When I would naturally pick up a guitar lefty as a kid, my parents told me I was holding it "wrong". I never could become comfortable trying to play right handed, so eventually bought a lefty Strat. And a good pair of lefty scissors too, lol.
Definitely not saying that it's wrong, and I hope I make it clear that despite the intentionally provocative title, I'm really just trying to say that playing right handed is an option for lefties that shouldn't be ruled out. It worked for me, and has worked for other people, but we're all different so definitely do whatever works for you. 👍
When I was a kid I wanted to learn guitar I was told by the music teacher as I was left handed I was unteachable . At the age of 59 took up the ukulele 2years after that took up the guitar also play both to a reasonable standard and still improving ,will be 62 in 2 weeks . I wish I could go back in time and smack that music teacher in the mouth 😂
I tried to play "correctly" for 3 months and struggled. So I started playing lefty and everything clicked in a week (I went from barely being able to fret an open G chord or strum in time righty after 3 months to being able to play Dream On by Aerosmith after a few hours with my new lefty guitar). I had been playing saxophone for about 8 years, so I was already musically inclined by the time I started playing guitar.
And that's cool, like I said, I've know people this did work for (such as myself) and others who have had the same experience as you. The title of this video 'why left-handers should learn right handed' is intentionally provocative and attention grabbing, but the content is more of a suggestion and why it CAN work for people and why they should consider maybe giving it a go - which you did, but you just found it easier to play left-handed, which is great, now you know what works for you! It may well be that learning right handed worked fine for me because I was only 10 when I started and I guess you're more adaptable at that age.
it's in the Brain dont listen....they never address the fact that some want there penmanship hand on the fret board I've seen soooooooo lefty the play right because they want there penmanship hand on the guitar....
I had the exact same experience described by Kylie with the difference that I am a well verse keyboardist / pianist. But still unable to process the guitar as a right handed. I tried for about 3 months as well right handed
I'm a lefty...naturally always played the air guitar lefty...ive tried to force myself to learn righty at least 3 different times and it just never felt right and I always ended up quitting...im going to finally go against the grain and just learn to be my natural self which is lefty all day...jimi hendrix here i come lol
I'm a lefty for handwriting, shooting and most other things. But I play guitar right handed. The first guitar I ever tried to play was a righty, and it just felt natural. I guess I'm lucky. No shortage of guitars to choose from!
I'm left handed and started learning to play right handed. I feel comfortable holding the guitar that way now but I can't seem to pick fast enough to play some of my favorite songs. So I tried to play left handed and can already pick at a much faster tempo after just a week or two. Unfortunately I can't fret with my right hand very well yet so I'm having a tough time deciding which way I'll continue to play. 🤔 Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the topic.
The plectrum/picking hand utilizes greater fine motor skills, whereas the fretting hand uses more gross motor function. There is a almost certainly some advantage to using your dominant hand for fine motor skill actions, which is why for hundreds of years the tradition has been to use one's dominant hand on the bow or strings. There is a reason right handed players hold the instrument the way the do, and that same reason exists for why left handed players are inclined to hold it oppositely.
The thing is your "dominant" hand might be your non-dominant hand depending on the task you're trying to perform. I'm RH dominant and absolutely cannot play guitar righty. Oddly enough, if I were to switch to a bowed instrument, I'm a righty. Working a bow lefty is awkward where strumming with a pick lefty is not. I can work a fretboard with my right hand, yet can't work the neck of a bowed instrument right handed.
@@phile5437 Actually, no. Left or right dominance for specific motor functions comes naturally and cannot easily be reversed. There is a big difference between fine and gross motor skills.
@@aliceverheij I don't understand. You said no, but then you basically concurred with what I said. Yes, hand dominance for specific motor functions comes naturally. Your hand dominance could vary depending on the task. Like me, RH dominant in most everything I do. LH dominant when I play guitar and shoot pool. In baseball, some players throw RH and bat LH exclusively. Most, if not all, people throw with their dominant hand. So for players who throw RH and bat LH, their dominant hand becomes the non-dominant hand when they go to bat.
@@phile5437 whichever hand you write and jack off with is the one you should pick with, I’m a lefty who’s been learning right handed for a year and I feel like I’ve already maxed out my right hands capabilities and I can flip it over and instantly pick cleaner and faster on one string with no effort, probably gonna buy a cheap squire and put one of my nice necks on it.
I've been playing guitar left handed for about 17 years. I've experienced how crappy it is to not be able to play other people's instruments and they can't play mine and the selection is extremely limited if you're picky like me. So, this week I ordered a little Kramer Baretta Special so I can try to learn to play right handed. I don't expect to be able to play as well I can the other way, but at least being able to play both ways will be very useful, and less frustrating. 😂
Listen, there's no lefty pianos, both hands are used for different purposes as guitar playing, so lefties learn like everyone else. It's just technique, and as every technique you will meet people that have better times learning some while you'll have easier times with others. It's normal, the mindset of "getting a lefty" conditions yourself to think that you will never be as good as the rest in the same field. You get me? I can give you a personal experience: I suck at playing violin because it feels "unnatural" (actually because is different), but I'm better learning Cello. So as a lefty people will feel weird but that doesn't makes it different than the rest of people learning a new instrument.
@@ClaimedEagle Sure. Piano is a very different instrument from guitar though, so it's not a fair comparison. Like you don't really have the option to play a piano upside down, but you can with a guitar. You can play other stringed instruments like violins and cellos backwards. But I've played brass instruments like trumpet and baritone horn just fine in their original configuration, probably because the original configurations use the right hand, just like a left handed guitar. If an instrument can be easily modified to be more comfortable for some players, those players are going to do it instead of suffering through the unnatural feeling of playing the normal way it's supposed to be played. If I had been corrected back in 2004 and told to play the other way, maybe I would have been just fine, I might have gotten used to it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Play the way that you're most comfortable with, don't get confused by options unless you have some sort of condition that forces you to adapt to one particular way. Be your own individual you won't regret it.
I can only speak for myself as I told people before I was getting guitar lessons and just could not get him down playing the guitarright-handed I even had a teacher and it was a struggle but then we decided to go ahead and try left-handed and I quickly learned I think many left-handers are ambidextrousbut there are some that are just very very left-handed and can't learn any other way I think the left-handers or predominantly left-handed people that can play right-handed parts to a certain extent ambidextrous obviously there's different degrees some are fully ambidextrous while others may do something left handed and some things right handed or both even the brain is a very complex thing and that's really what this happens to do with
Guitar teachers always told me "hey learn Right Handed because you'll have more dexterity and be a better player" my response was always "why are there so few left-handed guitars then?"
As a lefty player, stuff like that ruffles my feathers. It's always righty players telling people whether they should play lefty or not. Guitar is played with both hands. Your "dominant" hand might be your non-dominant hand when you play guitar. I'm RH dominant and I play far better lefty than righty.
I'm no musician or a lefty but I like where you were coming from. This really showed me how quite a few southpaws can still adapt to switching to a side depending on how they start, and for real, both the left and right hands when playing an instrument are equally enganging in challenging mechanics so really what's the big deal? Either way the musician sees fit to his or her strength, you gotta choose your battles in the end. It's like which muscle memory do you want each hand to have. Is there really a wrong way if the mechanics are mirrored? I'm making a story about a left-handed cellist. There's another character I have in my story that is a left-handed guitarist. They're the only two lefties in my cast of characters, and after seeing this and the example southpaw musicians you used, I think this might have inspired me to possibly showcase both methods of approach because that's really cool!
When playing some instruments in an orchestra left handedness can be problematic. Which is why you never see anyone in an orchestra playing the violin left handed, just to prevent poking the other violin players in the eyes. But for most instruments is simply isn't important at all. The only thing is that the choice of instruments and brands is limited for us south paws. But even then, the real quality depends more on the player than on the instrument. Most people rather hear a well music on an average instrument that terrible playing on an expensive and great instrument.
I am a believer in the dominant had playing the chords. Interestingly, Fender published their results showing that 90% of people that purchase a guitar quit. I see a correlation there, and think that lefties should start playing right handed guitars from the start, and vice-versa, and there would be less failing and quitting. I teach guitar and a common thing is complaints about their chords hand hurts or is fatigued, or has difficulty to reach a certain note in a chord. That's what happens when a person does a complex task with their off hand. How do you thread a needle? What hand do you write with? What is your preferred punching hand? Most likely the answers are all, one's dominant hand, for both power based moves and precision based moves. So why would one choose to perform the task that requires both hand strength and precision and dexterity with one's off-hand?
I didn't know those famous guitarists were left handed, thanks for the info! Another left handed person having the same opinion about this is Mathias IA Eklundh, a Swedish guitar wizard playing some truly difficult and inventive stuff not unlike that of Steve Vai. He said this on a clinic I went to some 15 years ago. I'm nowhere near the same league as him though. I can't do a whole song of fast downstrokes like in Basket Case, but in other aspects I don't feel limited as a lefty playing righty. Actually there are some stuff I can do better with my left hand that many right handed guitarists struggle with. Anyway, my main instrument since 20 years is actually bass, and with that I do struggle a bit. That's true especially when it comes to playing sixteenth notes fingerstyle at a higher tempo than 100-110 bpm and for slapping, but also I feel my timing lacks when I play back bass lines I've recorded. They rarely sound as tight as I've felt when I recorded them, although I think I've got a pretty decent feel for time and groove. So sometimes I think I should have started playing the bass the other way around, but I have no interest in switching anyway.
I have the same thing with recording. I always sound a little ahead of the beat. I just blame it on computer lag or something (it can't possibly just be me playing badly right? ;-) ). If I take my recorded parts and just nudge them back a little they sound great.
I am so glad I watched your video. I am a left handed and an organist . your thoughts on piano players, and guitar players is exactly where my head was at. I’ve always wanted to play guitar, and as a young person always was unsuccessful at playing guitar left handed and now I know why. I’m going back to try the guitar again at the age of 54 with a right handed guitar that was given to me from a friend’s family when he passed away. I’m pretty confident that I will be successful this time. When playing an organ you are playing chords in the left hand and melody in the right which is similar to playing guitar. I am pretty sure that’s why I tend to want to pick up a guitar as a right handed person and Im happy you touched on that topic. Thanks so much for this video and your feedback on that.
