Born lefty, forced to write right-handed in the early 60s -- so I still do, but throw left-handed and have played guitar lefty since the late 60s. Had a guitar teacher in the late 60s who encouraged me to stick with playing lefty despite everyone else saying don't do it. The advantage my teacher and I had then was when we sat across each other as student and teacher, we were both seeing a mirror image of each other's guitars.
oh ye….and getting a ruler over the knuckles when using yur left hand 😵💫..then having my mum come to the school and drag the teacher by the hair out of the classroom and give her a right flogging 🤣🤣🤣
In my opinion, if someone wants to learn guitar the first thing a teacher should do is ask the student to play air guitar. It doesnt matter weather he/she is left or right handed, the way you play air guitar is how your brain and body naturally feel confortable and thats the way you should learn.
I’m left handed, and from the first time I picked up a guitar which was 45 years ago, it felt right to me strumming with my left. Mind you all I had was a regular right handed guitar so I just flipped it over and played it how it felt comfortable to me. It was a cheap guitar but I wanted to learn and it was what was available. I learned from a hippie dude on Venice Beach in California in the summer of 1980. In the Fall I came back to New England and by then could play some songs so I bought a little better guitar but stuck with a right handed and flipped it over because that was how I learned to play and it worked for me. I still play this way today. What I’m getting at is, whatever feels natural to someone is going to be the best way to learn. If I try to strum with my right hand and fret with my left the result is the same as what you demonstrated trying to strum with your left.
Me too. It felt totally natural and I was able to progress very quickly because of it. When I tried righty just to see how it felt, it felt totally alien and uncomfortable.
Hello Rob. I am a true lefty. My family tv that the whole family watched was tuned to the Ed Sullivan show, so we saw The Beatles first and second and so on, on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. I lived on a dairy farm and was supposed to be sweeping the barn floor when my mom came to gather a bucket of cream from the milk bulk tank in the dairy section, she saw me goofin off and playing broom guitar to The Beatles She Loves You on the barn radio. A month later she surprised me with my first guitar but she didn't notice that I was a lefty so I got a sears righty silvertone acoustic guitar. I turned it upside down and was confused on how to play it. I switched the strings and learned a few lefty chords and went from there.
Fennah Rob, I was 13 then I'm 72 now and sing and play cover songs at open mics and community suppers. Your youtube channel is a godsend and very helpful on how to play and embelish chords and picking techniques. Hail Hail Fennah Rob!
Paul McCartney said John learned to play left handed and he learned right handed so they could pick up each other’s guitar at any time.Thanks for the fantastic lessons they really help a me as as an older beginner.
true lefty here. I learned "right handed" guitar as a teenager and my strumming was awkward and I gave up the guitar. After years I came back to playing and stayed right handed. It's taken a while to get the fine motor precision (right hand) that is necessary for smooth strumming and syncopated rhythms.However, as your example clearly demonstrated, it would have taken hours of practice for left hand strumming too. Im so glad I learned right handed. Ive gotten great deals on guitars, and the freedom to jam on a whim is totally worth it.
I think I've just been lucky. I totally agree that left handed people can learn to play left handed or right handed and that right handed people can learn to play left handed or right handed. I never went to a school where they tried to force me to use my right hand for writing, etc., and nor did my family so I am still happily very left hand dominant. The issue you seem to have is that left handed guitars cost more. I haven't had that issue at all. Some manufacturers deliberately charge exactly the same price (e.g. Taylor). In fact I spoke with a Taylor guy just recently and he said almost all of their guitars are available in both left and right handed versions (as I remember I think he said 2 in the range weren't available left handed as they are so niche) and they don't apply a "left handed tax" to any of their guitars. I have a couple of guitars and neither cost more than the right handed version. The real problem, according to the guy I was speaking to, is that dealers often don't order enough left handed versions, so they are in limited supply at times. That was certainly the case for one of my guitars. They had a right handed version in the shop, and I did have to get creative, checking it out in the store left handed by using "drop D" tuning and playing 1 finger power chords upside down. Not the best, but effective enough for me to know it was the one to get. It took 4 weeks to get the left handed version delivered. Same price, though. Maybe being near a major city helps, as there is more competition between dealers and more people around generally, so more left handed ones. Interestingly, I got a cheap mandolin as I like the sound for some aspects. I got a right handed one partly because a mandolin is a bit niche and so left handed ones are a niche within a niche, but mainly because the 4 mandolin string pairs are tuned the same as the lowest 4 strings of a guitar, except they are upside down (GDAE). I downloaded a quick guide to how to fret a mandolin for the common chords and played it upside down in the store. The store staff had no idea if playing a mandolin upside down was easy or not, because they hadn't ever thought to try it. Obviously the relative string tunings are in different octaves, but it sounded fine - like I expected a mandolin to sound - and it was pretty easy to play left handed, getting an easy strumming tune or 2 out of it while in the store. Subsequently I tried a right handed ukulele left handed because I had the opportunity to. Looking at how you fret a ukulele it seems, if anything, easier to play it upside down. Again, it was pretty good for the most common chords pretty much off the bat. So for both mandolins and ukuleles, I wouldn't even think of looking for a left handed one - just turn them upside down and you'll be good in quick order if you can already play a left handed guitar. And there are many guitarists that restring right handed guitars and play them left handed (McCartney, Hendrix, etc) that you could always do that if you wanted to. I might even try that sometime if I find a cheap enough right handed guitar to play with (2nd hand or one of the cheap new ones you can pick up for around £100). And if left handed players are at an advantage playing right handed, why do right handed people play right handed ? They ought to be better off buying left handed guitars by the sound of it...just a thought. As an aside, I just tried to play my mandolin right handed. Strumming I think would start to come relatively quickly. But my left hand fingers had chords buzzing and muting as the fingers weren't strong enough. In fact, I found I was starting to hurt my thumb by pressing down too hard to try to get rid of the issues. So no regrets sticking to left handed guitars here. No excuses, no apologies, no additional costs.
Definitely support your comments re left handed guitars. As a gent of the same age and sinister persuasion as yourself I have long been intrigued by the ‘lefties’ mantle. Up until the age of 5 everything came naturally to me as left-handed, then the thought police stepped in as I entered a world where lefties were demonised. We were not to be schooled in such foolish, outmoded practices (then why was I expected to learn Latin and Greek?) and we were bullied into using our right hand for writing (as my knuckles can attest). It sounds like your primary school took a similar attitude towards lefties. I believe they are more understanding and civilised these days. Thankfully the sports teacher realised that I was naturally left-handed and encouraged me to stick with whichever I was more comfortable. I still play most sports left-handed but several of those that I have taken up since the age of 5 I play right-handed (as I do with the guitar). I used to have one of those red and white plastic Beatles ‘banjos’ as a kid but can’t remember whether I used to hold it left or right handed. As you say, the greater muscle memory and strength is in fingers on the left hand. Still not sure which part of the brain controls which part of the body but I muddle my way through. I liked the explanation from @robertnewell5057 which sheds more light on which part of the brain does what and how it affects the ability to play the guitar whether you be left handed or right handed. It still doesn’t explain my clumsy fingering, but I am working on that one. Looking forward to the Malaguena video, a great piece and with your help I feel I might be able to crack it.
Lefty here who learned to play lefty because I didn’t know any better. I don’t believe it’s necessarily a true advantage for everyone to have your strong hand on the fretboard. It may depend on the individual. One could just as validly say that it’s more advantageous to have your strong hand on the strumming and picking side because it’s easier to have good rhythm and the fine motor coordination for picking and fingerstyle and so on. I know a professional jazz and brazilian guitarist who is naturally lefty but learned righty and he says he had to work extra hard to get his rhythm together, though he has no problem with it now. The bottom line is that when you’re a beginner it’s going to take hard work either way so you might as well make it easy on yourself in terms of having access to instruments and learn righty. I wish I had.
