pick things up quicker?Yeah, I know what you mean! I actually play hockey and I play as a righty. It's the absolute ONLY thing I do quot;right handedquot; But I think there's something more with that because most of my friends who play who are right handed with writing are leftys in hockey... So I think that one for some reason is a little weird.

I like your twin idea! Which reminds me, I read in a book about handedness that they have some pretty significant evidence that leftys are often originally conceived with a twin, and that the twin dies off very early in the pregnancy and is miscarried unknowingly.


Originally Posted by MartianI'm a lefty who plays righty. When I was starting, I too was told that it would be to my advantage to learn righty because of the more developed and natural dexterity in my left hand. This, coupled by the fact that back then (in the mid-'60s), left handed guitars were truly scarce and expensive. Also, that it's a right handed world in terms of pretty much everything. Any lefty knows what I mean.

To this day, I'm 100% grateful for that advice.
A lot of people bring up that dexterity issue. But the problem with a lot of leftys (including me) is that who cares if your left hand is the fretting hand and is more coordinated if your right hand is completely inept at picking? Yeah, you could train it to a certain extent. But there's something to be said for the fact that when I first picked up a guitar, it was so natural and felt SO right for my left hand to be the picking one.

People should also remember that handedness isn't just about which hand they prefer... It's about a completely different brain wiring... You can force a kid to be right handed from the time that they're small, but you're still not going to change the fact that they are left-handed... Because handedness exists in the brain.

I guess if you are mildly left-handed though, it wouldn't be very difficult to learn guitar as a righty... It's all in varrying degrees.


Originally Posted by Kamanda~SDI've always wanted to string a lefty upside down and play it right handed...to see what alot of lefty's went through by having to flip it (strats inperticular, you knw what I mean).

That's a cool idea! I bet you'd get a lot of curious looks.

It seems like its really only Fender and Gibson who have a serious availability of lefty guitars. I've always wanted to approach someone like dean or fernandes or parker and ask how much it would cost for them to build me one as a lefty. It's probably just easier/cheaper to modify/adapt a right handed guitar for a lefty setup.

I'm a leftie who plays rightie. My fret hand it pretty damn good, co-ordinated, strong. My pick hand, well, can suffer. But i am working on it!


Originally Posted by eric22rr
I guess if you are mildly left-handed though, it wouldn't be very difficult to learn guitar as a righty... It's all in varrying degrees.

That's a good point I didn't even consider. When I was young I did everything except write with both hands. Now, I've developed into a fully right-handed person.

The thing that makes it interesting is that when I learned Saxophone, there was no quot;left handedquot; model. Yet the only difference it makes is comfort in hand position. To the converted lefties, are you abnormally fast or skilled at fretting, or did you pick up the instrument faster or slower than your peers?

another lefty here... given up on buying guitars... attempting to make my own now.... much more fun...


Originally Posted by Mincerim a lefty who plays righty- so is steve morse, robert fripp, paul simon, and a few others. i did read an article with mr morse who said he was at a bit of an advantage over righties because his most dexterous hand was on the fretboard (and he can play!), and that makes sense- but only because i do it, too.

Janick Gers of Iron Maiden is a lefty playing right handed. He too said that having his most skilled hand on the fretboard helped.

I'm a lefty. There are several makers that offer lefty guitars. I guess you just have to know where to look.

I build most of my guitars from parts usually old Kramer stuff.

I'm left handed. I've honestly never understood the need for a quot;left handedquot; guitar. I consider the guitar to be a two-handed instrument, so whether my dominant hand is manipulating the pick or manipulating the frets, I'm still going to have to use my other hand for something as well. Since everything felt new and foreign starting off, I didn't see any advanatage in buying a reversed model. And now, 14 or so years later, I'm perfectly content to never have to say quot;Damn, that's a cool instrument! If only they'd make a version for me!quot;