Fifteen years now as a Leftie. I accepted the bad advice to originally start guitar right handed. After four months of beginner lessons, I decided to try a left handed guitar. It only required ONE WEEK to catch up. I believe that one has to pick the guitar orientation based on which hand one would use for delicate work (such as artwork). If you would do art with your left hand, that is your orientation. Why? The art of guitar is mostly in the picking/fingering hand. While left handed play requires a few more steps/compromises/limits, it can be done with great success.
You are right concerning left handed guitars in all option. However, my circumstances is a bit different. First off, I am right handed, but I play left handed guitar. I have been playing left handed guitar now for 40 years. I did start playing right handed guitar first when I was 6 years old, but I had no coordination in playing it. My two brother had no problem playing guitar, but I did.. I was so frustrated to a point where I had to quit!! When I was a teenager. I was looking at my brother's guitar, and decided to flip it like a left handed guitar. Immediately I felt the comfort and coordination when I was moving my right hand on the fret board and strumming with my left. That was when I got a standard guitar from my mom's ex-boy friend and got it set up as a left handed guitar. Once I started guitar lesson I started to fly!! I learn it with no problem. Therefore with the odds against me, I am glad that I play left handed guitar. Though it was vain listening to you. You are right in all options. The best. Frank
Sure, your left hand is doing all the dexterity on the fretting (on a right handed guitar), but good luck if you cannot properly hit the right strings because you are using the non-dominant hand. Then all the 'complex' fretting work becomes pretty useless. Most of the fretting stuff (scales, chords) becomes automatic and is done by muscle memory, whereas the strumming and picking is much more intuitive and delacate and less 'programmed'. From experience and from the discussion I have heard, I would suggest to a new player who is holding intuitively left handed to perhaps give a right handed instrument a go for a bit to see if you're capable. Apparently it is possible, and being left-handed has its obvious downsides stated in the video. However, if you are not making progress try a LH or play some basic chords/scales/melody on a lefty insrument or upside down and see the difference. The difference should be quite obvious immediately. From there on, just stick with what you prefer. It is about you getting the most out of the instrument and progressing as much as you can. Enough options nowadays and if you want to play campfire songs on a dusty old right handed guitar, you can also learn to play some songs upside down ;) Good luck!
You could just as easily say that perfect strumming and picking is useless if you can't fret chords or bend strings. Both hands are doing something complex and playing the guitar requires dexterity in both hands. Learning a musical instrument from scratch is difficult either way. Yes there are many left handed options but the range is far more limited. Good luck finding that dream Les Paul gold top in left handed later on in life. I'm speaking from experience as a left hander playing right handed and it's worked for me.
@@TheFamilyMusicStore thanks for posting this Video great content. My opinion: lefty guitar options are not so limited it should influence how you play. I’d rather reach my potential then deal with a minor inconvenience of putting in more effort to find guitars I like. They are out there. I’m a dominant lefty who also plays very well righty. If I could start over I’d switch to lefty in a heartbeat wouldn’t think twice. it still feels like I’m holding a shotgun backwards playing righty and there are certain hurdles with my picking sense of time and even just in my subconscious I have to over come. It can be done, guitar is hard but it’s made to have the dominant hand strumming for a reason. It’s easier to play that way. ppl have different degrees of handedness, I hear ppl say I’m lefty because they write lefty, but they will throw a punch righty or swing a bat righty.... that’s not lefty, ppl like me do Everything left handed, except guitar because my first teacher said my guitar choices would be limited... honestly who cares, that’s my take. Some dominant lefty’s will struggle some won’t I guess. Different strokes for different folks. I respect your opinion but guitar choice just isn’t a factor for me. It can be done. I play well righty, no question I’d be better and progressed faster if I played lefty.
I'm a lefty and I fret with my left hand. That's the proper way to learn because fretting requires more strength and dexterity than plucking. Cobain was a righty who fretted with his right hand, BTW. Most lefties figure out fretting with the dominant hand works when they pick up a "right-handed" guitar, which is why most lefties play "right-handed" guitars. I imagine that if all righties picked up a "left-handed" guitar first, they'd find fretting with their right hand feels more natural. Most people pluck with their dominant hand because they've been told that's the proper way and that's how everyone else they see play is doing it. It doesn't mean it's the right way or that their imitation of others is natural. Most lefties who play a "left handed" guitar do so because they think they have to play opposite of how righties play, not because it's actually easier to learn that way. I started out fretting with my right hand for a month, then switched to fretting with my left. My progress rate doubled. Michael Angelo Batio, a lefty, learned to play fretting with both hands. Despite mastering both, he still prefers to fret with his left hand; most of the single-neck guitars he plays are "right handed" guitars. People who learn to fret with both hands generally know that it's easier and more natural to fret with the dominant hand. The problem is that guitar playing convention comes from bowed instrument convention, in which it's a lot easier to bow an instrument with your dominant hand. With a plucked instrument, the reverse is true.
i'm a righty who taught myself to play lefty because i lost the pinky on my left hand. I'm not very good but i love music so much that i have to try. It took me a few years to afford an electric but iv'e got a cheap tele that works. Cheers
@@drivenmad7676 that's great to hear - for me as a university student it's usually a nice break from work in the middle of the day. Yesterday I managed the first solo from Master of Puppets which I've been trying to get down for months so am very pleased with my progress haha. I looked up southpaw and it comes up with a movie, are you learning songs from its soundtrack? It'd be nice to hear what you've been trying to play.
@@icemaster523 Heheheh!!! No "southpaw means left handed. LOL you just made me smile. I love M.o.P but i'm not that good, i improvise blues leads to backing tracks these days. I also play everything from Pink Floyd, little feat, Mountain, Thin Lizzy etc. to accoustic music from Willie N.,Waylon J. J.Garcia. I love music and feel blessed to be able to play. Thank you for the msg and keep up the good work my friend.
@@drivenmad7676 Oh wow hahaha I've never heard of that - when I searched it just came up with a film so I didn't think it would be a word haha. I haven't really done any improvisation as I feel like I'll get to that once I've learned some theory. I also haven't learned anything much other than riffs so I can only really play rock and metal hahaha - only recently started trying chords. Guitar was what got me to have a more diverse music taste - I hadn't really listened to any Pink Floyd or Thin Lizzy until I started playing - I'll check out some of what you mentioned too. Funnily enough I wasn't interested in music lessons in school but now it's really fun playing guitar. Have you heard about Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath? He was left handed and lost fingers on his right hand but continued to play left handed - he didn't want to lose his 2 years of progress at that point. He should have switched like you did but continued with prosthetic fingers, making him downtune his guitar to bend more easily and have power chord heavy riffs, creating the sound of metal which I find really impressive! Keep up the good work too - I always think about how I'll be able to play really impressive stuff with 1 or 2 years hahaha
I am left handed and learned right handed. I am now limited when it comes to picking abilities. I cannot play fast fluidly using techniques like tremolo picking. Metal guitar, forget it, not a chance. I cannot get thumb independence down for acoustic. I basically stick to slower tunes. Slow blues. Single line lead stuff. Chords. Even after 20 years of playing my picking hand has limits that it wouldnt if I had learned left handed.
Well I use to play the ukulele right handed, btw I am left handed. An I wanted to switch to guitar and it frustrated me when I was playing the left hand guitar so it all depends.
as a lefthander i learned to become ambidextrous by forcing doing everything right handed to improve my right picking hand. I wish i lived in times like these and could start playing left handed when I was young. After 25years of right handed playing I started teaching myself left handed guitar. Regarding the comment on the piano, I think the left handed people are at advantage, as if playing left hand guitar, the dominant hand is programmed to work in sync to work as one and rhythm lives there and the weak hand is more scattered, more finger independent. In long run lefties playing left guitar will have to work less hard to reach their goal. Until you start experimenting with heavy metal and sustained palmuted downpicking and tremolo picking, you may not see the limits of "wrong handedness" , but if you do, prepare for unbelievable and unimaginable amount of frustration, just to improve a little. if you are strongly left handed, get a left handed guitar.
I'm 35 years old and only started learning guitar in January 2022 so just under a year. I picked up my first electric guitar at my mates house and he's right handed. I'm left handed but it just felt totally natural fretting with my left and strumming with my right. This might be because I have learned to do a handful of things with my right hand so I'm not totally dependent on my left for every day things (apart from writing which i find impossible with my right) but it's interesting that you alluded to this because it certainly does help that you're not restricted to just your dominant hand in every day life. However, even early in my guitar learning journey I tried switching my guitar around to see what fretting with my right hand feels like and it just feels like my right hand is too weak to press the strings down. Don't get me wrong strumming with my left is more natural but I think it's more beneficial for me that I strum with my weaker hand and fret with my more dominant hand. I have thought about just buying a left handed guitar as well so I can learn both but not sure if this would set me back and or confuse me. What do you think? Thanks for the video
I’m 70 and left handed. When I was 11 for Christmas I got a Red Rider BB gun and my older got a Sears acoustic guitar and he wanted my BB gun and I wanted the guitar, so we swapped. I didn’t know there was left handed guitars , there aren’t left handed pianos, trumpets etc so I learned to play right handed . I can’t play left handed to save me . I play guitar , lap steel and Mandolin. I even finger pick and Travis pick . It was never hard to play right handed . I still have that old acoustic and my Hank Williams and Apple 🍏 Beatles guitar book that I learned on in my collection.
