Dude! You are SO Metal, your left hand is a permanent ‘horns’ 🤟🏼. I love your channel - you really rock out. Great production skills and your guitar playing is out of this world. Really like your Dimebag sound!
I'm so happy you put this out here and I stumbled across it. A childhood accident left me with only my thumb and pinky on my left hand. Now, at 30, I want to try to learn to play, mostly chords so I can play socially. Given I want to play in casual social settings, I think an upside-down right hand guitar would be better than a lefty so I could play others' as well. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks!
Thanks so much and that’s awesome! I learnt most of my playing by ear and listening to music, but these days there are lots of amazing tutorials on UA-cam to learn from. Otherwise, I’d say that persistence and not giving up is the key. It's a cliche but it works! I wish you luck : )
As a lefthanded I started to play my friends righty bass upside down at first. But he ofcourse noticed it and said to me that you should pick with your right hand not left. So I started to play like he did and never learned to play leftys.
I have no ear tonally, I play guitar more from a skate/surf/snow mindset of ergonomics and feel I know little to nothing of the world of musicianship but don’t doubt my creativity/stubbornness …..I blather that to say…to a passionate player like myself….you are a living mythological creature that fires my furnace of creativity….what a truly amazing human you are… thank you and .SALUT!!!!!
I play right handed standard and am left handed. It's been a struggle. Fighting that hand strumming. I commend you. I couldn't do it with the low e at the bottom also.
In playing drums growing up, I always had a problem doing some things most would play with ease. After fifty years I finally found out what it was when I heard a Ringo Starr interview. Like him, I was a left-hander playing a right-handed drum set. It DOES make a difference. Bottom line, do what you can, however you can, and don't worry how well you play compared to everyone else. If you have the natural talent, even physical differences won't hold you back enough to have fun. Just make YOUR music . . .
I am also an upside down lefty player, have been for 30 years. I prefer a Gibson SG because of the symmetry of the cutouts and the strap connections. Keep up the good work, my man.
Hello Otu, I'm new to your channel but loving it. You a God gifted, inspiring young man. Thanks for this instructional/explanational (it may be a word) .... only took me about 5 vids for me to even notice your left-hand-buddy. I can't imagine how may folks you've already inspired at all ages. You also inspire me. Keep doing what ya doing, stay cool 😎 ..... and get your rumpus on America's Got Talent or something. 👍
Have you thought about using a left handed guitar strung backwards? That would solve your upper fret access issue and the controls and output would be in the normal spot.
That's a good idea! But it would only solve half of the problem: the other being that the intonation would be wrong, at least with a tun-o-matic bridge situation... Because the bridge itself is slanted. With a fender style bridge you could overcome the problem, or maybe with an Evertune Bridge installed :-)
I used to play like that for years. I think i got alot more out of my guitar after i restrung it and learned that way. That style is just so limited. But i have wrote many songs with the strings that way.
This reminds of Billy McLaughlins story. Check it out if you haven't. He was a world class acoustic player, who got focal dystonia in the fretting hand. Lost control of pinky and ring fingers, and reduced control of middle finger. So, after playing for 30 years right handed, he simply switched. And essentially completed relearned how to play. So he became a world class guitarist, twice.
You should buy a lefty guitar and reverse string it! That way you can slam in a whammy and the knobs are on the bottem yet your most comfortable playingstyle which is reverse strings stay the same :)
Thanks so much for this video! Totally inspirational!! I've always wanted to play guitar, but I had an accident when I was much younger, and lost the fingertip of my middle finger on my left hand. It makes it pretty much impossible for me to form chords with my left hand, without constantly experiencing extreme pain (people often say your fingers will 'toughen up' - but that's when you have fingertips in the first place to toughen up!). I've always used this as a convenient excuse to why I can't play guitar, then see someone like you absolutely smashing it and realise that the only barrier I have to playing guitar is in my mind. I've thought about trying to learn left-handed instead, as I can easily strum with my left and form chords with my right. I am also a leftie, so this would kind of make sense... except I play drums too, and I play right-handed (weird right?). So I lead with my right hand, which is where my rhythm/timing comes from. This would make me naturally want to play guitar right-handed, as strumming rhythms would come far more naturally with my right, but then I'm back to not being able to form chords with my left. So what should I do? Try some kind of prosthetic fingertip on my left hand to protect my injured finger or just bite the bullet and learn left-handed... Or just steal someone else's guitar and play upside down like you..?