Another great video. Thank you. I've been playing lefty all my life and had always wished I started out righty. But not for these reasons. I do everything left handed. The reason for my desire to have learned righty is because of the availability of left handed guitars. The last time I was in a guitar store they had about 50 right handed guitars and only one lefty. And it was "Shit" as Rob likes to say. Plus you can never pick up a guitar at a friend's house and just start playing. I always have to bring my left handed guitar with me. All my friends play right handed. And yes because of the low inventory, they are more expensive.
Wow. I’m a lefty who’s been trying to learn (off and on), mostly on my own, right-handed for years. I finally hired an instructor a few months ago. Couple weeks ago he says “your fretting is fine but your pick angle is all wrong.” I said “You know I’m a lefty… right?” And he’s like “Yep, I thought so.” So he’s concentrating on my right hand, and mostly my pick angle. I trust him, he’s a great guy, and I’m working on it. But I’m also thinking, the guitar points that way FOR A REASON. If it’s really about that strong left hand, well… we’d all be playing left-handed. So, thank you for the advice and encouragement, but technically, yes, we lefties are getting the shaft once again. It’s scissors all the way down. 🤣 BTW I bought a lefty Squier Tele just to check it out… and it’s exactly as you demonstrate. Total cockup, as y’all say over there. We Murkins call it a clusterf***.
I have an expensive left handed Fender Strat. You better believe in playing lefty. I paid $100 used. I put some extra into it. The music store in my area estimated the value at $1K. I got a great deal. I'm critically left handed. I'm glad that you are left haned telling your opinion. I've heard so many right haners try to get me to learn anything new , right hand stating "it's easier." I put little value in the easier part. I will listen to other lefties with respect.
This is great, Rob. My 9 y/o and I are taking lessons together - both beginners. He is left handed and it seems I chose correctly by starting him on a "right handed" guitar. This might explain why he has NO problem withe the fretting, but seems more '"beginner" with the strumming. Either way, thanks for another great video!
I am also left-handed, and learned right-handed. One of the benefits of learning this way is that there's more chance I'll find someone to jam with if I leave my guitar at home. It always felt natural, to me. My brother (from whom I bought my first guitar in 1974, 50 effing years!!!) played right-handed. So, I did. I had a recording partner who played left-handed, and I tried his guitars. It was as frustrating as you describe, and I also know what I'm doing. Another time, I met up with friends I hadn't seen since childhood whom I told I had learned. One of them handed me a right-hand guitar, I turned it around and mangled Smoke on the water (just the E string, lol). They weren't impressed. As soon as they finished grimacing and turning away, I started in Purple Haze--on an acoustic. They were shocked and stunned! Very stunned. Lolol.
I'm 60 and took up playing guitar 5 years ago when i started watching youtube tutorials my brain was frying trying to to mirror the image of finger placements in my head, then after a awhile it wasn't an issue anymore, it just went away. keep up the good work just in the few weeks I've been watching your channel i have improved quite a bit in areas where i was struggling...
Great advice. I am left handed and looking to pick up playing the bass guitar. I wasn’t sure what to do, honestly. I naturally want to hold it using my left hand to strum, but it makes sense to have my dominant hand doing the “work” I will learn and practice with a right handed bass.
Thank you for clearing my mind ..I am lefty but bought right guitar and I was confused for days should I return my guitar . But seeing your video make sense, I will stick in right side .
Whole heartily agree with you. Not only does Lefties have a stronger fretting hand/fingers. Since their mind is more in tune with with their left side motor skills. They will be able to form the chords quicker. I know this as I taught a left handed child to play the Uke. Kid took right to it , formed the chords perfectly. Music is just like Sports. Playing an Instrument is First PHYSICAL before it can be Musical. The right pressure on the right string/s Playing the right Keys on the Piano.... to make the Chords. Or play the Melody. Once you start with a right handed. there would be no reason to go left handed.
I'm left handed with a reasonable amount of ambidextrousness. I started playing right handed and heard the same arguments you make - and they ARE good arguments. After about a year of slow progress, I came to believe I'd be better off trying left handed so flipped the strings. It only took a couple of weeks to re-learn and I was back to the same level. Playing left handed just seemed to feel better for me even though it does appear to use the weaker hand for much of the work. Sometimes, being left handed just dominates and it does for me and guitars. I would also recommend that left handed folk try playing right handed to begin with. I expect that many will find some advantages. Only try playing left handed if you are sure it solves an otherwise insurmountable problem. The main drawback to playing left handed isn't the cost. It's that you can't just pick up someone else's guitar. Some of the social aspects of music are harder to reach for the lefty...
Rob, I have no choice. I have to strum with my left and fret with my right. I only have fingers on my right. Strangely enough, it feels very natural- I often wonder if I would be a lefty regardless..
I’m left handed and have been playing both right and left hand for years. I started right handed and it was strongly suggested that I play left handed. I also have a smash middle finger that is at least twice the size of a normal finger and that also influenced my teacher to suggest that I play my natural hand. I later was challenged by a friend to try right handed and I been playing both sides ever since. I personally believe a player should play whatever feels good and natural
This one cracked me up! 😅 I think we all can remember those days. It's a good to recall the beginner's struggle. And your advice makes sense. Lefties, get a righty.
left handed, right handed... the first thing which was coming into my mind were Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix. Both left handed guitarists and i don't have to tell how brilliant they were... Paul McCartney is still alive, thx god we can enjoy his playing
McCartney likes to tell the story of restringing his guitar upside down.Gallagher is a leftie and plays right handed.I’m a leftie and decided to go left,but when I was younger I played my brothers right handed acoustic for a while,and remember chords were easier to start with.
As a left handed player I'm told quite often that I should have started off right handed. This information would have been more useful 50 years ago, but hey-ho. Happy new year to you Rob, and all viewers..
As a right handed person playing right handed guitars and after about 4 or 5 years of playing,I cannot believe how much more versatile my unnatural left hand has become. I am almost ambidextrous,at a basic level at least.
I agree there are advantages with playing a standard righty guitar but I don’t think anyone should beat themselves up if they’ve chosen to play left handed. I think going with the way you would play naturally when you first pick up a guitar is a good guide. I think your strumming and plucking hand should be your dominant hand for most people. Also there is a lot more choice now of left handed guitars to choose from which shows there must be plenty of players buying them.
I totally think the guitar is backwards as your title states. Dominant hand as the fretting hand is an advantage, that’s where the more precise work is needed.
I'm right handed. I have tried two or three times over the past 20 years to learn to play a "right-handed" guitar, where your *left* hand does the fretting and your *right* hand does the strumming. I simply can't do it. My left hand is just not built for fretting. My pinky finger is far too short (and is also crooked and very weak), plus my left wrist just doesn't bend far enough for me to get my fingers into the correct position for fretting (unless I hold the guitar in almost a vertical position). My left hand is just to "dumb" to do the fretting. It simply does not work for me. So, a year ago I finally bought a "left-handed" guitar, where my right hand does the fretting and my left hand does the strumming. It is **SO MUCH EASIER** to fret with your dominant hand!!! Everyone who is right handed should be playing what is called a "left-handed" guitar! Strumming is dead simple -- your "dumb" hand can *easily* do that. The fretting is extremely difficult to learn, and that *should* be done by your dominant hand. I honestly don't know why it's considered "normal" to play the guitar *backwards!* BTW -- thus far, in my experience, you can find left-handed guitars that cost the same as their right-handed counterparts; the only catch is that there's a very limited selection. You might have to compromise on the specific model of guitar you want, or the finish, or the wood it's made out of. Of course, you *can* go to a manufacturer's custom shop and pay hundreds (or more likely thousands) of $ or £ more if you want to get a specific model they don't normally offer in a left-handed version, but you don't *have* to do that, if you're willing to buy a guitar from the limited left-handed selection a manufacturer usually provides.