Excellent video. I’m a leftie and I pick up the instrument to play right-handed, naturally. This is exactly the info I needed for understanding what I’m doing. Thanks a lot.
i am left handed for some things like writing kick a ball shooting using the wii mote scissor lol but right handed for other things like using my computer mouse using cutlery i cant recall other thing on the top of my head well guitar too i originally wanted to play left handed but only had my bro guitar which was a righty so my teacher said it would be complicated to reverse the string each time i would like to play so i learned the right way either way i sucked on both hand i guess your mind adapt to the situation because in the first place you dont know how to use your hand for a new specific task you learn one way or the other and then it is like everything practise will make you better but once you learned a way you better of keep it that way or else you have to re learn from scratch
I also am a left handed guitar player(that plays right handed) and it is true my picking is literally my only struggle, I can fret almost any song effortlessly after 1 minute or two of learning it and also kill at solos
Just practice thrash metal with the mighty downstroke technique. Every time I go back to my guitar, the first thing I do is exercise my right doing some thrash metal songs full of downstrokes, you will increase your strength in no time.
Everyone is different. Some lefties play right-handed really well, Mark Knopler and Dave Kilminster spring to mind. Some just struggle to play that way. I wish I’d learnt right-handed but would I have been any good? No idea. As some have said they struggled playing righty but when then switch to what felt more comfortable and natural they were better. There is no correct answer here. My advice - try right handed and if that doesn’t seem to work for you you then don’t force it, switch to leftie. If you don’t enjoy playing right handed then try the other way. Better to do that than put the guitar under the bed to gather dust.
The way you pick up a guitar instinctively the very first time is the way you should play. I started with classical, there is no way you can apply this kind of compromise in that field. Guitarists who play in left handed orientation are regarded as having a different harmonic approach and are generally better teachers.
@@TheFamilyMusicStore Most virtuosos and musical geniuses who play right handed guitars are actually left handed. All the best guitarists I've known who played righty guitars were left handed. I think what it comes down to is most people are followers (those who pluck with their dominant hand because they've been told it's the right way) and only some are leaders (those who figured out that it's easier to learn and more advantageous to fret with the dominant hand and don't let anybody tell them otherwise).
There's a reason right handed people strum/pick with their dominant hand. Yes, left handed people will progress quicker as a beginner learning chord shapes with their dominant hand but they will be hampered as they advance due to the strumming/picking hand needing more intricate movements.
As a lefty who tried repeatedly to learn righty; it doesn't work for everyone. If it did rightys would all be fretting with the right and strumming picking with the left. I do much better picking with my left.I get the rhythm right much quicker and it sticks. It all depends on how ambidextrous you are.
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Im a cross dominant lefty who throws lefty, strength wise a left but write right handed, when i first started i was holding it upside down couldnt progress (you could probably guess why) few years later picked it back up and just learned righty kinda sucks that you could of had a unique gimmick but due to normalize in our right hand world it is what it is, its a double edged sword though like he mentions in the video fret hand is probably easier then righty who plays righty due to more strength at the starting phase
I'm a lefty who felt naturally inclined to play right-handed when I was a kid (the complicated stuff is in the fretting hand). It payed of many years later when I got psoriatic arthritis. It took most of my ligaments except my left hand. Basically my right hand now has cero wrist motion for playing and I can barely play with a pick (finger-style fits me better now). Nevertheless, I can still do the complicated stuff with my left hand and my limitations in my right hand aren't noticed. If as a kid I learned left-handed guitar I would be screwed right now.
I'm a lefty playing right. My strumming is dog poo..but I would not swap that left hand on the fret board, cos it feels natural. But strumming..no control. I swapped to fingerstyle..found my groove and the control with right hand in fingerpicking..would not swap it for the world.. However there is two types of lefty. I'm a lefty that plays two handed sports naturally right handed. I have lefty mates that play two hand sports lefty...so we are in the middle mate
I'm a lefty....I was raised (re: forced) to write with my right hand...I'm learning to play guitar at the young age of 50...right handed. Reason? I want to be able to grab any guitar, play and not feel out of place.
For over 15 years I've been playing lefty on a righty and still, but my issues is that playing fills or some certain riffs are a little clunky and I don't if it's I just have bad coordinate or bad position of my finger cause I know a quite a bit of chords and play them how I fit comfortably but I just feel it might be clunky
I always played righthanded and now my right hand can`t keep up with my lightningfast chord changes. 😃 I`m not so good with a pick though, It`s fingerstyle or my nails.
i am playing guitar for 10+ years ( not everyday from time to time casually at home ) but i am struggling with songs like painkiller for example from judas priest i have a feeling i can never play that song correctly with my right hand but some other songs i can do just fine but to start all over again is to much work not gonna do that
I am left handed but I play guitar right handed beacause when I learned, I felt more comfortable that way and by this day I try to play guitar left handed but I feel almost impossible to play..
@@MiNdLeSs1234567890 hey man was hoping I'd find a comment like this. I have been playing on and off for just under a year and am left handed but learned with a right handed guitar. Fretting with my left feels way more natural but obviously strumming takes a hit. However although strumming is more challenging, fretting with my right feels absolutely impossible. I have been thinking about buying a left handed guitar so I can learn to be an ambidextrous guitar player. I don't see how it would hinder my progression if I am giving both types of guitar equal attention and practice. How is it going for you?
Well keep in mind that if you write left handed doesn't mean you would play left handed guitar. I am left handed when it comes to writing for the most part but play right handed guitar. If you seen some right handed famous guitarist that write with their left hand doesn't mean they had to force themselves to play right handedly as some left handed people had to go through. The word is Cross-Dominace
The act of picking is associated with writing, so people usually will play with the pick in their writing hand. I hate when people say “oh a lefty should just play righty because you have to do the difficult things with your left hand” if that’s the case then you as a righty should play a lefty guitar then right? 🤷🏻♂️😂
I am left handed & when I took my first lesson my guitar teacher taught me how to play right handed plus the left hand does otherwise hard work & no my picking ain't that great I do all down strokes lol
The thing that sucks about playing left handed is the lack of left handed guitars. It sucks. Been flipping guitars for 25 years it would be so nice if I could find the same amount of options in lefty models. I honestly believe I would of learned either way. If your gonna play lefty great guitars are harder to find and when you do there usually more expensive.
i'm left handed, but after 2 months of training leftly, i decided to change to the right one, till today i have some difficulties picking on the guitar, but i started to use my fingers like the bass players use to do, and it worked a lot. But still, I feel like it will harm me a lot in the future when I start to learn more advanced techniques that must have the use of the picks, should I after all this time, change again to a left hand guitar?
I am left handed is I need left hand guitar or right handed. I am Bignner. Left handed guitor is not available if they are available then they are bad suggest me the good way for choose guitor.
Here is a thought... A violinist... It seems that it would be an advantage to be left-handed as that hand has a big demand on it, while the right hand just bows. Well, that's my 2 cents any way. Food for thought I guess.
Do you do lessons online ? I'm struggling to find a mentor who is a lefty playing right. I'm from uk. I'm self taught so far, but I can do some things intermediate and yet still need basics in others.
I have a quick question. I am southpaw for all the things in my life and couple of years ago I learned guitar for 8-10 months with my Cort AD810 left handed which isnt with me any more. Just as a hobby now after 4 years I want to restart learning it again.Should I start again with left handed or for the generic advantage I should buy a new right handed guitar and start learning right handed (more guitar options, as a lefty an advantage on fretboard, ease in social gatherings etc) please advise. Thanks for your time sir.
If you've already started learning left-handed you should probably carry on that way. You have started to develop muscle memory playing it that way around and all that progress will be lost if you switch to right handed. It will be like starting from day one.
The Family Music Store thanks for replying. I have played for 8 months or so , so I don’t have any issues to restart it with more widely available guitars as a hobby 😇 By the way, as for a novice any guitar suggestions around $500 to $700 . I am thinking for seagull s6 original / seagull entrouge cut away. Any suggestions would highly appreciate. 👍🏼
Righty players need to stop trying to tell people whether they should play lefty or not. I'm a lefty player who happens to be RH dominant. In regard to whether or not you should play lefty, the correct answer is PLAY THE WAY THAT FEELS NATURAL TO YOU. You really shouldn't force the opposite unless you feel you can make it work. I've always heard that your everyday dominant hand is supposed to strum. If this was true, there would be way more LH players than there are. The truth is your everyday dominant hand may be your non-dominant hand when it comes to playing guitar (if we follow the dominant hand strums "rule"). Guitar is played with both hands. How can we definitively say either way is LH or RH? Not all RH players are RH people and vice versa. RH and LH is more of a way to differentiate the two styles of play than it is accurately defining hand dominance.
Well then maybe right handed people should try playing left handed guitars see how they like it and switch the strings from right to left and drums can be switched from right to left
Well, thing is, lefties don't give a rodents bottom what you or anyone thinks about playing left handed. There are enough great lefty guitars around, so there's no reason to force yourself to play right handed. Left or right handedness simply depends on natural preference. And yes, Knopfler, Moore, Clapton and the rest are naturally left handed. But so were Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Albert King, Jimmy Cliff and is Paul McCartney for lord knows how long. So whatever you think you know, it simply doesn't matter at all. And for beginners left handed playing isn't an issue when being thought as it's actually easier to mirror the playing from a teacher. So, don't bother giving advice to beginners on this, they'll just do what's best for them.
@@frossbog There would be some advantages and some disadvantages, but given that right handed guitars are far more readily available, I wouldn't encourage right handers to learn left handed.
I do. It's not that I prefer to fret with my dominant hand though. I do not have the manual dexterity to fret with my non-dominant hand. I would advise people to play the way that feels more natural.
people I cant believe people dont know...what if you want your penmanship hand on your fretboard....jimmi hendrixkurt cobain billy corgan Joe perry...sorry a guitar isnt a indication of what hand you are or everyone would have fretting hand on the fret or everyone penmanship hand would strumming...there is a left handed piano made but not popular
Nobody is a hundred percent right handed either. Unless you're paralised in one arm or have had it amputated. Most of us are able to use our non-dominant hand. If you couldn't, playing guitar would be very difficult.
I play right handed, its not a problem until i watch youtube videos showing how to play a song and it gives me brain damage trying to copy what they are teaching.
