There's no such thing as "Left (or Right) Handed Guitars" & other ramblings - Part 1
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- Опубліковано 18 січ 2025
- Ryan discusses left handedness and how it applies to guitars.
See the second part of this video here: • There's no such thing ...
and check out a left hand guitar i recommend here: www.amazon.com...
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60cyclehumcast...
Left or right handed, if you don't practice you'll always suck.
Leon Todd ok, I’ll practice then.
60 Cycle Hum me too
Leon Todd vary true
yup
and yet if ur left handed and never picked up guitar ur brain will prefer left handed guitar so at the end of the day there is no point to get right handed guitar as a lefty cuz u just increase learning time drastically
I was forced to play right handed for 3 years, then I finally bought a left handed guitar, I’ve been playing left handed for 4 years now and it’s so much easier to have your dominant hand doing the strumming
I need my dominant hand to fret. I fret right handed so I play "left handed".
@@phile5437 same
Exactly. It's not that I can't fret with my left hand, however keeping rhythm on the left hand is completely natural. Vice versa not so much.
Agreed! It is difficult fretting with your dominant hand & strumming with the other!
lmfao literally the same. The one benefit I could have gotten from this stupid expensive school I was pushed into and they forced me onto right-handed gear.
Good intentions but it literally made me put away instruments for 2-4 years completely - not picking em up til after I left school.
I'm also a sucker for good deals on anything, so if I had the opportunity to just buy a right-hand instrument @ half the price and 50x availability i'd have done it by now.
Please for gods sake just go try em once. I spent many hours practicing for months before I touched one. Within the first strum, the familiarity felt like I "improved" my level of play with a change of gear.
If you want to keep yourself humble; flip it sometimes and play right - you can keep this as a secret weapon for when your at a buddies house jamming and didn't bring your guitar.
I've seen right-handers flipped to left and without a lot of body-work it seems the intonation amongst other things are a huge issue. Look into Jimi Hendrix' gear and the processes' the techs developed.
_"Famously I'm a terrible rhythm player"_
And therein lies a common issue with learning right-handed when you're left-hand dominant. The best thing to do is try both ways and see what feels best.
Exactly! When I was about 5 years old and my grandfather gave me a guitar and taught me a few chords he quickly realized that I was going to have to play left-handed. He had bought me a right-handed guitar and he showed me a G major chord and I flipped the guitar over left-handed and played it upside down storming it damn near perfectly lol.. now at 40 years old I can attempt to play right-handed and it feels like day one all over again lol.. but my left hand has complete control over a guitar pick or for your plucky and my right hand has no problems whatsoever with Precision or dexterity on the fretboard.
I'm left handed. I play guitar left handed. Simple.
NeptuneReturnz I’d bet $100 you play guitar with both hands.
@@60CycleHumcast There are a lot of people, myself included, that cannot play guitars tailored for the majority that strum with their right hand, and fret with their left-I've tried to do it, I really tried, and it is way more trouble than it's worth, putting me at a great disadvantage. Thus, unless I wanted to restring the thing and play it with my arm resting over the volume and tone knobs and feel like an idiot, I had to find a guitar that was tailored for me: one that's built to put me on an equal starting point with everyone else.
While the average right-handed-strumming Joe like you could just walk into anywhere and pick up any number of my favourite model guitars for dirt cheap, it actually took me years to find them "left-handed,” and I take very, very, good care of them.
This video makes a mockery of every guitarist like me who has tried hard to play the conventional way-who has a tiny selection in the music stores if at all-who has sought long and funded extravagantly for their instruments-who is continually misunderstood and excluded by something we’re merely born with and cannot change.
I’m not saying we’re victims over here or anything-we get along; just some respect would be nice.
same
I'm left handed and play a right handed guitar. I tend to agree that it doesn't matter. Just play what feels comfortable.
Daniel W dame here it’s completely opposite for me
I'm left handed and I play right handed guitars all my life. I also play a left handed electric bass. I guess the message is just play music and don't worry too much about it
Me to dude
for some people there brain function doesn't respond well.