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath lost the fingertips of his second and third finger of his fretting hand in an industrial accident. He ended up crafting prosthetic fingertips which he glued to his fingers. It allowed him to play again, though he doesn't have direct contact with the strings. He's played this way for decades too. That might be something to look into for your condition as well. There are plenty of videos out there that show his right hand (his fretting hand) and the prosthetic fingertips he uses in closeups. He also pioneered down-tuning to ease the stress on those fingers. Neat stuff to hear him talk about in interviews too.
It’s awesome! My old teacher Uffe Steen Jensen plays upside down. And his bending and lines are out of this world. If I could start over I would learn it upside down.
Yes! So glad I found this video. I have been so confused about why you string your guitar "upside-down" and how that affects your playing. Really cool point with the bending. Our fingers definitely are designed to grab and have much more strength in this function, e.i. pull the strings rather than pushing. I always have problems doing "push-bends" with my little finger. I just tried out doing pull-bends with my little finger. It's much easier! The only tricky part is "grabbing" the string with the finger tip rather than just pushing it with the tip of the finger. Anyway, yet another cool video from you! Keep on rocking :D
I'm sure you know that, but quite a few older left-handed guitarists play inverted right-handed guitars like this, either because they wanted to be able to grab a random guitar at a jam and be able to play it, or because there weren't any left-handed guitars available back then and they just went with what they had, including the inverted strings.
I learned how to play like that before getting a left-handed guitar. It made me appreciate double cut guitars. The guitar I play now is an SG because of it.
Looks like my old Yamaha, had one for a year or 2 when I was in my teens. I have a friend who plays this way and Eric Gales plays this way and he completely smokes.
I play left handed i got pretty decent with the strings upside down, once i flipped my strings it opened up a whole new world there's just some stuff you can't do upside down, i could play basic chords but i really recommend flipping the strings
my good ol' friend from college plays the same exact way you do. in his case he lost his left forefinger in a motorcycle accident. he didnt bother buying a lefty guitar coz he already got like 4 regular guitars in his collection at that time and also to "save" money according to him lol
I just discovered your channel and at first something looked odd in your playing and couldnt understand why cause i never noticed your left hand since your covers are so awesome.
Something similar happened to me. I'm actually a lefty too, but I've learned to play from the beginning, like a regular right-handed person, playing a regular right-handed guitar. So, I guess that caused me to have a bunch of my own mannerisms and peculiarities, kinda like Ringo Starr playing the drums, I guess. And BTW man, I love your channel, all your content, and coolest example that you're for any people with some kind os disability or similar struggle.
hi man, catching up a little bit later but...why don't you play a lefty with inverted strings? that way you can get rid of the controls and the cable standing in your way and you can also try a wider range of guitars and the way you play would be the same I think. Awesome work btw
That's an accomplishment! Honest, you're the first left handed guitarist I've seen play upsidedown leta alone with your disability. Because don't left handed guitarists string their guitar upsidedown as well? I mean it would be upsidedown for a right handed player. But I do have to say, you rock on the guitar like 9 year old metal drummer Caleb. If you haven't seen this kid do drum covers for Slipknot (his favorite band), Metallica, Dying Fetus. Then you should check him out! You two should get together and make a song. Now that would be epic!
Thanks Tony! Hmm, I think it depends on what you're playing. If you're more of a rhythm player, you could take out the high E, or if you're a lead player, you could take out the low E. Good luck on the project, sounds cool!
If it works to you, then...stick with it! I am a lefty, I started playing in my teens a right handed strung acoustic guitar, not knowing what guitar tuning was, god know what tuning were those strings! I learned by ear some basic songs and arpeggios, then a year later got my first electric left handed strat alike and discovered how to tune it properly. would have hard times playing upside down strings...So I respct you for this and for your birth defect hand, after all the best guitar player ever (Django) had two fretting fingers less, so sky is the limit.