For those who disagree with my thoughts here, I would say 2 things. Firstly, have a look at anybody playing anything complex on the guitar and ask yourself 'which hand is doing the hardest bit'. You'll find that BOTH hands are doing complicated movements that require dexterity. Whichever way you learn, the right hand is doing something complex and difficult, as is the left hand. Secondly, have a look at how many other videos there are on You Tube made by left handers saying the exact same thing as me. Also, check out some of the videos on my own channel: ua-cam.com/video/P9j2W4GyGiI/v-deo.html
@PHONOGRAPH I am not saying that at all. If you watch the video right through you'll see that I say if you've already started learning the other way around then stick with it or you'll be starting all over again. I'm also not saying that learning 'right handed' is necessarily any easier for left handers, I'm just saying it's not necessarily any harder either, and there are advantages like being able to play your mates guitar etc. But whatever works for you, do that. You'll also see that I have mentioned the exact same players as you when showing examples of great left handed players. There is no right or wrong way, that's kind of the whole point of the video.
I am left handed playing right since the early nineties. I can tell you my fret hand is awesome. My picking is limited. Its limited because that hand isnt skilled at minute movements. Sure I can play lead, strum rhythm. However, thumb independence, nope, tremolo picking long term, practicing now. Its a challenge. Even complex strumming on some acoustic numbers is work. Sure I am ok at it but I have been at it for 20 years plus. I am a guitar alcoholic. The average person not obsessed would probably toss the instrument. Eventually a player will get proficient enough that they start to see the shortcomings when they want to progress to a higher level.
@@RRL110 I mentioned in the video that picking might be slightly harder but fretting will be easier. If you go the other way around picking is easier but fretting is harder. Having said that, my picking is pretty decent (again would be better is I practiced more). I think what people miss about this video is that while the title provocatively says 'why you 'should' learn right handed', that actual content of the video explains that it's an option, and that there are pros and cons for both. This is my picking. There are better pickers out there and my technique is not perfect, but when playing stuff like this I'm sure glad to have my good hand on the neck. ua-cam.com/video/DUxPrsSbhe8/v-deo.html
@@TheFamilyMusicStore Giving it more thought I also think instinctively I have always worked harder on training the fret hand because that part requires the most music theory. Learning patterns and notes and chords. The right hand tends to suffer a bit from lack of attention. Now that I have a better understanding of the instrument I am working harder on the right hand.
It seems you're not accounting for cross dominance and ambidexterity. I'm RH dominant and play guitar lefty. Oddly enough, if I were to play a bowed instrument, I would play righty. Working a bow lefty feels awkward where strumming lefty feels natural.
No. I will stick with right hand guitar lefty flipped. Like my idol jimi hendrix. As ypu said, who determines what's right and left....? As far as im concerned the guitar is ambidextrous.🤷♂️
Hey guy common man I write with my right throw left ...need penmanship hand working the fretboard that's wiring the detail is in,the freting not the strum my brain says the strum is the lumbering hand...and there is a left handed piano made.....you need to understand most people are not 100% left handed and golf is not a,indications of handedness
You are wrong. Most left handed people will never be as good if playing right handed instruments as if they were playing left handed. There is a reason why stringed instruments are designed to use the right hand, i.e. the dominant hand for most people, to pluck the string or use a bow. After trial and error, people have realized that it requires more dexterity to use a pick, a bow or fingerpicks than hitting the correct frets/spots on the fretboard. The availability (or lack thereof) of left handed instruments is a factor, that is true. But if a left handed person wants to realize his/hers full potential as a musician, (s)he should play a left handed instrument. I know this because I'm left handed and play the guitar right handed and fiddle left handed. The reason why I play the guitar right handed is that my father told me "then you can play a guitar wherever you go", but I struggle to get good timing and precision when using a pick. I have become a quite good fiddle player though.
Mark Knopfler and Gary Moore disagree. 'Wrong' is quite a strong word to use. There are different points of view and arguments for and against, but neither is 'wrong'. My experience as someone who was naturally inclined to pick up the guitar left handed is that you can learn very successfully the other way around. I may not be Nuno Bettencourt but I have been more successful at playing guitar than at any other endeavor in life, all while officially playing 'the wrong way around'.
@@TheFamilyMusicStore You _are_ wrong. When a person is left handed, he or she has more dexterity in their left hand. Throughout the centuries people have found out that they needed to use the dominant hand, i.e. for most people the right hand, for the most complicated task. Picking strings or using the bow is more complicated than hitting the right note on the fret board, thus most instruments are adapted to right handed people. A left handed person can become quite good at playing a right handed instrument, but he or she would definitely have been even better if they had played left handed. It is a bit sad that there are many music teachers who tell their left handed students to play right handed. There are surely many left handed people, who either are quite mediocre or gave up, who could have become good musicians if they had started with a left handed instrument.
@@erlendgjerde8409 It depends on the style of music as to which hand requires more dexterity. Again I point to the many examples of great players of are left handers playing guitar right handed, some of the greatest guitarists of all time. And I'm speaking from personal experience as a left handed person who was 'forced' to play right handed and found playing guitar came very naturally to me once I had adjusted to playing the 'wrong way'. Yes I have more dexterity in my left hand, which makes bending strings and playing faster passages with hammer-ons and pull-offs much easier. Again, both hands require dexterity when playing guitar, so whichever way around you go, the non-dominant hand has to learn to do something complex.
I disagree. I'm far better playing lefty as a RH dominant person. Hand dominance has thrown a wrench in the discussion. Your everyday dominant hand just might be your non-dominant hand depending on the task you're trying to perform.
All the limited lefty guitar manufacturer will stop making left handed guitars if they go with this kind of idea.. I am not saying that you are wrong or right.. I have been playing guitars left handed for more then a decade now and I am pretty sure there are others Too.. We cant change our ways now.. There is already very limited options to buy a left-handed guitars.. Now do you want the brands to stop making them at all.. 😁
Ha I don't think my video has that kind of power. There will always be people who choose to play left-handed, and if that's what works for you then that's what you should do. This is just one perspective on it.
Please do not listen to this guy. Here are some facts: There are degrees of handedness and you cannot look at someone like Knopfler or Paul Simon and say they’re left handed but they play right handed and therefore so should I. You don’t know exactly what percentage left handed they are and you don’t know if they’re more or even less left handed than you are. Trust me, I’ve done my research on this. I’m left handed and have been playing right handed (professionally) for the last 30 something years and recently switched to playing left handed and already my rhythm and coordination has improved in just a few short months. If you’re still confused - just use your strongest hand as your rhythm hand. Trust me. I listened to people like this bloke for years who claim to know it all - he may be a borderline lefty like 55% left handed and 45% right handed and that’s why it’s relatively easy for him to play right handed but if you are very left handed like I am then please stop wasting your time and start playing left handed today.
i completely disagree. don't try to change a lefty to right handed, let them decide if they want to play a left handed guitar, or a right handed upside down. and i challenge you to play left handed for one week. you will very shortly, turn the left handed guitar upside down.
If lefties played left handed, more instrument manufacturers would churn out left handed instruments. Your thinking is a result of the Stockholm Syndrome, I reckon - the complications of strumming, plucking and moving from string to string are better assigned to the dominant hand, not the ‘slave’ hand. Clearly your playing style is limited by your choice, but you’re happy with it because you don’t play a broad range of styles. By the way, drums are also left-hand-able instruments. The common sense thought approach is - why go _against_ the way you’re naturally wired?
When I would naturally pick up a guitar lefty as a kid, my parents told me I was holding it "wrong". I never could become comfortable trying to play right handed, so eventually bought a lefty Strat. And a good pair of lefty scissors too, lol.
Definitely not saying that it's wrong, and I hope I make it clear that despite the intentionally provocative title, I'm really just trying to say that playing right handed is an option for lefties that shouldn't be ruled out. It worked for me, and has worked for other people, but we're all different so definitely do whatever works for you. 👍
@@TheFamilyMusicStore Why? Left handed guitars are cheaper, and if you’re left handed it’s just natural.
I play a left handed guitar but they are not cheaper where’d you learn that
@@jacobthemaster66 Why? Because of the reasons in the video. And no left handed guitars are definitely NOT cheaper.
@@TheFamilyMusicStore Your claims seem to just be empty claims
Paul McCartney started out playing right-handed but then switched playing left as he was not progressing well. When nothing goes right, go left!
😂😂that is funny but true
When I was a kid I wanted to learn guitar I was told by the music teacher as I was left handed I was unteachable . At the age of 59 took up the ukulele 2years after that took up the guitar also play both to a reasonable standard and still improving ,will be 62 in 2 weeks . I wish I could go back in time and smack that music teacher in the mouth 😂
Yeah you had a terrible music teacher!
I tried to play "correctly" for 3 months and struggled. So I started playing lefty and everything clicked in a week (I went from barely being able to fret an open G chord or strum in time righty after 3 months to being able to play Dream On by Aerosmith after a few hours with my new lefty guitar).
I had been playing saxophone for about 8 years, so I was already musically inclined by the time I started playing guitar.
And that's cool, like I said, I've know people this did work for (such as myself) and others who have had the same experience as you. The title of this video 'why left-handers should learn right handed' is intentionally provocative and attention grabbing, but the content is more of a suggestion and why it CAN work for people and why they should consider maybe giving it a go - which you did, but you just found it easier to play left-handed, which is great, now you know what works for you! It may well be that learning right handed worked fine for me because I was only 10 when I started and I guess you're more adaptable at that age.
it's in the Brain dont listen....they never address the fact that some want there penmanship hand on the fret board I've seen soooooooo lefty the play right because they want there penmanship hand on the guitar....
