Why Are Some Lefties Playing Guitars Right-handedly?

[jancivil]

As a guitarist, I ultimately sought to do as little as possible with the right hand. The right hand is not necessarily primary...

with the exception of the first sentence I feel the same way, my only exception to the first sentence is a personal thing that easily could just be less important for most than me. I dont tap, or I should say I haven't done so in many years but there is one thing I spent a lot of time learning with the right hand that is important to my pleasure of playing. That is harmonic squeals and the harmonic positions using the right hand. I get squeals in several ways, pinching, laying my thumb lightly over the string, palm muting and for other harmonics tones while doing hammer-ons with my left hand l light drag a finger or thumb up or down the strings and also pal muting.

As a result my right hand placement is key to a lot of tones I get, in fact really the range of travel is from the bridge to about the 14th fret.

Sure, but the point is that the fingering hand is where the primary thinking - note_choices - locates. To say "as little as possible" is not to say "nothing whatsoever".

[Hink]

As a guitarist, I ultimately sought to do as little as possible with the right hand. The right hand is not necessarily primary...

with the exception of the first sentence I feel the same way, my only exception to the first sentence is a personal thing that easily could just be less important for most than me. I dont tap, or I should say I haven't done so in many years but there is one thing I spent a lot of time learning with the right hand that is important to my pleasure of playing. That is harmonic squeals and the harmonic positions using the right hand. I get squeals in several ways, pinching, laying my thumb lightly over the string, palm muting and for other harmonics tones while doing hammer-ons with my left hand l light drag a finger or thumb up or down the strings and also pal muting.

As a result my right hand placement is key to a lot of tones I get, in fact really the range of travel is from the bridge to about the 14th fret.

Sure, but the point is that the fingering hand is where the primary thinking - note_choices - locates.

Agreed

[ATN69]

Most things are made for right handed people, and that include guitars. Got an Aria acoustic guitar one xmas from my parents and learned some chords and things. I never really took to the guitar as a instrument but I guess it's because I already played piano for many years. I don't blame the fact that it was made for right handed people. Even today if I pick up a guitar it feels more natural if it is stringed for right handed people. I tried left handed as well but I could not play anything.

[Aloysius]

Warez.

and finally, yes please

I'm very sorry for changing your post in order to fool the mods and get you banned. It was very stupid of me to do that. I'm surprised I didn't get banned for doing it. Please forgive me KVR, Mods and most of all Aloysius.

I accept your apology (on this occasion).

[slipstick]

When I started I decided that the twiddly stuff I had to do on the neck was way more difficult than the strumming/plucking at the other end so it made sense to do the tricky stuff with my best hand. Of course since then I learned that you can do some really fiddly stuff down at the bridge end too (Bert Weedon never mentioned that in "Play in a day"!).

So it doesn't really make much difference now. I'm not much use at classical guitar or finger picking (the arthritis doesn't help either) but I am way too old to change.

Steve

[kgdrum]

a bit OT as I play drums
I write and eat left handed but I play drums, throw a ball ,swing a bat and use a mouse as a right hander.
My late father was a psychiatrist it drove him crazy! lol
He could never get me to play ball as a lefty...........
to this day somethings I do as a righty and some things I do as a lefty & for no particular reason.
Depending on what I'm doing sometimes I feel more comfortable right handed and sometimes I feel more comfortable as a lefty and I really don't know why(giggles)

[BMoore]

Warez.

and finally, yes please

I'm very sorry for changing your post in order to fool the mods and get you banned. It was very stupid of me to do that. I'm surprised I didn't get banned for doing it. Please forgive me KVR, Mods and most of all Aloysius.

I’m a thunderc**nt.

Alrighty then.

[Aliens]

I'm right handed yet eat the wrong way around. Not arse to mouth, but knife left hand, fork in the right.

And I play the guitar like I have two left feet.

[herodotus]

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but if you think about it, from a beginner's standpoint there is no naturally dominant hand in guitar playing. If you have never played guitar, both hands are equally difficult to figure out in the early stages of learning. Whatever you start doing will seem natural after you gain a modicum of proficiency.