Im lefty and playing right for 8 years. 5 of them was learning to strum properly with a horrendous right hand. In my head i have a natural rhythm and beat. This does not translate to strumming. Hitting wrong strings, strumming too hard to compensate. Not getting the soul in my head down onto the strum. Then i found fingerprinting, never look back. Fingerpicking with my natural left hand being dominant just felt natural. First by picking chords and power chords, then variations of those chords, then scales. Only after 8 years would i consider i am average at strumming and all its accents. However my left hand on the fret board is far superior to my strumming hand. The eternal struggle of a left hander playing righty guitars.
I want to try but my brain won't let me...😢. Even after 50 years of playing. It's just too damn easy to be a lefty, and at my age, I don't want to be a beginner again..Great video 👍🎸❤️🎸👍
Apparently the inventor of the guitar was in fact Left-handed. So if that is true lefties were meant to play right handed guitars and righties were meant to play left-handed guitars! This Lefty is pissed that he chose to play a left handed guitar when I started. It annoys me to this day when a UA-camr doing lessons says right hand work left hand work, instead of fretting hand and strumming hand!!!!!! 🇨🇦 also pisses me of the extra cost of a left hand guitar and the very limited selection in the shops.
My first guitar was given to me. It was right handed and the first thing I did with was swap the strings round 😂 Been playing (and paying for) lefties ever since. Too late for me Rob. Can't imagine even trying right handed now
Hi Rob, good advice... Coincidentally I bought myself a lefty guitar for xmas, even though I've been playing righty for some time. My strumming hand always felt a bit weak, and I often wondered. I agree that it's good to start RH because it's cheaper/easier to find a guitar, and then you can change later if you want. But I was wondering ... I found a good deal on a LH Sigma and now I'm off and away. Strumming/picking with the LH felt steady and comfortable quite quickly. The RH is a different story, it was very frustrating for a few days, but it just takes a week or 2 to start building up some fretting-hand strength & muscle memory. I find it quite easy to work out how to play things backwards - I just flip the guitar over and look at my fingering, then flip back. Learning from video lessons is totally fine too. As you say, you know what to do, you just need your fingers to behave. So, for someone accomplished like yourself it's probably not worth the effort, but for others, it might be a good idea to learn RH and then change later if they want. It's still nice to be able to play a bit on a RH guitar IMO, even if I end up sticking with LH... Time will tell but I'm going to keep going with this. Cheers, thanks for all the good lessons.
Interesting! I’m a righty, “basically” . Throw and write, Righty. But I Shoot pool and a rifle & archery Left handed. However, The first time I picked up a guitar at a very young age 6-7 yrs old, (photo) I naturally had the fret board in my left hand. Maybe because I turned the crank with my right hand.
I've been playing long enough and I've been there and done that, good advice Rob - It's one of the reasons I built my self-help channel. I was self taught and realized it would have been nice if someone had done this for me. I have lots of easy, songs for people to play. Rob, I know your wanting to help people, well visit me and you will know why I'm bugging you to help me help them ! As you know, you can know how to play something, in your head - but it takes hours of practice to really know how to play it. This is where I can help your fans. I have done nearly 2000 play along vids (over the years) on my channel and it has taken me a long time to collect test and put together these for me. Have said that, (why not share) I think I have done enough to be worthy to people to at least come and check it out and decode for themselves if this can help them practice. Please, If you think I'm doing this for money, that would be farther from the truth. I'm 58 and I started playing at 40 as a New Years wish (haha) Well, I did quit smoking and managed to learn how to play. I have done my best and I just want to share my experience. I live in an apartment and I don't have kids to raise so I needed a hobby to keep me busy. With barely over 200 subs, (most people would have thrown in the towel long ago) my channel needs a kick to get it going. If I was to ever reach 10K I'd be over the moon. You must know how it is, we all had to start somewhere. Could you take some time Rob and visit me. I'm not one to be this pushy, but being in remission, one never knows how much time we really have. If you think it's shite then fine, just let me know you checked it out and I'll move on. I picked you because I truly think your teaching style and efforts are sincere..... For any of Rob's Fans reading this, just come for a visit, you might be surprised how much I could possibly help you. 🤪
In my opinion, Bill Staines, now passed, was the best in playing a right handed guitar left handed. Unlike Hendrix, he had figured out all the chords. Amazing! My own experience was, if it was a right handed bass guitar, there was NO problem playing it left handed. Otherwise, I got a left handed Fender acoustic guitar.
No one told me this, so I originally got a left handed guitar, as I’m left everything. Whilst I’m pretty crap! a few years ago, I lost the last section of my left little finger, so I guess it makes sense now sticking with a left handed guitar as I obviously would struggle using my left hand on the fret board
Hello Rob, thank you for your view on this topic, my second son is left handed, I 'll pass this video to him. I (73) just discovered your channel about a month ago, so will take sometime to catch up. I am an amateur, and have still not finished "25 leichte Sonatinen of Joseph Kúfner" which I learned at 19 (too late). Finger picking is a bit better than flatpicking, but Jolene is too fast for me until now. Very nice your approach of Asturias, I watched it now and then years ago by Sharon Isbin, amazing. Suggestions: sorry if they are already done by you. Strumming apache as fast as Bruce Welch. John barleycorn ( I do it with fingers, as suggested on ultimate guitar years ago) Steve Winwood does it losely with a pick. Colours, I saw it with a variation on DADGAD (F# iso G) Very nice you know and mention music of times ago like King Crimson and the Folky style lesson (btw uses Joan Baez the same patterns?) regards Jan
My right hand is stronger as far as Holding chords down I wanna buy a guitar as a Beginner. The market is so big but I heard a parlor Guitar is an ideal thing to have for recreation. Trying to be the next Jimi Hendrixx. Thanks for posting and I'd Really enjoy your professional expertise on this...
Great video Rob, I’m a lefty who plays right handed , it always felt more natural to me. As I’m sure you know Mark Knopfler and Gary Moore are lefties and seem to get away with it 😉.
@maldodds1055. You may already know this. Both Don and Phil Everly were naturally left-handed. But their father Ike told them to learn to play right-handed due to the limited availability of leftie guitars. Steve Morse (Deep Purple) and the late Glenn Frey (The Eagles) - naturally lefties who play right-handed. All those years ago Mark Knopfler’s sister caught him playing “air guitar” with a tennis racquet in front of a mirror. Mark thought he looked just like the image of his guitar hero Hank B Marvin of The Shadows on the telly! Mark’s sister said something like “No, you’re holding it the wrong way around”. Mark changed hands and the rest is history. Stay safe and well
Hi Rob. Love the videos and all the help you have given us budding guitarists. In your busy schedule could fit in some Ragtime? Would you fancy covering Ragpickin by Richard Saslow?
My thinking, admittedly as a right -handed person, is that one should play a regular guitar! Otherwise, you are missing out on sampling the vast preponderance of available guitars. Neither hand works well to start off.Carry on!
Well, as a rightie, I wonder if a LH guitar might have been a better instrument for me. Even after more than 45 years of having a guitar, I still can't change chords smoothly; likewise, I can't brush my teeth with my left hand. Hmm, or is it just not practicing enough?