I had the exact same experience described by Kylie with the difference that I am a well verse keyboardist / pianist. But still unable to process the guitar as a right handed. I tried for about 3 months as well right handed
I'm a lefty...naturally always played the air guitar lefty...ive tried to force myself to learn righty at least 3 different times and it just never felt right and I always ended up quitting...im going to finally go against the grain and just learn to be my natural self which is lefty all day...jimi hendrix here i come lol
I'm a lefty for handwriting, shooting and most other things. But I play guitar right handed. The first guitar I ever tried to play was a righty, and it just felt natural. I guess I'm lucky. No shortage of guitars to choose from!
Same here bruh
I'm left handed and started learning to play right handed. I feel comfortable holding the guitar that way now but I can't seem to pick fast enough to play some of my favorite songs. So I tried to play left handed and can already pick at a much faster tempo after just a week or two. Unfortunately I can't fret with my right hand very well yet so I'm having a tough time deciding which way I'll continue to play. 🤔 Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the topic.
The plectrum/picking hand utilizes greater fine motor skills, whereas the fretting hand uses more gross motor function. There is a almost certainly some advantage to using your dominant hand for fine motor skill actions, which is why for hundreds of years the tradition has been to use one's dominant hand on the bow or strings. There is a reason right handed players hold the instrument the way the do, and that same reason exists for why left handed players are inclined to hold it oppositely.
The thing is your "dominant" hand might be your non-dominant hand depending on the task you're trying to perform. I'm RH dominant and absolutely cannot play guitar righty. Oddly enough, if I were to switch to a bowed instrument, I'm a righty. Working a bow lefty is awkward where strumming with a pick lefty is not. I can work a fretboard with my right hand, yet can't work the neck of a bowed instrument right handed.
@@phile5437 Actually, no. Left or right dominance for specific motor functions comes naturally and cannot easily be reversed. There is a big difference between fine and gross motor skills.
@@aliceverheij I don't understand. You said no, but then you basically concurred with what I said. Yes, hand dominance for specific motor functions comes naturally. Your hand dominance could vary depending on the task. Like me, RH dominant in most everything I do. LH dominant when I play guitar and shoot pool. In baseball, some players throw RH and bat LH exclusively. Most, if not all, people throw with their dominant hand. So for players who throw RH and bat LH, their dominant hand becomes the non-dominant hand when they go to bat.
@@phile5437 whichever hand you write and jack off with is the one you should pick with, I’m a lefty who’s been learning right handed for a year and I feel like I’ve already maxed out my right hands capabilities and I can flip it over and instantly pick cleaner and faster on one string with no effort, probably gonna buy a cheap squire and put one of my nice necks on it.
I've been playing guitar left handed for about 17 years. I've experienced how crappy it is to not be able to play other people's instruments and they can't play mine and the selection is extremely limited if you're picky like me. So, this week I ordered a little Kramer Baretta Special so I can try to learn to play right handed. I don't expect to be able to play as well I can the other way, but at least being able to play both ways will be very useful, and less frustrating. 😂
Listen, there's no lefty pianos, both hands are used for different purposes as guitar playing, so lefties learn like everyone else. It's just technique, and as every technique you will meet people that have better times learning some while you'll have easier times with others. It's normal, the mindset of "getting a lefty" conditions yourself to think that you will never be as good as the rest in the same field. You get me?
I can give you a personal experience: I suck at playing violin because it feels "unnatural" (actually because is different), but I'm better learning Cello. So as a lefty people will feel weird but that doesn't makes it different than the rest of people learning a new instrument.
@@ClaimedEagle Sure. Piano is a very different instrument from guitar though, so it's not a fair comparison. Like you don't really have the option to play a piano upside down, but you can with a guitar. You can play other stringed instruments like violins and cellos backwards. But I've played brass instruments like trumpet and baritone horn just fine in their original configuration, probably because the original configurations use the right hand, just like a left handed guitar. If an instrument can be easily modified to be more comfortable for some players, those players are going to do it instead of suffering through the unnatural feeling of playing the normal way it's supposed to be played. If I had been corrected back in 2004 and told to play the other way, maybe I would have been just fine, I might have gotten used to it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I believe right-handed people should play lefthanded !!
Play the way that you're most comfortable with, don't get confused by options unless you have some sort of condition that forces you to adapt to one particular way. Be your own individual you won't regret it.
I can only speak for myself as I told people before I was getting guitar lessons and just could not get him down playing the guitarright-handed I even had a teacher and it was a struggle but then we decided to go ahead and try left-handed and I quickly learned I think many left-handers are ambidextrousbut there are some that are just very very left-handed and can't learn any other way I think the left-handers or predominantly left-handed people that can play right-handed parts to a certain extent ambidextrous obviously there's different degrees some are fully ambidextrous while others may do something left handed and some things right handed or both even the brain is a very complex thing and that's really what this happens to do with
Guitar teachers always told me "hey learn Right Handed because you'll have more dexterity and be a better player" my response was always "why are there so few left-handed guitars then?"
As a lefty player, stuff like that ruffles my feathers. It's always righty players telling people whether they should play lefty or not. Guitar is played with both hands. Your "dominant" hand might be your non-dominant hand when you play guitar. I'm RH dominant and I play far better lefty than righty.
@@phile5437 It's easy to tell Leftys to play Right, but by that same logic why are Rights not playing Lefty?
I'm no musician or a lefty but I like where you were coming from. This really showed me how quite a few southpaws can still adapt to switching to a side depending on how they start, and for real, both the left and right hands when playing an instrument are equally enganging in challenging mechanics so really what's the big deal? Either way the musician sees fit to his or her strength, you gotta choose your battles in the end. It's like which muscle memory do you want each hand to have. Is there really a wrong way if the mechanics are mirrored? I'm making a story about a left-handed cellist. There's another character I have in my story that is a left-handed guitarist. They're the only two lefties in my cast of characters, and after seeing this and the example southpaw musicians you used, I think this might have inspired me to possibly showcase both methods of approach because that's really cool!
When playing some instruments in an orchestra left handedness can be problematic. Which is why you never see anyone in an orchestra playing the violin left handed, just to prevent poking the other violin players in the eyes. But for most instruments is simply isn't important at all. The only thing is that the choice of instruments and brands is limited for us south paws. But even then, the real quality depends more on the player than on the instrument. Most people rather hear a well music on an average instrument that terrible playing on an expensive and great instrument.
I'm very ambidextrous compared to most but I decided to bravely go lefty with no regrets. I know I'm laying a path for more lefties!
I am a believer in the dominant had playing the chords. Interestingly, Fender published their results showing that 90% of people that purchase a guitar quit. I see a correlation there, and think that lefties should start playing right handed guitars from the start, and vice-versa, and there would be less failing and quitting.
I teach guitar and a common thing is complaints about their chords hand hurts or is fatigued, or has difficulty to reach a certain note in a chord. That's what happens when a person does a complex task with their off hand.
How do you thread a needle? What hand do you write with? What is your preferred punching hand? Most likely the answers are all, one's dominant hand, for both power based moves and precision based moves. So why would one choose to perform the task that requires both hand strength and precision and dexterity with one's off-hand?
Thanks for the left hand support!!!
Tell that to Jimi Hendrix, Dick Dale, and Paul McCartney.
With online shopping it is easy to find left-handed guitars now.
Jimi hendrix was right handed
I didn't know those famous guitarists were left handed, thanks for the info! Another left handed person having the same opinion about this is Mathias IA Eklundh, a Swedish guitar wizard playing some truly difficult and inventive stuff not unlike that of Steve Vai. He said this on a clinic I went to some 15 years ago. I'm nowhere near the same league as him though. I can't do a whole song of fast downstrokes like in Basket Case, but in other aspects I don't feel limited as a lefty playing righty. Actually there are some stuff I can do better with my left hand that many right handed guitarists struggle with.
Anyway, my main instrument since 20 years is actually bass, and with that I do struggle a bit. That's true especially when it comes to playing sixteenth notes fingerstyle at a higher tempo than 100-110 bpm and for slapping, but also I feel my timing lacks when I play back bass lines I've recorded. They rarely sound as tight as I've felt when I recorded them, although I think I've got a pretty decent feel for time and groove. So sometimes I think I should have started playing the bass the other way around, but I have no interest in switching anyway.
I have the same thing with recording. I always sound a little ahead of the beat. I just blame it on computer lag or something (it can't possibly just be me playing badly right? ;-) ). If I take my recorded parts and just nudge them back a little they sound great.
kurt cobain was right handed, he just played left handed guitars.
Left hand player rhat learned on a right guitar for 15 years and In my opinion it came easier for me this way. My fret work was already leagues ahead
I am so glad I watched your video. I am a left handed and an organist . your thoughts on piano players, and guitar players is exactly where my head was at. I’ve always wanted to play guitar, and as a young person always was unsuccessful at playing guitar left handed and now I know why. I’m going back to try the guitar again at the age of 54 with a right handed guitar that was given to me from a friend’s family when he passed away. I’m pretty confident that I will be successful this time.
When playing an organ you are playing chords in the left hand and melody in the right which is similar to playing guitar.
I am pretty sure that’s why I tend to want to pick up a guitar as a right handed person and Im happy you touched on that topic. Thanks so much for this video and your feedback on that.
Fifteen years now as a Leftie. I accepted the bad advice to originally start guitar right handed. After four months of beginner lessons, I decided to try a left handed guitar. It only required ONE WEEK to catch up. I believe that one has to pick the guitar orientation based on which hand one would use for delicate work (such as artwork). If you would do art with your left hand, that is your orientation. Why? The art of guitar is mostly in the picking/fingering hand. While left handed play requires a few more steps/compromises/limits, it can be done with great success.