Are there left handed pianos, with the lowest notes on the right? I have certainly never seen one.

[CrystalWizard]

I think it makes sense as with the guitar pushing down the right strings at the right frets is more demanding than plucking, so on a right-handed guitar the right-handed person has to do the difficult work with the left hand, which makes little sense.

And vice versa, of course.

Those considerations were a problem when I bought my first electric bass because I am cross-dominant, although I prefer the left hand.

I agree.
I, too, am cross dominant but much more precise with my left hand. I draw, pitch baseball (well, when i was 8 yrs old), use knife with my left hand. I can print, eat, use a power saw, bat (again when i was , drive, etc with either hand. And lotta things i do right handed. I can never understand why a right handed person plays a “right handed” guitar. It makes no sense. On a right handed guitar you use your left hand to do the more precise muscle work and mind/body coordination.
As for left or right brain: the brain and the mind don’t seem to be exactly one to one correlated but for what it’s worth i decided at an early age to learn to do things with either hand just as an exercise.

[fmr]

I can never understand why a right handed person plays a “right handed” guitar. It makes no sense. On a right handed guitar you use your left hand to do the more precise muscle work and mind/body coordination.
As for left or right brain: the brain and the mind don’t seem to be exactly one to one correlated but for what it’s worth i decided at an early age to learn to do things with either hand just as an exercise.

If you play the guitar the way the guitar was supposed to be played (and was played for centuries) both hands play really difficult tasks. Whether it's the right hand or the left hand that does the hardest job, sometimes, it's difficult to say.

For example, in this piece, which hand would you say is doing the hardest part?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQGBbLBShzk

Or here?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inBKFMB-yPg

[CrystalWizard]

If you play the guitar the way the guitar was supposed to be played (and was played for centuries) both hands play really difficult tasks. Whether it's the right hand or the left hand that does the hardest job, sometimes, it's difficult to say.

For example, in this piece, which hand would you say is doing the hardest part?

......

Or here?

........

I’d say in the first video the right hand is playing the more difficult part ( is that a 10 string?)
In the second video i’d say the left hand.
You raise an interesting point, the style of guitar playing does factor into the topic. My comment was skewed towards electric rock, jazz, funk, punk, disco, electronic styles and less towards classical, flamenco, finger-picking type styles.
However “if you play the guitar the way it was supposed to be played...” I’ve heard, seen, and been one of those people who played the guitar however i wanted to. If everyone “played the guitar the way it was supposed to be played” we would have had no Jimi Hendrix nor Charlie Christian, Robert Fripp, etc.

[Hink]

I question if that's the way it's suppose to played or just one of the early virtuoso type styles, I'm not sure the guitar was invented for such a style or with said style in mind.

[jancivil]

"If you play the guitar the way the guitar was supposed to be played..."

"[tremolo!] which hand would you say is doing the hardest part?"
Seriously?

I played the Asturias (more popularly known as the Leyenda) and the Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Tarrega, and other things with tremolo plucktime.

The point I made was that to say '<the right hand for a right-handed guitarist is where the analytical properties supposedly of the other side of the brain locate> is clueless about the guitar'; this does not indicate the dexterity issues of the hands at all. So as a pretty experienced guitarist (started 1970) including around 5 yrs trying to get a touring career going as a concert guitarist, I'm telling you something I know.
A tremolo, typically p a-m-i, p a-m-i [thumb for the bass, ring-middle-index] repeatedly (I saw a young woman do Recuerdos p m-i-m and I like the sound of it.) is something a moron can learn how to execute, depending perhaps on their athletic talent.

I said the decisions are left-hand first; think about it for two seconds. The hardest part is _not_ down to doing a fricken tremolo, believe that. It's just athletics, there is no thought required to do it per se. The difficulty executing a piece of music with it in there does involve coordination of the two hands, yeah.

[deastman]

As I was reminded just a few hours ago, playing a right handed guitar is child’s play compared to opening a can with a right handed can opener.