As a lefty myself, I really wish I had just picked up a right-handed guitar all those years ago and played it inverted, but no, I had to be an idiot and purchase a white 1962 Strat as my first guitar and re-string it so that I could play it as a 'lefty'. It would have saved me so much frustration and disappointment later on when I realised that a lot of guitars I wanted (1963 Gibson Les Paul custom SG to name but one), would not work re-strung as a lefty due to intonation issues. As a matter of interest, what do you drop tune to?
Definitely the greatest advantage that lefties have playing a right handed guitar upsidedown is being able to borrow any other right handed guitar. Learning on a left handed guitar limits you to that. Of course this doesn't stop many lefties from learning both ways!
The last couple of years Ive seen many play the guitar and bass upside down. It looks insane. But now I know how they do it. But you can't play regular chords, is that right? Like a Am, C etc, not to talk about the diminished and augmented ones. I also bend downwards. Much easier, but the high E string is problematic.
Real left-handed guitars have inverted strings, but I play on a right-handed guitar but just reverse.. just like you. I had right-handed friends at the time, and I had no idea where to find a left-handed guitar, so I just turned the guitar over. Do you know play on a real left handed guitar with reverse strings? It would be very interesting to know. Greetings from France..
I'm lefthanded and learned upside down bc cldnt find LH guitar in 80s at least not cheap if u did find one. I used my moms so cldnt change strings arnd until i got my own. Now i have many LH guitars now. I taught myself again to play with strings rt side up now. It was so awkward for me for awhile until i got LH one. Now its so much better now that strings are rt way. I can still play this way alittle bit
Dude! You are SO Metal, your left hand is a permanent ‘horns’ 🤟🏼. I love your channel - you really rock out. Great production skills and your guitar playing is out of this world. Really like your Dimebag sound!
I'm so happy you put this out here and I stumbled across it. A childhood accident left me with only my thumb and pinky on my left hand. Now, at 30, I want to try to learn to play, mostly chords so I can play socially. Given I want to play in casual social settings, I think an upside-down right hand guitar would be better than a lefty so I could play others' as well. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks!
Thanks so much and that’s awesome! I learnt most of my playing by ear and listening to music, but these days there are lots of amazing tutorials on UA-cam to learn from. Otherwise, I’d say that persistence and not giving up is the key. It's a cliche but it works! I wish you luck : )
Hey, man! It's been 3 years! That's about as long as I've been lifting, and I'm pretty strong at this point. How's your guitar playing going?
This is the first useful proposal of the almighty algorithm. Wow.
Dude! You are incredible. Highly intelligent and skilled.
As a lefthanded I started to play my friends righty bass upside down at first. But he ofcourse noticed it and said to me that you should pick with your right hand not left. So I started to play like he did and never learned to play leftys.
Cool, that's awesome!
Best "Way" to play is "Your" Way 😘
adapt and overcome. Amazing
Rusty Burns, Dick Dale and several other great guitarists played the same way you do, so whatever works for ya, just ROCK ON, Dude!
Dude, saw this from Reddit. Sounds badass. I have been playing on and off for 4 years. Wish I had more time to practice. Keep on playing!
Thanks so much, will do! Keep on playing as well : )
I have no ear tonally, I play guitar more from a skate/surf/snow mindset of ergonomics and feel I know little to nothing of the world of musicianship but don’t doubt my creativity/stubbornness …..I blather that to say…to a passionate player like myself….you are a living mythological creature that fires my furnace of creativity….what a truly amazing human you are… thank you and .SALUT!!!!!
I play right handed standard and am left handed. It's been a struggle. Fighting that hand strumming. I commend you. I couldn't do it with the low e at the bottom also.
In playing drums growing up, I always had a problem doing some things most would play with ease. After fifty years I finally found out what it was when I heard a Ringo Starr interview. Like him, I was a left-hander playing a right-handed drum set. It DOES make a difference.