Yep, and all the right handed players would be better off with a left handed guitar. That way they’d be using their stronger right hand to hold down the chords. ✌️😑
This is a familiar tale and is misleading. Full disclosure - I'm left handed and a retired psychologist (apologies for what is really an oversimplified description of hemispherical dominance upcoming!). It turns out that the issue is not handedness but hemisperical dominance in the brain. It turns out that most left handed people are NOT right brain dominant (the usual lay perception), but left brain dominant, just like right handed people. These people will be just fine on a RH guitar, and, as you say, probably needn't bother with LH. However, the minority who are indeed left brain dominant will really struggle. This is because of two things. First, the fretting seems like it's the hard bit but it isn't - it's just where you put your fingers; all the precison stuff - the timing, the feeling (except string bends), the dynamics, the tone, are governed by the picking hand. Have you ever considered why all orrchestral string instruments use (and always have used) picking or bowing with the dominant hand, while the stuff on the fingerboard is done by the non-dominant hand? Well, that's because the fingerboard stuff is hard but purely mechanical. Both hands have to work together and it's best if the hand doing the clever stuff (tone, dynamics, etc) is able to do it with ease and automaticity. So, if you are left handed, you may well be OK with and RH guitar, but if you are right brain dominant, you probably won't. It turns out it is quite easy to tell right brain dominant peoplebecause they almost always describe sitting with the guitar in the righthander position as unnatural. If that's how it feels, you want a LH guitar. And by the way, it hasn't been the case for many years that LH guitar cost much more. I checked both online and in major stores online and it's only once you get down to the sub £100 that there's any appreciable difference in price (and a beginnner would be very ill advised to buy a sub £100 guitar - they're likely to be unplayable). Once you get into the low midrange, anything over say £500, there's no real price difference. So unfair to suggest that LH guitars cost a fortune and are just a way for makers to charge you a few hundred quid extra. Martin, Taylor, Lowden, Santa Cruz, Fylde, Larrivee don't charge extra for LH, and nor do any of the well-known luthiers. I'm old, so I had the chance to own a good number of high end factory and handmade guitars - all LH, not one cost more than an RH equivalent. Of course, LH people lose out because accessibility of LH guitars is poor unless you shop online or are prepared to travel.
I find the strumming / picking hand (right hand) much easier to master than the left hand which struggles to press the chords down. (That’s why all those finger strengthening gadgets are on the market). Playing guitar is like a sport; both hands need to work perfectly together but I personally think the whole ‘left handed’ guitar business is a waste of time and money. After all, you don’t see left handed piano’s. ✌️
I dint know why my stronger hand is needed to do the cords its not that hard to press thr strings in i learned to not use much pressure in fretting it wil get the notes wrong. And strumming with the not dominant hand is in my case so frustratingly diffecult that i would have stopped trying years ago ..oh and i do not see a big price differance in left or right handed guitars only thing is less choice in guitars for us leftys
At 7:53 -- what is that brace you've got bolted to the bottom of your guitar there? That looks like something that helps you hold it at the correct angle, maybe? I'm missing my legs, and I have a hell of a time holding the guitar in the correct position -- that brace looks like just the thing for rme!! What's it called? Do you have a link for it online somewhere?
I'm nearing 70 years old and I've been playing guitar as a lefty for 52 or so years. I'm still learning which is how I stumbled upon your channel . I like your lessons but I believe in the case of lefty vs right handed guitar playing you are wrong. Give me a pencil and I write with my left hand, Give me a hockey stick or a baseball bat or a golf club and it goes over my right shoulder. So what am I right handed or left handed? As a boy I wasn't taught how to write with my left hand I was forced to try and learn with my right hand. To this day if I broke my left hand I could make myself understood writing with my right hand at the level of a 2 year old. I believe that a person should be handed a guitar or a hockey stick and asked to hold it the way it feels most natural to them and then go with that as a decision . To recommend that they go in a different direction is only going to make a difficult task ( playing a guitar) much harder and they are most likely going to give up
Put simply, to press down the strings one needs to do it with their strongest hand. In my case that’s my left hand. The other hand doesn’t need to be strong to hold a plectrum or pluck the strings; no strength is required at all to do that. But hey, if people choose to use their weak hand to hold the chords down then fine; if it works it works. 👍🏻
When you’re learning a song the words will tell you what chord should accompany it. That’s how we do it. It’s important you know the song in your head before trying to play it.
This fellow has obviously been playing for quite some time, but I think he has something wrong here. I'm not sure where he lives, but in the US it USE to be that there was an upcharge for left handed guitars, but that is no longer the case. For each guitar that has a right handed counterpart the price is the same. Rickenbacker, I believe still most recently had pricing that was a $500 upcharge for left handed, but I have heard that they are so behind right now that they aren't even accepting left handed orders. Furthermore, for Fender alone they offer many guitars fitting most budgets for left handed instruments. They don't offer 1-for-1, but they have enough to satisfy. For acoustic, Martin has always offered left handed on most everything they make with 0% upcharge and always have. Nah, I am fine being a left handed player and the only winning argument I see for learning right handed is availability and/or color choices.
This is insanely bad advice, because at a certain level, picking hand technique will be the limiting factor in what one can play. It's much, much easier to strengthen your non-dominant hand to be able to fret than it is to teach your non-dominant hand the fine motor skills necessary for advanced fingerpicking and picking techniques, and the non-dominant hand will almost certainly never be capable of picking at the same level as the dominant hand.
I can only speak from my own experiences as a lefty playing a right handed guitar. My picking is very good; I can actually play tremolo at 200 bpm with my non dominant right hand so I completely disagree with everything you’ve said. But hey; let the debate begin. ✌️
Of course he does; he learned to play it that way; very well I might add. I see he plays a right handed piano though? (Does a left handed one exist?) In my humble opinion, left handed guitars are built to make a bit more money. ✌️
There is ZERO advantage for a person to learn to play ambidextrously. Any great guitar player will tell you their tone is in their hands. The 10 thousand hours required to master the instrument requires repetition into style replication. Spend that time building your skills and your tone will come. Struggling to rewire what you are trying to wire, building those skills is a far better use of time. Why complicate it? There is no benefit here.
I agree. When starting off learning to play guitar, hands and fingers are equally useless, regardless of being left or right handed. I’m naturally left handed but I learned to play a right handed guitar. The only advantage for me was that my strongest hand (left) was able to press down harder on the chords. My picking and strumming with my right hand was fine. But hey, each to their own. As long as people learn to play; that’s the main thing. 👍🏻
3 місяці тому
@@fennahrob6934 I started at 6 years old playing a right handed spanish classical nylon stringed acoustic upside down big E on the bottom. It took a long time for me to finally get a left handed guitar. Then all the things I wrote playing in the fashion I had to transpose to big E on the top. Trying to play right handed guitars right handed felt unnatural as possible.
Is it true the history of the guitar in the beginning was first built by a left handed man and what we call right handed guitars are actually left handed ?
My son is left handed, we took him to a music shop and he naturally held and played right handed. Is The Hollies, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress on your 'to do' list Rob. Great song with great opening riff?
Born lefty, forced to write right-handed in the early 60s -- so I still do, but throw left-handed and have played guitar lefty since the late 60s. Had a guitar teacher in the late 60s who encouraged me to stick with playing lefty despite everyone else saying don't do it. The advantage my teacher and I had then was when we sat across each other as student and teacher, we were both seeing a mirror image of each other's guitars.
oh ye….and getting a ruler over the knuckles when using yur left hand 😵💫..then having my mum come to the school and drag the teacher by the hair out of the classroom and give her a right flogging 🤣🤣🤣
In my opinion, if someone wants to learn guitar the first thing a teacher should do is ask the student to play air guitar. It doesnt matter weather he/she is left or right handed, the way you play air guitar is how your brain and body naturally feel confortable and thats the way you should learn.
I still think the strongest hand should hold down the chords. 👍🏻
I’m left handed, and from the first time I picked up a guitar which was 45 years ago, it felt right to me strumming with my left. Mind you all I had was a regular right handed guitar so I just flipped it over and played it how it felt comfortable to me. It was a cheap guitar but I wanted to learn and it was what was available. I learned from a hippie dude on Venice Beach in California in the summer of 1980. In the Fall I came back to New England and by then could play some songs so I bought a little better guitar but stuck with a right handed and flipped it over because that was how I learned to play and it worked for me. I still play this way today. What I’m getting at is, whatever feels natural to someone is going to be the best way to learn. If I try to strum with my right hand and fret with my left the result is the same as what you demonstrated trying to strum with your left.