Nah, tell a pro shredder his left hand suck. Lol
You are right concerning left handed guitars in all option. However, my circumstances is a bit different. First off, I am right handed, but I play left handed guitar. I have been playing left handed guitar now for 40 years. I did start playing right handed guitar first when I was 6 years old, but I had no coordination in playing it. My two brother had no problem playing guitar, but I did.. I was so frustrated to a point where I had to quit!! When I was a teenager. I was looking at my brother's guitar, and decided to flip it like a left handed guitar. Immediately I felt the comfort and coordination when I was moving my right hand on the fret board and strumming with my left. That was when I got a standard guitar from my mom's ex-boy friend and got it set up as a left handed guitar. Once I started guitar lesson I started to fly!! I learn it with no problem. Therefore with the odds against me, I am glad that I play left handed guitar. Though it was vain listening to you. You are right in all options. The best. Frank
Sure, your left hand is doing all the dexterity on the fretting (on a right handed guitar), but good luck if you cannot properly hit the right strings because you are using the non-dominant hand. Then all the 'complex' fretting work becomes pretty useless. Most of the fretting stuff (scales, chords) becomes automatic and is done by muscle memory, whereas the strumming and picking is much more intuitive and delacate and less 'programmed'.
From experience and from the discussion I have heard, I would suggest to a new player who is holding intuitively left handed to perhaps give a right handed instrument a go for a bit to see if you're capable. Apparently it is possible, and being left-handed has its obvious downsides stated in the video. However, if you are not making progress try a LH or play some basic chords/scales/melody on a lefty insrument or upside down and see the difference. The difference should be quite obvious immediately. From there on, just stick with what you prefer. It is about you getting the most out of the instrument and progressing as much as you can. Enough options nowadays and if you want to play campfire songs on a dusty old right handed guitar, you can also learn to play some songs upside down ;)
Good luck!
You could just as easily say that perfect strumming and picking is useless if you can't fret chords or bend strings. Both hands are doing something complex and playing the guitar requires dexterity in both hands. Learning a musical instrument from scratch is difficult either way. Yes there are many left handed options but the range is far more limited. Good luck finding that dream Les Paul gold top in left handed later on in life. I'm speaking from experience as a left hander playing right handed and it's worked for me.
@@TheFamilyMusicStore thanks for posting this Video great content. My opinion: lefty guitar options are not so limited it should influence how you play. I’d rather reach my potential then deal with a minor inconvenience of putting in more effort to find guitars I like. They are out there. I’m a dominant lefty who also plays very well righty. If I could start over I’d switch to lefty in a heartbeat wouldn’t think twice. it still feels like I’m holding a shotgun backwards playing righty and there are certain hurdles with my picking sense of time and even just in my subconscious I have to over come. It can be done, guitar is hard but it’s made to have the dominant hand strumming for a reason. It’s easier to play that way. ppl have different degrees of handedness, I hear ppl say I’m lefty because they write lefty, but they will throw a punch righty or swing a bat righty.... that’s not lefty, ppl like me do Everything left handed, except guitar because my first teacher said my guitar choices would be limited... honestly who cares, that’s my take. Some dominant lefty’s will struggle some won’t I guess. Different strokes for different folks. I respect your opinion but guitar choice just isn’t a factor for me. It can be done. I play well righty, no question I’d be better and progressed faster if I played lefty.
I'm a lefty and I fret with my left hand. That's the proper way to learn because fretting requires more strength and dexterity than plucking.
Cobain was a righty who fretted with his right hand, BTW. Most lefties figure out fretting with the dominant hand works when they pick up a "right-handed" guitar, which is why most lefties play "right-handed" guitars. I imagine that if all righties picked up a "left-handed" guitar first, they'd find fretting with their right hand feels more natural.
Most people pluck with their dominant hand because they've been told that's the proper way and that's how everyone else they see play is doing it. It doesn't mean it's the right way or that their imitation of others is natural. Most lefties who play a "left handed" guitar do so because they think they have to play opposite of how righties play, not because it's actually easier to learn that way.
I started out fretting with my right hand for a month, then switched to fretting with my left. My progress rate doubled.
Michael Angelo Batio, a lefty, learned to play fretting with both hands. Despite mastering both, he still prefers to fret with his left hand; most of the single-neck guitars he plays are "right handed" guitars. People who learn to fret with both hands generally know that it's easier and more natural to fret with the dominant hand.
The problem is that guitar playing convention comes from bowed instrument convention, in which it's a lot easier to bow an instrument with your dominant hand. With a plucked instrument, the reverse is true.
I wirte left but I throw right, but holdig the guitar left handed is natural, but I think I can learn playing right handed.
i'm a righty who taught myself to play lefty because i lost the pinky on my left hand. I'm not very good but i love music so much that i have to try. It took me a few years to afford an electric but iv'e got a cheap tele that works. Cheers
how's the guitar going now? we started similar times; I started late October 2021 and am left handed playing a left hand guitar
@@icemaster523 it's just about the only reason i get out of bed. I feel blessed that i was able to learn southpaw. How about you my friend?
@@drivenmad7676 that's great to hear - for me as a university student it's usually a nice break from work in the middle of the day. Yesterday I managed the first solo from Master of Puppets which I've been trying to get down for months so am very pleased with my progress haha. I looked up southpaw and it comes up with a movie, are you learning songs from its soundtrack? It'd be nice to hear what you've been trying to play.
@@icemaster523 Heheheh!!! No "southpaw means left handed. LOL you just made me smile. I love M.o.P but i'm not that good, i improvise blues leads to backing tracks these days. I also play everything from Pink Floyd, little feat, Mountain, Thin Lizzy etc. to accoustic music from Willie N.,Waylon J. J.Garcia. I love music and feel blessed to be able to play. Thank you for the msg and keep up the good work my friend.
@@drivenmad7676 Oh wow hahaha I've never heard of that - when I searched it just came up with a film so I didn't think it would be a word haha. I haven't really done any improvisation as I feel like I'll get to that once I've learned some theory. I also haven't learned anything much other than riffs so I can only really play rock and metal hahaha - only recently started trying chords. Guitar was what got me to have a more diverse music taste - I hadn't really listened to any Pink Floyd or Thin Lizzy until I started playing - I'll check out some of what you mentioned too. Funnily enough I wasn't interested in music lessons in school but now it's really fun playing guitar. Have you heard about Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath? He was left handed and lost fingers on his right hand but continued to play left handed - he didn't want to lose his 2 years of progress at that point. He should have switched like you did but continued with prosthetic fingers, making him downtune his guitar to bend more easily and have power chord heavy riffs, creating the sound of metal which I find really impressive! Keep up the good work too - I always think about how I'll be able to play really impressive stuff with 1 or 2 years hahaha
I am left handed and learned right handed. I am now limited when it comes to picking abilities. I cannot play fast fluidly using techniques like tremolo picking. Metal guitar, forget it, not a chance. I cannot get thumb independence down for acoustic. I basically stick to slower tunes. Slow blues. Single line lead stuff. Chords. Even after 20 years of playing my picking hand has limits that it wouldnt if I had learned left handed.
they fuck you remember one thing prove them wrong...penmanship strum hand or fretboard..joe perry myself jimmi Hendrix billy corgan pen hand fretting
Im a right handed and it happends t me too... Just practice... Anyway or another is about practice...
@@CaroDuran29 So you play right handed and are also right handed? I am confused.
Well I use to play the ukulele right handed, btw I am left handed. An I wanted to switch to guitar and it frustrated me when I was playing the left hand guitar so it all depends.
Ong same
Fr
Most of the time you keep much better rhythm with your dominant hand and that is why right handed guitars are oriented that way.
as a lefthander i learned to become ambidextrous by forcing doing everything right handed to improve my right picking hand. I wish i lived in times like these and could start playing left handed when I was young. After 25years of right handed playing I started teaching myself left handed guitar. Regarding the comment on the piano, I think the left handed people are at advantage, as if playing left hand guitar, the dominant hand is programmed to work in sync to work as one and rhythm lives there and the weak hand is more scattered, more finger independent. In long run lefties playing left guitar will have to work less hard to reach their goal. Until you start experimenting with heavy metal and sustained palmuted downpicking and tremolo picking, you may not see the limits of "wrong handedness" , but if you do, prepare for unbelievable and unimaginable amount of frustration, just to improve a little. if you are strongly left handed, get a left handed guitar.
I'm 35 years old and only started learning guitar in January 2022 so just under a year. I picked up my first electric guitar at my mates house and he's right handed. I'm left handed but it just felt totally natural fretting with my left and strumming with my right. This might be because I have learned to do a handful of things with my right hand so I'm not totally dependent on my left for every day things (apart from writing which i find impossible with my right) but it's interesting that you alluded to this because it certainly does help that you're not restricted to just your dominant hand in every day life.
However, even early in my guitar learning journey I tried switching my guitar around to see what fretting with my right hand feels like and it just feels like my right hand is too weak to press the strings down. Don't get me wrong strumming with my left is more natural but I think it's more beneficial for me that I strum with my weaker hand and fret with my more dominant hand.
I have thought about just buying a left handed guitar as well so I can learn both but not sure if this would set me back and or confuse me. What do you think?
Thanks for the video
I’m 70 and left handed. When I was 11 for Christmas I got a Red Rider BB gun and my older got a Sears acoustic guitar and he wanted my BB gun and I wanted the guitar, so we swapped. I didn’t know there was left handed guitars , there aren’t left handed pianos, trumpets etc so I learned to play right handed . I can’t play left handed to save me . I play guitar , lap steel and Mandolin. I even finger pick and Travis pick . It was never hard to play right handed . I still have that old acoustic and my Hank Williams and Apple 🍏 Beatles guitar book that I learned on in my collection.
Excellent video. I’m a leftie and I pick up the instrument to play right-handed, naturally. This is exactly the info I needed for understanding what I’m doing. Thanks a lot.
I learned to play right handed guitar using right handed string so my friends can still use my guitar
i am left handed for some things like writing kick a ball shooting using the wii mote scissor lol but right handed for other things like using my computer mouse using cutlery i cant recall other thing on the top of my head well guitar too i originally wanted to play left handed but only had my bro guitar which was a righty so my teacher said it would be complicated to reverse the string each time i would like to play so i learned the right way either way i sucked on both hand i guess your mind adapt to the situation because in the first place you dont know how to use your hand for a new specific task you learn one way or the other and then it is like everything practise will make you better but once you learned a way you better of keep it that way or else you have to re learn from scratch
Me personally I'm a leftie and I don't have the rhythm in my right as opposed to the left for strumming. My left is the strong hand.