Bottom line, do what you can, however you can, and don't worry how well you play compared to everyone else. If you have the natural talent, even physical differences won't hold you back enough to have fun.
Just make YOUR music . . .
Eric Gales plays his guitars upside down like that and he is awesome!
You are a damn legend!!!! 🤘🤘🤘
Respect mate
great !
Thank you for sharing.
I am also an upside down lefty player, have been for 30 years. I prefer a Gibson SG because of the symmetry of the cutouts and the strap connections. Keep up the good work, my man.
you;re a hero bro
Hello Otu, I'm new to your channel but loving it. You a God gifted, inspiring young man. Thanks for this instructional/explanational (it may be a word) .... only took me about 5 vids for me to even notice your left-hand-buddy. I can't imagine how may folks you've already inspired at all ages. You also inspire me.
Keep doing what ya doing, stay cool 😎 ..... and get your rumpus on America's Got Talent or something.
👍
Have you thought about using a left handed guitar strung backwards? That would solve your upper fret access issue and the controls and output would be in the normal spot.
I have! Unfortunately lefty selections aren't as great, although I'm considering a lefty Ibanez Iceman
That's a good idea! But it would only solve half of the problem: the other being that the intonation would be wrong, at least with a tun-o-matic bridge situation... Because the bridge itself is slanted. With a fender style bridge you could overcome the problem, or maybe with an Evertune Bridge installed :-)
@@moonicproductions Which he has since gotten. Seen it in the videos.
This video deserves many more views!!!
wow amazing
Well if you cannot play Stairway to Heaven at least you will never be kicked out of guitar stores! You are an awesome individual. Hail Otu!
I used to play like that for years. I think i got alot more out of my guitar after i restrung it and learned that way.
That style is just so limited. But i have wrote many songs with the strings that way.
That's cool! It's definitely an interesting way to take on guitar.
Cool Otu, I play the same way as well!!
Awesome, it's rare to bump into other upside down lefties!
Wooow..best brother😍❤️
Beautiful guitar man!!
Thanks man!
Legend
This reminds of Billy McLaughlins story. Check it out if you haven't. He was a world class acoustic player, who got focal dystonia in the fretting hand. Lost control of pinky and ring fingers, and reduced control of middle finger.
So, after playing for 30 years right handed, he simply switched. And essentially completed relearned how to play. So he became a world class guitarist, twice.
Awesome man!!
Nailed it. I've been playing the same way for almost 30 years now, I can relate :). Keep up the cool work!
badass man, earned my subscription
Thanks so much man!
Very cool man!
Very unique talent you got there!
Thanks!
You should buy a lefty guitar and reverse string it! That way you can slam in a whammy and the knobs are on the bottem yet your most comfortable playingstyle which is reverse strings stay the same :)
Thanks so much for this video! Totally inspirational!! I've always wanted to play guitar, but I had an accident when I was much younger, and lost the fingertip of my middle finger on my left hand. It makes it pretty much impossible for me to form chords with my left hand, without constantly experiencing extreme pain (people often say your fingers will 'toughen up' - but that's when you have fingertips in the first place to toughen up!). I've always used this as a convenient excuse to why I can't play guitar, then see someone like you absolutely smashing it and realise that the only barrier I have to playing guitar is in my mind. I've thought about trying to learn left-handed instead, as I can easily strum with my left and form chords with my right. I am also a leftie, so this would kind of make sense... except I play drums too, and I play right-handed (weird right?). So I lead with my right hand, which is where my rhythm/timing comes from. This would make me naturally want to play guitar right-handed, as strumming rhythms would come far more naturally with my right, but then I'm back to not being able to form chords with my left. So what should I do? Try some kind of prosthetic fingertip on my left hand to protect my injured finger or just bite the bullet and learn left-handed... Or just steal someone else's guitar and play upside down like you..?
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath lost the fingertips of his second and third finger of his fretting hand in an industrial accident. He ended up crafting prosthetic fingertips which he glued to his fingers. It allowed him to play again, though he doesn't have direct contact with the strings. He's played this way for decades too. That might be something to look into for your condition as well. There are plenty of videos out there that show his right hand (his fretting hand) and the prosthetic fingertips he uses in closeups. He also pioneered down-tuning to ease the stress on those fingers. Neat stuff to hear him talk about in interviews too.