For me it was always about using my strongest hand to hold the chords down. In my case that was my left hand. 👍🏻
Me too. It felt totally natural and I was able to progress very quickly because of it. When I tried righty just to see how it felt, it felt totally alien and uncomfortable.
Hello Rob. I am a true lefty. My family tv that the whole family watched was tuned to the Ed Sullivan show, so we saw The Beatles first and second and so on, on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. I lived on a dairy farm and was supposed to be sweeping the barn floor when my mom came to gather a bucket of cream from the milk bulk tank in the dairy section, she saw me goofin off and playing broom guitar to The Beatles She Loves You on the barn radio. A month later she surprised me with my first guitar but she didn't notice that I was a lefty so I got a sears righty silvertone acoustic guitar. I turned it upside down and was confused on how to play it. I switched the strings and learned a few lefty chords and went from there.
Fennah Rob, I was 13 then I'm 72 now and sing and play cover songs at open mics and community suppers. Your youtube channel is a godsend and very helpful on how to play and embelish chords and picking techniques. Hail Hail Fennah Rob!
Paul McCartney said John learned to play left handed and he learned right handed so they could pick up each other’s guitar at any time.Thanks for the fantastic lessons they really help a me as as an older beginner.
true lefty here. I learned "right handed" guitar as a teenager and my strumming was awkward and I gave up the guitar. After years I came back to playing and stayed right handed. It's taken a while to get the fine motor precision (right hand) that is necessary for smooth strumming and syncopated rhythms.However, as your example clearly demonstrated, it would have taken hours of practice for left hand strumming too. Im so glad I learned right handed. Ive gotten great deals on guitars, and the freedom to jam on a whim is totally worth it.
As a lefty like you I was tought to play Right handed. But I always feel it’s natural to hold and play left. 🤔💁
I'm write left but it feels more natural to hold a,right hand guitar. But My pickings much better on a lefty guitar
A lighter but interesting lesson -- I got a laugh when you exclaimed, "I'm starting to whimper". Great content; keep it coming !!! Thanks
I am right handed and have played right hand guitar for 20 years. I just bought a cheap left hand guitar for fun. Going to try to learn that too.
I think I've just been lucky. I totally agree that left handed people can learn to play left handed or right handed and that right handed people can learn to play left handed or right handed. I never went to a school where they tried to force me to use my right hand for writing, etc., and nor did my family so I am still happily very left hand dominant.
The issue you seem to have is that left handed guitars cost more. I haven't had that issue at all. Some manufacturers deliberately charge exactly the same price (e.g. Taylor). In fact I spoke with a Taylor guy just recently and he said almost all of their guitars are available in both left and right handed versions (as I remember I think he said 2 in the range weren't available left handed as they are so niche) and they don't apply a "left handed tax" to any of their guitars.
I have a couple of guitars and neither cost more than the right handed version.
The real problem, according to the guy I was speaking to, is that dealers often don't order enough left handed versions, so they are in limited supply at times. That was certainly the case for one of my guitars. They had a right handed version in the shop, and I did have to get creative, checking it out in the store left handed by using "drop D" tuning and playing 1 finger power chords upside down. Not the best, but effective enough for me to know it was the one to get. It took 4 weeks to get the left handed version delivered. Same price, though. Maybe being near a major city helps, as there is more competition between dealers and more people around generally, so more left handed ones.
Interestingly, I got a cheap mandolin as I like the sound for some aspects. I got a right handed one partly because a mandolin is a bit niche and so left handed ones are a niche within a niche, but mainly because the 4 mandolin string pairs are tuned the same as the lowest 4 strings of a guitar, except they are upside down (GDAE). I downloaded a quick guide to how to fret a mandolin for the common chords and played it upside down in the store. The store staff had no idea if playing a mandolin upside down was easy or not, because they hadn't ever thought to try it. Obviously the relative string tunings are in different octaves, but it sounded fine - like I expected a mandolin to sound - and it was pretty easy to play left handed, getting an easy strumming tune or 2 out of it while in the store.
Subsequently I tried a right handed ukulele left handed because I had the opportunity to. Looking at how you fret a ukulele it seems, if anything, easier to play it upside down. Again, it was pretty good for the most common chords pretty much off the bat. So for both mandolins and ukuleles, I wouldn't even think of looking for a left handed one - just turn them upside down and you'll be good in quick order if you can already play a left handed guitar.
And there are many guitarists that restring right handed guitars and play them left handed (McCartney, Hendrix, etc) that you could always do that if you wanted to. I might even try that sometime if I find a cheap enough right handed guitar to play with (2nd hand or one of the cheap new ones you can pick up for around £100).
And if left handed players are at an advantage playing right handed, why do right handed people play right handed ? They ought to be better off buying left handed guitars by the sound of it...just a thought.
As an aside, I just tried to play my mandolin right handed. Strumming I think would start to come relatively quickly. But my left hand fingers had chords buzzing and muting as the fingers weren't strong enough. In fact, I found I was starting to hurt my thumb by pressing down too hard to try to get rid of the issues.
So no regrets sticking to left handed guitars here. No excuses, no apologies, no additional costs.
Definitely support your comments re left handed guitars. As a gent of the same age and sinister persuasion as yourself I have long been intrigued by the ‘lefties’ mantle. Up until the age of 5 everything came naturally to me as left-handed, then the thought police stepped in as I entered a world where lefties were demonised. We were not to be schooled in such foolish, outmoded practices (then why was I expected to learn Latin and Greek?) and we were bullied into using our right hand for writing (as my knuckles can attest). It sounds like your primary school took a similar attitude towards lefties. I believe they are more understanding and civilised these days. Thankfully the sports teacher realised that I was naturally left-handed and encouraged me to stick with whichever I was more comfortable. I still play most sports left-handed but several of those that I have taken up since the age of 5 I play right-handed (as I do with the guitar). I used to have one of those red and white plastic Beatles ‘banjos’ as a kid but can’t remember whether I used to hold it left or right handed. As you say, the greater muscle memory and strength is in fingers on the left hand. Still not sure which part of the brain controls which part of the body but I muddle my way through.
I liked the explanation from @robertnewell5057 which sheds more light on which part of the brain does what and how it affects the ability to play the guitar whether you be left handed or right handed. It still doesn’t explain my clumsy fingering, but I am working on that one.
Looking forward to the Malaguena video, a great piece and with your help I feel I might be able to crack it.
Lefty here who learned to play lefty because I didn’t know any better. I don’t believe it’s necessarily a true advantage for everyone to have your strong hand on the fretboard. It may depend on the individual. One could just as validly say that it’s more advantageous to have your strong hand on the strumming and picking side because it’s easier to have good rhythm and the fine motor coordination for picking and fingerstyle and so on. I know a professional jazz and brazilian guitarist who is naturally lefty but learned righty and he says he had to work extra hard to get his rhythm together, though he has no problem with it now. The bottom line is that when you’re a beginner it’s going to take hard work either way so you might as well make it easy on yourself in terms of having access to instruments and learn righty. I wish I had.
Another great video. Thank you. I've been playing lefty all my life and had always wished I started out righty. But not for these reasons. I do everything left handed. The reason for my desire to have learned righty is because of the availability of left handed guitars. The last time I was in a guitar store they had about 50 right handed guitars and only one lefty. And it was "Shit" as Rob likes to say. Plus you can never pick up a guitar at a friend's house and just start playing. I always have to bring my left handed guitar with me. All my friends play right handed. And yes because of the low inventory, they are more expensive.