I also am a left handed guitar player(that plays right handed) and it is true my picking is literally my only struggle, I can fret almost any song effortlessly after 1 minute or two of learning it and also kill at solos
Just practice thrash metal with the mighty downstroke technique. Every time I go back to my guitar, the first thing I do is exercise my right doing some thrash metal songs full of downstrokes, you will increase your strength in no time.
Id be even so keen as to argue that "right handed" guitars are infact left handed guitars and the old school norm of which side is which is incorrect
Ok this makes sense because I'm like wait if I'm right handed why am I fretting with my left? I would agree
Everyone is different. Some lefties play right-handed really well, Mark Knopler and Dave Kilminster spring to mind. Some just struggle to play that way. I wish I’d learnt right-handed but would I have been any good? No idea. As some have said they struggled playing righty but when then switch to what felt more comfortable and natural they were better. There is no correct answer here. My advice - try right handed and if that doesn’t seem to work for you you then don’t force it, switch to leftie. If you don’t enjoy playing right handed then try the other way. Better to do that than put the guitar under the bed to gather dust.
They should play whichever way they’re comfortable with.
The way you pick up a guitar instinctively the very first time is the way you should play. I started with classical, there is no way you can apply this kind of compromise in that field. Guitarists who play in left handed orientation are regarded as having a different harmonic approach and are generally better teachers.
Worked ok for these guys though: www.moshcam.com/articles/24467/20-best-left-handed-guitarists
@@TheFamilyMusicStore Most virtuosos and musical geniuses who play right handed guitars are actually left handed. All the best guitarists I've known who played righty guitars were left handed. I think what it comes down to is most people are followers (those who pluck with their dominant hand because they've been told it's the right way) and only some are leaders (those who figured out that it's easier to learn and more advantageous to fret with the dominant hand and don't let anybody tell them otherwise).
There's a reason right handed people strum/pick with their dominant hand. Yes, left handed people will progress quicker as a beginner learning chord shapes with their dominant hand but they will be hampered as they advance due to the strumming/picking hand needing more intricate movements.
As a lefty who tried repeatedly to learn righty; it doesn't work for everyone. If it did rightys would all be fretting with the right and strumming picking with the left. I do much better picking with my left.I get the rhythm right much quicker and it sticks. It all depends on how ambidextrous you are.
Im a cross dominant lefty who throws lefty, strength wise a left but write right handed, when i first started i was holding it upside down couldnt progress (you could probably guess why) few years later picked it back up and just learned righty kinda sucks that you could of had a unique gimmick but due to normalize in our right hand world it is what it is, its a double edged sword though like he mentions in the video fret hand is probably easier then righty who plays righty due to more strength at the starting phase
I'm a lefty who felt naturally inclined to play right-handed when I was a kid (the complicated stuff is in the fretting hand). It payed of many years later when I got psoriatic arthritis. It took most of my ligaments except my left hand.
Basically my right hand now has cero wrist motion for playing and I can barely play with a pick (finger-style fits me better now). Nevertheless, I can still do the complicated stuff with my left hand and my limitations in my right hand aren't noticed. If as a kid I learned left-handed guitar I would be screwed right now.
Im right handed but I have a problem with my whole left arm my is slightly dislocated so I cant play right and left is more comfortable
i have the soloution i played piano i play lefty guitar but im gonna play banjo right handed both hands work
I'm a lefty playing right. My strumming is dog poo..but I would not swap that left hand on the fret board, cos it feels natural. But strumming..no control. I swapped to fingerstyle..found my groove and the control with right hand in fingerpicking..would not swap it for the world..
However there is two types of lefty. I'm a lefty that plays two handed sports naturally right handed. I have lefty mates that play two hand sports lefty...so we are in the middle mate
I'm a lefty....I was raised (re: forced) to write with my right hand...I'm learning to play guitar at the young age of 50...right handed. Reason? I want to be able to grab any guitar, play and not feel out of place.
I have a left hand injury which doesn’t allow me to spread the fingers on my left hand.
Im left handed i play right handed guitar at first G Chord and F chord is so hard but i you train your finger nothing is impossible
Any tips for working on the strumming hand? I'm a lefty playing righty
Have a look at this - it's made for ukulele but I use this strum on guitar too - ua-cam.com/video/IHo0fTOoM3Y/v-deo.html
Like your points compared to other videos and for the fact your a lefty 🤙🏼
For over 15 years I've been playing lefty on a righty and still, but my issues is that playing fills or some certain riffs are a little clunky and I don't if it's I just have bad coordinate or bad position of my finger cause I know a quite a bit of chords and play them how I fit comfortably but I just feel it might be clunky
I always played righthanded and now my right hand can`t keep up with my lightningfast chord changes. 😃
I`m not so good with a pick though, It`s fingerstyle or my nails.
i am playing guitar for 10+ years ( not everyday from time to time casually at home ) but i am struggling with songs like painkiller for example from judas priest i have a feeling i can never play that song correctly with my right hand but some other songs i can do just fine but to start all over again is to much work not gonna do that
I am left handed but I play guitar right handed beacause when I learned, I felt more comfortable that way and by this day I try to play guitar left handed but I feel almost impossible to play..
Now at this moment I feel like I can learn to play left handed and be an ambidextrous player like Michael Angelo Batio. I think I will give a try.
@@MiNdLeSs1234567890 hey man was hoping I'd find a comment like this. I have been playing on and off for just under a year and am left handed but learned with a right handed guitar. Fretting with my left feels way more natural but obviously strumming takes a hit. However although strumming is more challenging, fretting with my right feels absolutely impossible.
I have been thinking about buying a left handed guitar so I can learn to be an ambidextrous guitar player. I don't see how it would hinder my progression if I am giving both types of guitar equal attention and practice.
How is it going for you?
@@Baz87100 Thats awesome dude. keep it up.
Well keep in mind that if you write left handed doesn't mean you would play left handed guitar. I am left handed when it comes to writing for the most part but play right handed guitar. If you seen some right handed famous guitarist that write with their left hand doesn't mean they had to force themselves to play right handedly as some left handed people had to go through. The word is Cross-Dominace
The act of picking is associated with writing, so people usually will play with the pick in their writing hand. I hate when people say “oh a lefty should just play righty because you have to do the difficult things with your left hand” if that’s the case then you as a righty should play a lefty guitar then right? 🤷🏻♂️😂
I'm left handed but play right. Never had a chance to play a left handed guitar..I bet it would feel natural lol
I am left handed & when I took my first lesson my guitar teacher taught me how to play right handed plus the left hand does otherwise hard work & no my picking ain't that great I do all down strokes lol
My man is left handed but couldn't play left handed can play right handed guitar tho
The thing that sucks about playing left handed is the lack of left handed guitars. It sucks. Been flipping guitars for 25 years it would be so nice if I could find the same amount of options in lefty models. I honestly believe I would of learned either way. If your gonna play lefty great guitars are harder to find and when you do there usually more expensive.
I can also play right handed guitars fairly well out of adaptation. 6 strings anyway you flip it
i'm left handed, but after 2 months of training leftly, i decided to change to the right one, till today i have some difficulties picking on the guitar, but i started to use my fingers like the bass players use to do, and it worked a lot. But still, I feel like it will harm me a lot in the future when I start to learn more advanced techniques that must have the use of the picks, should I after all this time, change again to a left hand guitar?
Any advice for gaining speed with my strumming hand?
My friend plays right and is left handed. I am left handed and play left handed. 🎶
I am left handed is I need left hand guitar or right handed. I am Bignner. Left handed guitor is not available if they are available then they are bad suggest me the good way for choose guitor.
The video answers the question. :-)
Here is a thought... A violinist... It seems that it would be an advantage to be left-handed as that hand has a big demand on it, while the right hand just bows. Well, that's my 2 cents any way. Food for thought I guess.
ringo sta plays /drums opposite handed
Do you do lessons online ? I'm struggling to find a mentor who is a lefty playing right. I'm from uk. I'm self taught so far, but I can do some things intermediate and yet still need basics in others.
Hey, not at this stage sorry. Maybe one day!
I’ve been playing right handed as a lefty for 2 n a half years. I really struggle with 16th note funk strumming. Will it come?
Play the way that feels more natural.
I have a quick question.
I am southpaw for all the things in my life and couple of years ago I learned guitar for 8-10 months with my Cort AD810 left handed which isnt with me any more.
Just as a hobby now after 4 years I want to restart learning it again.Should I start again with left handed or for the generic advantage I should buy a new right handed guitar and start learning right handed (more guitar options, as a lefty an advantage on fretboard, ease in social gatherings etc) please advise. Thanks for your time sir.
If you've already started learning left-handed you should probably carry on that way. You have started to develop muscle memory playing it that way around and all that progress will be lost if you switch to right handed. It will be like starting from day one.
The Family Music Store thanks for replying. I have played for 8 months or so , so I don’t have any issues to restart it with more widely available guitars as a hobby 😇
By the way, as for a novice any guitar suggestions around $500 to $700 .
I am thinking for seagull s6 original / seagull entrouge cut away. Any suggestions would highly appreciate. 👍🏼
@@fnaticmedia check out LAG guitars. The LAG T70 series are really nice for the money!
Righty players need to stop trying to tell people whether they should play lefty or not. I'm a lefty player who happens to be RH dominant. In regard to whether or not you should play lefty, the correct answer is PLAY THE WAY THAT FEELS NATURAL TO YOU. You really shouldn't force the opposite unless you feel you can make it work. I've always heard that your everyday dominant hand is supposed to strum. If this was true, there would be way more LH players than there are. The truth is your everyday dominant hand may be your non-dominant hand when it comes to playing guitar (if we follow the dominant hand strums "rule"). Guitar is played with both hands. How can we definitively say either way is LH or RH? Not all RH players are RH people and vice versa. RH and LH is more of a way to differentiate the two styles of play than it is accurately defining hand dominance.