It’s awesome! My old teacher Uffe Steen Jensen plays upside down. And his bending and lines are out of this world. If I could start over I would learn it upside down.
Yes! So glad I found this video. I have been so confused about why you string your guitar "upside-down" and how that affects your playing.
Really cool point with the bending. Our fingers definitely are designed to grab and have much more strength in this function, e.i. pull the strings rather than pushing. I always have problems doing "push-bends" with my little finger. I just tried out doing pull-bends with my little finger. It's much easier! The only tricky part is "grabbing" the string with the finger tip rather than just pushing it with the tip of the finger.
Anyway, yet another cool video from you! Keep on rocking :D
I'm sure you know that, but quite a few older left-handed guitarists play inverted right-handed guitars like this, either because they wanted to be able to grab a random guitar at a jam and be able to play it, or because there weren't any left-handed guitars available back then and they just went with what they had, including the inverted strings.
I learned how to play like that before getting a left-handed guitar. It made me appreciate double cut guitars. The guitar I play now is an SG because of it.
OMG BIG GUITAR COMPANIES! Please make a nice guitar for this playstyle. For this great guy which is an inspiration to all of people with... talent!
Looks like my old Yamaha, had one for a year or 2 when I was in my teens. I have a friend who plays this way and Eric Gales plays this way and he completely smokes.
aww thought that was gonna be "brother was a knob" for a second there 🤣
I play left handed i got pretty decent with the strings upside down, once i flipped my strings it opened up a whole new world there's just some stuff you can't do upside down, i could play basic chords but i really recommend flipping the strings
Your gat finger still rocks bro. Stay baddassss
my good ol' friend from college plays the same exact way you do. in his case he lost his left forefinger in a motorcycle accident. he didnt bother buying a lefty guitar coz he already got like 4 regular guitars in his collection at that time and also to "save" money according to him lol
I just discovered your channel and at first something looked odd in your playing and couldnt understand why cause i never noticed your left hand since your covers are so awesome.
Bands: Orthodox, Humanity Last Breathe, and (one more I can’t think of right now..) guitarists play like this also!
Something similar happened to me. I'm actually a lefty too, but I've learned to play from the beginning, like a regular right-handed person, playing a regular right-handed guitar. So, I guess that caused me to have a bunch of my own mannerisms and peculiarities, kinda like Ringo Starr playing the drums, I guess.
And BTW man, I love your channel, all your content, and coolest example that you're for any people with some kind os disability or similar struggle.
We're twinsies. I'm a lefty playing right handed also and it's definitely unique.
Otu and his funi hand. It decided being normal was too boring. Gotta be funi. :)
Nice Creative bosss sukses
man you should try reverse tuning ,it's eadgbe but from high e to low e ,it got some seriously cool voicings
Playing this way worked just fine for Dan Swanö, he played with some legendary metal bands.
Hey, could you maybe make some tutorials on playing chords upside down? I play both ways but upside down is really fun but I suck at chords
Lol thanks. But i didn't notice before this video. Upside down part I mean. You still rock. And making me want to grab my gurtar
The upside down part has always puzzled me. Now after watching this I'm like mmmmm, maybe I should flip my strings.
At 2:20 I have this vision of Mike Oldfield playing Tubular Bells...
hi man, catching up a little bit later but...why don't you play a lefty with inverted strings? that way you can get rid of the controls and the cable standing in your way and you can also try a wider range of guitars and the way you play would be the same I think. Awesome work btw
This what I was going to ask.
That's an accomplishment! Honest, you're the first left handed guitarist I've seen play upsidedown leta alone with your disability. Because don't left handed guitarists string their guitar upsidedown as well? I mean it would be upsidedown for a right handed player. But I do have to say, you rock on the guitar like 9 year old metal drummer Caleb. If you haven't seen this kid do drum covers for Slipknot (his favorite band), Metallica, Dying Fetus. Then you should check him out! You two should get together and make a song. Now that would be epic!