Wow. I’m a lefty who’s been trying to learn (off and on), mostly on my own, right-handed for years. I finally hired an instructor a few months ago. Couple weeks ago he says “your fretting is fine but your pick angle is all wrong.” I said “You know I’m a lefty… right?” And he’s like “Yep, I thought so.” So he’s concentrating on my right hand, and mostly my pick angle. I trust him, he’s a great guy, and I’m working on it. But I’m also thinking, the guitar points that way FOR A REASON. If it’s really about that strong left hand, well… we’d all be playing left-handed. So, thank you for the advice and encouragement, but technically, yes, we lefties are getting the shaft once again. It’s scissors all the way down. 🤣 BTW I bought a lefty Squier Tele just to check it out… and it’s exactly as you demonstrate. Total cockup, as y’all say over there. We Murkins call it a clusterf***.
I have an expensive left handed Fender Strat. You better believe in playing lefty.
I paid $100 used. I put some extra into it. The music store in my area estimated the value at $1K.
I got a great deal. I'm critically left handed.
I'm glad that you are left haned telling your opinion. I've heard so many right haners try to get me to learn anything new , right hand stating "it's easier." I put little value in the easier part.
I will listen to other lefties with respect.
This is great, Rob. My 9 y/o and I are taking lessons together - both beginners. He is left handed and it seems I chose correctly by starting him on a "right handed" guitar. This might explain why he has NO problem withe the fretting, but seems more '"beginner" with the strumming. Either way, thanks for another great video!
My son is 13 and plays this way. He is in bands and is self taught since 2.
I am also left-handed, and learned right-handed. One of the benefits of learning this way is that there's more chance I'll find someone to jam with if I leave my guitar at home. It always felt natural, to me. My brother (from whom I bought my first guitar in 1974, 50 effing years!!!) played right-handed. So, I did. I had a recording partner who played left-handed, and I tried his guitars. It was as frustrating as you describe, and I also know what I'm doing.
Another time, I met up with friends I hadn't seen since childhood whom I told I had learned. One of them handed me a right-hand guitar, I turned it around and mangled Smoke on the water (just the E string, lol). They weren't impressed. As soon as they finished grimacing and turning away, I started in Purple Haze--on an acoustic. They were shocked and stunned! Very stunned. Lolol.
I'm 60 and took up playing guitar 5 years ago
when i started watching youtube tutorials my brain was frying
trying to to mirror the image of finger placements in my head, then after a awhile it wasn't an issue
anymore, it just went away. keep up the good work just in the few weeks
I've been watching your channel i have improved quite a bit in areas where
i was struggling...
Great advice. I am left handed and looking to pick up playing the bass guitar. I wasn’t sure what to do, honestly. I naturally want to hold it using my left hand to strum, but it makes sense to have my dominant hand doing the “work” I will learn and practice with a right handed bass.
Good advice as always, thanks, looking forward to the next song.
Thank you for clearing my mind ..I am lefty but bought right guitar and I was confused for days should I return my guitar . But seeing your video make sense, I will stick in right side .
Whole heartily agree with you. Not only does Lefties have a stronger fretting hand/fingers. Since their mind is more in tune with with their left side motor skills. They will be able to form the chords quicker. I know this as I taught a left handed child to play the Uke. Kid took right to it , formed the chords perfectly. Music is just like Sports. Playing an Instrument is First PHYSICAL before it can be Musical. The right pressure on the right string/s Playing the right Keys on the Piano.... to make the Chords. Or play the Melody. Once you start with a right handed. there would be no reason to go left handed.
I'm left handed with a reasonable amount of ambidextrousness. I started playing right handed and heard the same arguments you make - and they ARE good arguments. After about a year of slow progress, I came to believe I'd be better off trying left handed so flipped the strings. It only took a couple of weeks to re-learn and I was back to the same level. Playing left handed just seemed to feel better for me even though it does appear to use the weaker hand for much of the work. Sometimes, being left handed just dominates and it does for me and guitars.
I would also recommend that left handed folk try playing right handed to begin with. I expect that many will find some advantages. Only try playing left handed if you are sure it solves an otherwise insurmountable problem.
The main drawback to playing left handed isn't the cost. It's that you can't just pick up someone else's guitar. Some of the social aspects of music are harder to reach for the lefty...
Rob, I have no choice. I have to strum with my left and fret with my right. I only have fingers on my right. Strangely enough, it feels very natural- I often wonder if I would be a lefty regardless..
Interesting subject Rob.If you play air guitar say with a tennis racket. Do play with Right naturally.
I’m left handed and have been playing both right and left hand for years. I started right handed and it was strongly suggested that I play left handed. I also have a smash middle finger that is at least twice the size of a normal finger and that also influenced my teacher to suggest that I play my natural hand.
I later was challenged by a friend to try right handed and I been playing both sides ever since.
I personally believe a player should play whatever feels good and natural
This one cracked me up! 😅 I think we all can remember those days. It's a good to recall the beginner's struggle. And your advice makes sense. Lefties, get a righty.
left handed, right handed... the first thing which was coming into my mind were Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix. Both left handed guitarists and i don't have to tell how brilliant they were... Paul McCartney is still alive, thx god we can enjoy his playing
McCartney likes to tell the story of restringing his guitar upside down.Gallagher is a leftie and plays right handed.I’m a leftie and decided to go left,but when I was younger I played my brothers right handed acoustic for a while,and remember chords were easier to start with.
As a left handed player I'm told quite often that I should have started off right handed. This information would have been more useful 50 years ago, but hey-ho. Happy new year to you Rob, and all viewers..
As a right handed person playing right handed guitars and after about 4 or 5 years of playing,I cannot believe how much more versatile my unnatural left hand has become. I am almost ambidextrous,at a basic level at least.
I agree there are advantages with playing a standard righty guitar but I don’t think anyone should beat themselves up if they’ve chosen to play left handed. I think going with the way you would play naturally when you first pick up a guitar is a good guide. I think your strumming and plucking hand should be your dominant hand for most people. Also there is a lot more choice now of left handed guitars to choose from which shows there must be plenty of players buying them.
I totally think the guitar is backwards as your title states. Dominant hand as the fretting hand is an advantage, that’s where the more precise work is needed.
I'm right handed. I have tried two or three times over the past 20 years to learn to play a "right-handed" guitar, where your *left* hand does the fretting and your *right* hand does the strumming.
I simply can't do it. My left hand is just not built for fretting. My pinky finger is far too short (and is also crooked and very weak), plus my left wrist just doesn't bend far enough for me to get my fingers into the correct position for fretting (unless I hold the guitar in almost a vertical position). My left hand is just to "dumb" to do the fretting. It simply does not work for me.
So, a year ago I finally bought a "left-handed" guitar, where my right hand does the fretting and my left hand does the strumming. It is **SO MUCH EASIER** to fret with your dominant hand!!! Everyone who is right handed should be playing what is called a "left-handed" guitar! Strumming is dead simple -- your "dumb" hand can *easily* do that. The fretting is extremely difficult to learn, and that *should* be done by your dominant hand.
I honestly don't know why it's considered "normal" to play the guitar *backwards!*
BTW -- thus far, in my experience, you can find left-handed guitars that cost the same as their right-handed counterparts; the only catch is that there's a very limited selection. You might have to compromise on the specific model of guitar you want, or the finish, or the wood it's made out of. Of course, you *can* go to a manufacturer's custom shop and pay hundreds (or more likely thousands) of $ or £ more if you want to get a specific model they don't normally offer in a left-handed version, but you don't *have* to do that, if you're willing to buy a guitar from the limited left-handed selection a manufacturer usually provides.
Im lefty and playing right for 8 years. 5 of them was learning to strum properly with a horrendous right hand.
In my head i have a natural rhythm and beat. This does not translate to strumming. Hitting wrong strings, strumming too hard to compensate. Not getting the soul in my head down onto the strum.