I assure you, dude. You are NO Jimmy Haslip by any stretch of the imagination.
Well then maybe right handed people should try playing left handed guitars see how they like it and switch the strings from right to left and drums can be switched from right to left
Well, thing is, lefties don't give a rodents bottom what you or anyone thinks about playing left handed. There are enough great lefty guitars around, so there's no reason to force yourself to play right handed. Left or right handedness simply depends on natural preference. And yes, Knopfler, Moore, Clapton and the rest are naturally left handed. But so were Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Albert King, Jimmy Cliff and is Paul McCartney for lord knows how long. So whatever you think you know, it simply doesn't matter at all. And for beginners left handed playing isn't an issue when being thought as it's actually easier to mirror the playing from a teacher. So, don't bother giving advice to beginners on this, they'll just do what's best for them.
It depends how lefthanded you are. Everybody's brain is wired differently.
Thank you so much help me a alot
Just Change the string upside down
So should right handers play left handed?
There are a few out there. Those who do, do so because they prefer to fret notes with their strong hand.
@@frossbog There would be some advantages and some disadvantages, but given that right handed guitars are far more readily available, I wouldn't encourage right handers to learn left handed.
I do. It's not that I prefer to fret with my dominant hand though. I do not have the manual dexterity to fret with my non-dominant hand. I would advise people to play the way that feels more natural.
people I cant believe people dont know...what if you want your penmanship hand on your fretboard....jimmi hendrixkurt cobain billy corgan Joe perry...sorry a guitar isnt a indication of what hand you are or everyone would have fretting hand on the fret or everyone penmanship hand would strumming...there is a left handed piano made but not popular
Nobody is a hundred percent right handed either. Unless you're paralised in one arm or have had it amputated. Most of us are able to use our non-dominant hand. If you couldn't, playing guitar would be very difficult.
lift handed? Love Kiwi`s )I am also lift handed...leaning BOTH ways.
That's Lift Hended. Thenks.
I play right handed, its not a problem until i watch youtube videos showing how to play a song and it gives me brain damage trying to copy what they are teaching.
For those who disagree with my thoughts here, I would say 2 things. Firstly, have a look at anybody playing anything complex on the guitar and ask yourself 'which hand is doing the hardest bit'. You'll find that BOTH hands are doing complicated movements that require dexterity. Whichever way you learn, the right hand is doing something complex and difficult, as is the left hand. Secondly, have a look at how many other videos there are on You Tube made by left handers saying the exact same thing as me. Also, check out some of the videos on my own channel: ua-cam.com/video/P9j2W4GyGiI/v-deo.html
@PHONOGRAPH I am not saying that at all. If you watch the video right through you'll see that I say if you've already started learning the other way around then stick with it or you'll be starting all over again. I'm also not saying that learning 'right handed' is necessarily any easier for left handers, I'm just saying it's not necessarily any harder either, and there are advantages like being able to play your mates guitar etc. But whatever works for you, do that. You'll also see that I have mentioned the exact same players as you when showing examples of great left handed players. There is no right or wrong way, that's kind of the whole point of the video.
I am left handed playing right since the early nineties. I can tell you my fret hand is awesome. My picking is limited. Its limited because that hand isnt skilled at minute movements. Sure I can play lead, strum rhythm. However, thumb independence, nope, tremolo picking long term, practicing now. Its a challenge. Even complex strumming on some acoustic numbers is work. Sure I am ok at it but I have been at it for 20 years plus. I am a guitar alcoholic. The average person not obsessed would probably toss the instrument. Eventually a player will get proficient enough that they start to see the shortcomings when they want to progress to a higher level.
@@RRL110 I mentioned in the video that picking might be slightly harder but fretting will be easier. If you go the other way around picking is easier but fretting is harder. Having said that, my picking is pretty decent (again would be better is I practiced more). I think what people miss about this video is that while the title provocatively says 'why you 'should' learn right handed', that actual content of the video explains that it's an option, and that there are pros and cons for both. This is my picking. There are better pickers out there and my technique is not perfect, but when playing stuff like this I'm sure glad to have my good hand on the neck. ua-cam.com/video/DUxPrsSbhe8/v-deo.html
@@TheFamilyMusicStore Giving it more thought I also think instinctively I have always worked harder on training the fret hand because that part requires the most music theory. Learning patterns and notes and chords. The right hand tends to suffer a bit from lack of attention. Now that I have a better understanding of the instrument I am working harder on the right hand.
It seems you're not accounting for cross dominance and ambidexterity. I'm RH dominant and play guitar lefty. Oddly enough, if I were to play a bowed instrument, I would play righty. Working a bow lefty feels awkward where strumming lefty feels natural.
No. I will stick with right hand guitar lefty flipped. Like my idol jimi hendrix.
As ypu said, who determines what's right and left....?
As far as im concerned the guitar is ambidextrous.🤷♂️
I’m left handed and I learn quicker and easier with me left hand so why should I use my right hand
Aauuugghhh!11!! Trigger Warning: It makes you THINK!!!!!!111!!
:-)
You are that 1950s teacher - sorry bud own up.
Hey guy common man I write with my right throw left ...need penmanship hand working the fretboard that's wiring the detail is in,the freting not the strum my brain says the strum is the lumbering hand...and there is a left handed piano made.....you need to understand most people are not 100% left handed and golf is not a,indications of handedness
im left handed
You are wrong. Most left handed people will never be as good if playing right handed instruments as if they were playing left handed. There is a reason why stringed instruments are designed to use the right hand, i.e. the dominant hand for most people, to pluck the string or use a bow. After trial and error, people have realized that it requires more dexterity to use a pick, a bow or fingerpicks than hitting the correct frets/spots on the fretboard.
The availability (or lack thereof) of left handed instruments is a factor, that is true. But if a left handed person wants to realize his/hers full potential as a musician, (s)he should play a left handed instrument. I know this because I'm left handed and play the guitar right handed and fiddle left handed. The reason why I play the guitar right handed is that my father told me "then you can play a guitar wherever you go", but I struggle to get good timing and precision when using a pick. I have become a quite good fiddle player though.
Mark Knopfler and Gary Moore disagree. 'Wrong' is quite a strong word to use. There are different points of view and arguments for and against, but neither is 'wrong'. My experience as someone who was naturally inclined to pick up the guitar left handed is that you can learn very successfully the other way around. I may not be Nuno Bettencourt but I have been more successful at playing guitar than at any other endeavor in life, all while officially playing 'the wrong way around'.
@@TheFamilyMusicStore You _are_ wrong. When a person is left handed, he or she has more dexterity in their left hand. Throughout the centuries people have found out that they needed to use the dominant hand, i.e. for most people the right hand, for the most complicated task. Picking strings or using the bow is more complicated than hitting the right note on the fret board, thus most instruments are adapted to right handed people.
A left handed person can become quite good at playing a right handed instrument, but he or she would definitely have been even better if they had played left handed.
It is a bit sad that there are many music teachers who tell their left handed students to play right handed. There are surely many left handed people, who either are quite mediocre or gave up, who could have become good musicians if they had started with a left handed instrument.
@@erlendgjerde8409 It depends on the style of music as to which hand requires more dexterity. Again I point to the many examples of great players of are left handers playing guitar right handed, some of the greatest guitarists of all time. And I'm speaking from personal experience as a left handed person who was 'forced' to play right handed and found playing guitar came very naturally to me once I had adjusted to playing the 'wrong way'. Yes I have more dexterity in my left hand, which makes bending strings and playing faster passages with hammer-ons and pull-offs much easier. Again, both hands require dexterity when playing guitar, so whichever way around you go, the non-dominant hand has to learn to do something complex.
Also, when expressing your opinion, perhaps try 'I disagree' or 'I have a different thought', rather than 'you are wrong'.
I disagree. I'm far better playing lefty as a RH dominant person. Hand dominance has thrown a wrench in the discussion. Your everyday dominant hand just might be your non-dominant hand depending on the task you're trying to perform.
All the limited lefty guitar manufacturer will stop making left handed guitars if they go with this kind of idea.. I am not saying that you are wrong or right.. I have been playing guitars left handed for more then a decade now and I am pretty sure there are others Too.. We cant change our ways now.. There is already very limited options to buy a left-handed guitars.. Now do you want the brands to stop making them at all.. 😁
Ha I don't think my video has that kind of power. There will always be people who choose to play left-handed, and if that's what works for you then that's what you should do. This is just one perspective on it.
Please do not listen to this guy. Here are some facts:
There are degrees of handedness and you cannot look at someone like Knopfler or Paul Simon and say they’re left handed but they play right handed and therefore so should I.
You don’t know exactly what percentage left handed they are and you don’t know if they’re more or even less left handed than you are.
Trust me, I’ve done my research on this. I’m left handed and have been playing right handed (professionally) for the last 30 something years and recently switched to playing left handed and already my rhythm and coordination has improved in just a few short months.
If you’re still confused - just use your strongest hand as your rhythm hand. Trust me.
I listened to people like this bloke for years who claim to know it all - he may be a borderline lefty like 55% left handed and 45% right handed and that’s why it’s relatively easy for him to play right handed but if you are very left handed like I am then please stop wasting your time and start playing left handed today.
i completely disagree. don't try to change a lefty to right handed,
let them decide if they want to play a left handed guitar, or a right handed upside down.
and i challenge you to play left handed for one week.
you will very shortly, turn the left handed guitar upside down.
Why dont right handers learn/play lefthanded then? It's obvious.
If lefties played left handed, more instrument manufacturers would churn out left handed instruments. Your thinking is a result of the Stockholm Syndrome, I reckon - the complications of strumming, plucking and moving from string to string are better assigned to the dominant hand, not the ‘slave’ hand. Clearly your playing style is limited by your choice, but you’re happy with it because you don’t play a broad range of styles. By the way, drums are also left-hand-able instruments. The common sense thought approach is - why go _against_ the way you’re naturally wired?
2:00 Knopfler alert!
are you left handed?
Yes!
Good for you, not for me