I was entertained
Good for you my friend I'm learning to play now I'm making a cigar box now a five string can I ask you a question which string should I leave out ?
Thanks Tony! Hmm, I think it depends on what you're playing. If you're more of a rhythm player, you could take out the high E, or if you're a lead player, you could take out the low E. Good luck on the project, sounds cool!
I play this way too! No birth defects tho. Cool to see someone else playing goofy as hell! People are always so shook
That's a tasty Yamaha you got there, Otu.
If it works to you, then...stick with it! I am a lefty, I started playing in my teens a right handed strung acoustic guitar, not knowing what guitar tuning was, god know what tuning were those strings! I learned by ear some basic songs and arpeggios, then a year later got my first electric left handed strat alike and discovered how to tune it properly. would have hard times playing upside down strings...So I respct you for this and for your birth defect hand, after all the best guitar player ever (Django) had two fretting fingers less, so sky is the limit.
As a lefty myself, I really wish I had just picked up a right-handed guitar all those years ago and played it inverted, but no, I had to be an idiot and purchase a white 1962 Strat as my first guitar and re-string it so that I could play it as a 'lefty'. It would have saved me so much frustration and disappointment later on when I realised that a lot of guitars I wanted (1963 Gibson Les Paul custom SG to name but one), would not work re-strung as a lefty due to intonation issues. As a matter of interest, what do you drop tune to?
Definitely the greatest advantage that lefties have playing a right handed guitar upsidedown is being able to borrow any other right handed guitar. Learning on a left handed guitar limits you to that. Of course this doesn't stop many lefties from learning both ways!
Would also love to hear which tunings are your favorites. If you see this please let me know! Rock on mate
Jimi Hendrix played upside down like this as well
can string it like jimi hendrix did
That's true and actually sometimes I do for fun
Wow! That's got to be tough to play off of tabs. Sounds great though!
Don't you think it would be nice to get a left-handed guitar and then reverse the strings so that the knobs and jack dont get in the way?
The last couple of years Ive seen many play the guitar and bass upside down. It looks insane. But now I know how they do it. But you can't play regular chords, is that right? Like a Am, C etc, not to talk about the diminished and augmented ones.
I also bend downwards. Much easier, but the high E string is problematic.
What if you buy a Lefthand Guitar and Restring it the Way you play? 😊
Hi
Did your SG600 come with the custom Gibson style position markers or did you get them fitted yourself?
You can do one thing Michael Angelo Batio can't do. 😊😊😊
I'm in the EXACT same situation, I'm still not sure if i shall start with a lefty guitar of play upside down....
Real left-handed guitars have inverted strings, but I play on a right-handed guitar but just reverse.. just like you. I had right-handed friends at the time, and I had no idea where to find a left-handed guitar, so I just turned the guitar over. Do you know play on a real left handed guitar with reverse strings? It would be very interesting to know. Greetings from France..
Thought he was going to play
Upside Down - Jack Johnson
(Curios George)
Dan Swano also
Are you left or right handed? I just ask, because i tried for fun holding the guitar like a lefthanded... but it was impossible
so like jimmy Hendrix ?
Is that an arturia keylab 49 ?
Yes! It's an amazing MIDI controller. I love that thing to death. It has the keys, knobs, faders and pads. It also looks nice, heh.
Arturia is a great brand. I am the owner of an Arturia Keylab 61 essential and its simply amazing
@@denizbluemusic sweet!
I know this is an old video... but, why don't you play a left handed guitar, but strung right handed? Then at least it would fit ergonomically.
Kurt Cobain was too but low e
Dude... why don't you get a lefty guitar and string it righy? That way you're still playing inverted, but without the knobs and shit in your way?
I'm lefthanded and learned upside down bc cldnt find LH guitar in 80s at least not cheap if u did find one. I used my moms so cldnt change strings arnd until i got my own. Now i have many LH guitars now. I taught myself again to play with strings rt side up now. It was so awkward for me for awhile until i got LH one. Now its so much better now that strings are rt way. I can still play this way alittle bit