Then i found fingerprinting, never look back. Fingerpicking with my natural left hand being dominant just felt natural. First by picking chords and power chords, then variations of those chords, then scales.
Only after 8 years would i consider i am average at strumming and all its accents. However my left hand on the fret board is far superior to my strumming hand.
The eternal struggle of a left hander playing righty guitars.
I want to try but my brain won't let me...😢. Even after 50 years of playing. It's just too damn easy to be a lefty, and at my age, I don't want to be a beginner again..Great video 👍🎸❤️🎸👍
Left handed right handed it does not matter. Its all practice either way to develop what is called muscle memory.
Brilliant 👍 makes sense to me!
Apparently the inventor of the guitar was in fact Left-handed. So if that is true lefties were meant to play right handed guitars and righties were meant to play left-handed guitars!
This Lefty is pissed that he chose to play a left handed guitar when I started. It annoys me to this day when a UA-camr doing lessons says right hand work left hand work, instead of fretting hand and strumming hand!!!!!! 🇨🇦 also pisses me of the extra cost of a left hand guitar and the very limited selection in the shops.
My first guitar was given to me. It was right handed and the first thing I did with was swap the strings round 😂 Been playing (and paying for) lefties ever since. Too late for me Rob. Can't imagine even trying right handed now
Hi Rob, good advice... Coincidentally I bought myself a lefty guitar for xmas, even though I've been playing righty for some time. My strumming hand always felt a bit weak, and I often wondered.
I agree that it's good to start RH because it's cheaper/easier to find a guitar, and then you can change later if you want. But I was wondering ... I found a good deal on a LH Sigma and now I'm off and away.
Strumming/picking with the LH felt steady and comfortable quite quickly. The RH is a different story, it was very frustrating for a few days, but it just takes a week or 2 to start building up some fretting-hand strength & muscle memory.
I find it quite easy to work out how to play things backwards - I just flip the guitar over and look at my fingering, then flip back. Learning from video lessons is totally fine too. As you say, you know what to do, you just need your fingers to behave.
So, for someone accomplished like yourself it's probably not worth the effort, but for others, it might be a good idea to learn RH and then change later if they want. It's still nice to be able to play a bit on a RH guitar IMO, even if I end up sticking with LH... Time will tell but I'm going to keep going with this. Cheers, thanks for all the good lessons.
Interesting! I’m a righty, “basically” . Throw and write, Righty. But I Shoot pool and a rifle & archery Left handed. However, The first time I picked up a guitar at a very young age 6-7 yrs old, (photo)
I naturally had the fret board in my left hand.
Maybe because I turned the crank with my right hand.
I've been playing long enough and I've been there and done that, good advice Rob - It's one of the reasons I built my self-help channel. I was self taught and realized it would have been nice if someone had done this for me. I have lots of easy, songs for people to play. Rob, I know your wanting to help people, well visit me and you will know why I'm bugging you to help me help them ! As you know, you can know how to play something, in your head - but it takes hours of practice to really know how to play it. This is where I can help your fans. I have done nearly 2000 play along vids (over the years) on my channel and it has taken me a long time to collect test and put together these for me. Have said that, (why not share) I think I have done enough to be worthy to people to at least come and check it out and decode for themselves if this can help them practice. Please, If you think I'm doing this for money, that would be farther from the truth. I'm 58 and I started playing at 40 as a New Years wish (haha) Well, I did quit smoking and managed to learn how to play. I have done my best and I just want to share my experience. I live in an apartment and I don't have kids to raise so I needed a hobby to keep me busy. With barely over 200 subs, (most people would have thrown in the towel long ago) my channel needs a kick to get it going. If I was to ever reach 10K I'd be over the moon. You must know how it is, we all had to start somewhere. Could you take some time Rob and visit me. I'm not one to be this pushy, but being in remission, one never knows how much time we really have. If you think it's shite then fine, just let me know you checked it out and I'll move on. I picked you because I truly think your teaching style and efforts are sincere..... For any of Rob's Fans reading this, just come for a visit, you might be surprised how much I could possibly help you. 🤪
I have an Epiphone semi hollow, Ibanez and Seagull 6 string plus a sawtooth 12 string - all leftie - long may we rule!!!
In my opinion, Bill Staines, now passed, was the best in playing a right handed guitar left handed. Unlike Hendrix, he had figured out all the chords. Amazing! My own experience was, if it was a right handed bass guitar, there was NO problem playing it left handed. Otherwise, I got a left handed Fender acoustic guitar.
No one told me this, so I originally got a left handed guitar, as I’m left everything. Whilst I’m pretty crap! a few years ago, I lost the last section of my left little finger, so I guess it makes sense now sticking with a left handed guitar as I obviously would struggle using my left hand on the fret board
Hello Rob, thank you for your view on this topic, my second son is left handed, I 'll pass this video to him. I (73) just discovered your channel about a month ago, so will take sometime to catch up. I am an amateur, and have still not finished "25 leichte Sonatinen of Joseph Kúfner" which I learned at 19 (too late). Finger picking is a bit better than flatpicking, but Jolene is too fast for me until now. Very nice your approach of Asturias, I watched it now and then years ago by Sharon Isbin, amazing. Suggestions: sorry if they are already done by you. Strumming apache as fast as Bruce Welch. John barleycorn ( I do it with fingers, as suggested on ultimate guitar years ago) Steve Winwood does it losely with a pick. Colours, I saw it with a variation on DADGAD (F# iso G)
Very nice you know and mention music of times ago like King Crimson and the Folky style lesson (btw uses Joan Baez the same patterns?)
regards Jan
My right hand is stronger as far as Holding chords down I wanna buy a guitar as a Beginner. The market is so big but I heard a parlor Guitar is an ideal thing to have for recreation. Trying to be the next Jimi Hendrixx. Thanks for posting and I'd Really enjoy your professional expertise on this...
Great video Rob, I’m a lefty who plays right handed , it always felt more natural to me. As I’m sure you know Mark Knopfler and Gary Moore are lefties and seem to get away with it 😉.
@maldodds1055. You may already know this. Both Don and Phil Everly were naturally left-handed. But their father Ike told them to learn to play right-handed due to the limited availability of leftie guitars. Steve Morse (Deep Purple) and the late Glenn Frey (The Eagles) - naturally lefties who play right-handed.
All those years ago Mark Knopfler’s sister caught him playing “air guitar” with a tennis racquet in front of a mirror. Mark thought he looked just like the image of his guitar hero Hank B Marvin of The Shadows on the telly! Mark’s sister said something like “No, you’re holding it the wrong way around”. Mark changed hands and the rest is history. Stay safe and well
I play a right-handed guitar upside down and I wouldn't have it any other way. Otherwise I'd just learn to play righty.
Hi Rob like you I am left handed but all my Guitars are right hand. More blues Rob
Hi Rob. Love the videos and all the help you have given us budding guitarists.
In your busy schedule could fit in some Ragtime?
Would you fancy covering Ragpickin by Richard Saslow?
Cheers Rob.
My thinking, admittedly as a right -handed person, is that one should play a regular guitar! Otherwise, you are missing out on sampling the vast preponderance of available guitars. Neither hand works well to start off.Carry on!
Hi Rob, another brilliant video, a question please, how do you decide on choosing a classical or a steel strung guitar for your lessons?
stick with the right hand mate , just a tip.
Well, as a rightie, I wonder if a LH guitar might have been a better instrument for me. Even after more than 45 years of having a guitar, I still can't change chords smoothly; likewise, I can't brush my teeth with my left hand. Hmm, or is it just not practicing enough?
Well I wish I'd known this before! I'm right handed, but play guitar lefty !!!!! So maybe I should have just bought right handed guitars!
Yep, and all the right handed players would be better off with a left handed guitar. That way they’d be using their stronger right hand to hold down the chords. ✌️😑
This is a familiar tale and is misleading. Full disclosure - I'm left handed and a retired psychologist (apologies for what is really an oversimplified description of hemispherical dominance upcoming!). It turns out that the issue is not handedness but hemisperical dominance in the brain. It turns out that most left handed people are NOT right brain dominant (the usual lay perception), but left brain dominant, just like right handed people. These people will be just fine on a RH guitar, and, as you say, probably needn't bother with LH. However, the minority who are indeed left brain dominant will really struggle. This is because of two things. First, the fretting seems like it's the hard bit but it isn't - it's just where you put your fingers; all the precison stuff - the timing, the feeling (except string bends), the dynamics, the tone, are governed by the picking hand. Have you ever considered why all orrchestral string instruments use (and always have used) picking or bowing with the dominant hand, while the stuff on the fingerboard is done by the non-dominant hand? Well, that's because the fingerboard stuff is hard but purely mechanical. Both hands have to work together and it's best if the hand doing the clever stuff (tone, dynamics, etc) is able to do it with ease and automaticity. So, if you are left handed, you may well be OK with and RH guitar, but if you are right brain dominant, you probably won't. It turns out it is quite easy to tell right brain dominant peoplebecause they almost always describe sitting with the guitar in the righthander position as unnatural. If that's how it feels, you want a LH guitar. And by the way, it hasn't been the case for many years that LH guitar cost much more. I checked both online and in major stores online and it's only once you get down to the sub £100 that there's any appreciable difference in price (and a beginnner would be very ill advised to buy a sub £100 guitar - they're likely to be unplayable). Once you get into the low midrange, anything over say £500, there's no real price difference. So unfair to suggest that LH guitars cost a fortune and are just a way for makers to charge you a few hundred quid extra. Martin, Taylor, Lowden, Santa Cruz, Fylde, Larrivee don't charge extra for LH, and nor do any of the well-known luthiers. I'm old, so I had the chance to own a good number of high end factory and handmade guitars - all LH, not one cost more than an RH equivalent. Of course, LH people lose out because accessibility of LH guitars is poor unless you shop online or are prepared to travel.
I find the strumming / picking hand (right hand) much easier to master than the left hand which struggles to press the chords down. (That’s why all those finger strengthening gadgets are on the market). Playing guitar is like a sport; both hands need to work perfectly together but I personally think the whole ‘left handed’ guitar business is a waste of time and money. After all, you don’t see left handed piano’s. ✌️
I dint know why my stronger hand is needed to do the cords its not that hard to press thr strings in i learned to not use much pressure in fretting it wil get the notes wrong. And strumming with the not dominant hand is in my case so frustratingly diffecult that i would have stopped trying years ago ..oh and i do not see a big price differance in left or right handed guitars only thing is less choice in guitars for us leftys
Hey Rob do you bat in Cricket / Tennis . Left handed?
Yes. And darts!
@@fennahrob6934 interesting I always feel it more natural for me to hold the guitar left handed.
At 7:53 -- what is that brace you've got bolted to the bottom of your guitar there? That looks like something that helps you hold it at the correct angle, maybe? I'm missing my legs, and I have a hell of a time holding the guitar in the correct position -- that brace looks like just the thing for rme!! What's it called? Do you have a link for it online somewhere?
It’s used by classical players to save putting your foot on a stand.
I'm nearing 70 years old and I've been playing guitar as a lefty for 52 or so years. I'm still learning which is how I stumbled upon your channel . I like your lessons but I believe in the case of lefty vs right handed guitar playing you are wrong. Give me a pencil and I write with my left hand, Give me a hockey stick or a baseball bat or a golf club and it goes over my right shoulder. So what am I right handed or left handed?
As a boy I wasn't taught how to write with my left hand I was forced to try and learn with my right hand. To this day if I broke my left hand I could make myself understood writing with my right hand at the level of a 2 year old.
I believe that a person should be handed a guitar or a hockey stick and asked to hold it the way it feels most natural to them and then go with that as a decision . To recommend that they go in a different direction is only going to make a difficult task ( playing a guitar) much harder and they are most likely going to give up
Put simply, to press down the strings one needs to do it with their strongest hand. In my case that’s my left hand. The other hand doesn’t need to be strong to hold a plectrum or pluck the strings; no strength is required at all to do that. But hey, if people choose to use their weak hand to hold the chords down then fine; if it works it works. 👍🏻
I didn’t know there were handed guitars
Hi , after learning a few songs how do you remember all the chords in them is it by what key the song is played in thanks Colin
When you’re learning a song the words will tell you what chord should accompany it. That’s how we do it. It’s important you know the song in your head before trying to play it.
@fennahrob6934 thank you so helpful best wishes Colin
This fellow has obviously been playing for quite some time, but I think he has something wrong here. I'm not sure where he lives, but in the US it USE to be that there was an upcharge for left handed guitars, but that is no longer the case. For each guitar that has a right handed counterpart the price is the same. Rickenbacker, I believe still most recently had pricing that was a $500 upcharge for left handed, but I have heard that they are so behind right now that they aren't even accepting left handed orders. Furthermore, for Fender alone they offer many guitars fitting most budgets for left handed instruments. They don't offer 1-for-1, but they have enough to satisfy. For acoustic, Martin has always offered left handed on most everything they make with 0% upcharge and always have. Nah, I am fine being a left handed player and the only winning argument I see for learning right handed is availability and/or color choices.
Tell that to jimmy hendrix
As Paul Reed Smith says 'they don't make left handed pianos' 😂
This is insanely bad advice, because at a certain level, picking hand technique will be the limiting factor in what one can play. It's much, much easier to strengthen your non-dominant hand to be able to fret than it is to teach your non-dominant hand the fine motor skills necessary for advanced fingerpicking and picking techniques, and the non-dominant hand will almost certainly never be capable of picking at the same level as the dominant hand.
I respectfully disagree.
I can only speak from my own experiences as a lefty playing a right handed guitar. My picking is very good; I can actually play tremolo at 200 bpm with my non dominant right hand so I completely disagree with everything you’ve said. But hey; let the debate begin. ✌️
I asked Paul McCartney and he disagrees with you.
Of course he does; he learned to play it that way; very well I might add. I see he plays a right handed piano though? (Does a left handed one exist?) In my humble opinion, left handed guitars are built to make a bit more money. ✌️
ambidextrous…arthritis in both
I just got a left handed guitar after playing right handed for over 35 years, now I get to learn all over again!
Just switch strings around lo
@@austins19982 for what
15:35
There is ZERO advantage for a person to learn to play ambidextrously.
Any great guitar player will tell you their tone is in their hands.
The 10 thousand hours required to master the instrument requires repetition into style replication.
Spend that time building your skills and your tone will come.
Struggling to rewire what you are trying to wire, building those skills is a far better use of time.
Why complicate it?
There is no benefit here.
I agree. When starting off learning to play guitar, hands and fingers are equally useless, regardless of being left or right handed. I’m naturally left handed but I learned to play a right handed guitar. The only advantage for me was that my strongest hand (left) was able to press down harder on the chords. My picking and strumming with my right hand was fine. But hey, each to their own. As long as people learn to play; that’s the main thing. 👍🏻
@@fennahrob6934 I started at 6 years old playing a right handed spanish classical nylon stringed acoustic upside down big E on the bottom.
It took a long time for me to finally get a left handed guitar.
Then all the things I wrote playing in the fashion I had to transpose to big E on the top.
Trying to play right handed guitars right handed felt unnatural as possible.
Is it true the history of the guitar in the beginning was first built by a left handed man and what we call right handed guitars are actually left handed ?
Don’t know but it makes sense. 👍🏻
My son is left handed, we took him to a music shop and he naturally held and played right handed. Is The Hollies, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress on your 'to do' list Rob. Great song with great opening riff?