Same
Since i learned guitar they told me to play right handed i struggled a lot with the left hand and I'm lefty .. But i learned to play that why the only thing i suck on right handed it's to do harmonic sounds , on left handed guitar i dont struggle with does stings and i fell a lot better ... 😎😎😎 playing
you deserve a lefty strat it will change your life lol
I’m right handed on EVERYTHING but guitar. When I was a kid, no one believed me that I couldn’t use a right handed guitar. I had an instructor physically force me to play “righty” but I couldn’t. So my dominance has always been on my right hand for fretting. There is no huge deal but I sure wish I was “right handed” on guitar since there are very limited options for telecasters and guitars that I like.
Looks like me and you had the same struggle my dude right-handers like play left-handed guitars cuz it's much easier and comfortable
Im ambidextrous and im trying to learn the right handed way but I can’t, it’s easier playing it left handed for me
I have been playing guitar for 6 years with my right hand but no matter how I tried and consulted guitar professionals, I still got the problems of finger independence in these 6 years. recently I am learning left hand because of the much more dexterity on my fret hand.
I played right-handed for 15yrs before I switched to lefty.
Then I got good.
Same
I've been playing for 2 years now... I write with my right hand, but I play 'left handed'. When I picked up a guitar as a child it just felt instinctive to strum with my left and fret with my right, before I even began playing.
Batman same here!! Lol
Batman I just started, and I have the same instinct
+AshCreDas I'm in the same boat dude
i think that's the secret. We all intellectually think it's the fretting hand that determines it. I really think it's the strumming hand.. the side of your brain that has rhythm.
Same here.
Nobody chooses leftv. 90% of guitars are right handed! If I hadn't chose lefty I wouldn't have learned at all! I've been playing 48 years!
The problem with forcing a natural lefty to learn right handed is that while the fretboard might be easier, rhythm issues won't be apparent until much, much later. The rhythm hand is way more important than the fretting hand. Good rhythm is what pays the bills for most working guitar players anyways. I feel whichever hand keeps rhythm better should be the strumming hand.
I'm a dominant righty who switched to lefty after an injury, for what it's worth.
I learned this the hard way :| after 4 years of playing a right handed guitar, out of curiosity decided convert a righty to a lefty, and straight from the get go the strumming felt more natural. Now to decide wether I power on as a righty or make the switch permanent and throw 4 years down the toilet lol
You'll be able to transfer the skills down to the other hand. Like Batio. :))
I agree that you might want to try switching. It will be far easier to switch than learning was the first time. All your knowledge will be the same, but, also, most lefties are quite good at mirroring the non-dominant side, probably because we grow up forced to do it all it time in the righty world. It'd be totally cool if you end up being able to do both.
Well, 7 months on and switching to left handed was one of the best decisions I ever made :) apart from the odd song that requires a lot of dexterity with the fretting hand, I can play everything better than I ever could. Better still I don’t get the dull ache in my strumming arm when trying to keep up with a fast tempo.
good answer
Yes, there IS a difference.
String setup, bridge setup, pick guard, even the cut of the body are all different on left handed guitars. So yes, there are left handed guitars.
What you are talking about is hand preference and muscle memory.
Anna Leigh he doesn’t have balls to respond to this
Can we change right handed guitar to left handed by converting its string and other things?
He didn't say there wasn't a physical difference in the guitars. He said he didn't agree with naming them that way.
biggest difference :try to keep a rhythm with your non- primary hand.
tell that to jimi hendrix with an electric stratocaster
marcelo yanez look up pictures of Jimi signing autographs, he writes with his right hand because he is right hand dominate. He frets with his right hand.
sure then every right handed should play a left handed guitar, as his dominant hand would be doing the hard work, but thats not the case, btwif you learn classical guitar, those guitars dont need a thing to do to play them both sides..just flip the strings and thats it, but for electric guitars with nobs where your hand should be resting , or the whammy bar up the strings, not below as you can see there are many diferences..
left handed electric guitars are needed for people who play with the guitar pointing the other way, your opinion is no more than that
marcelo yanez I don't think you watched the video. I wasn't actually saying that there's no such thing as left handed guitars or that people should play one way or the other. My point was that you should play the way that's comfortable for you.
marcelo yanez ...is there an acoustic stratocaster?
yes, fender stratacoustic, also lots of semihollow teles, ephi casinos
i said stratos because of the whammy, sg and lots of other guitars look pretty much the same
also cutaways blablablaaa
I learned to play a standard guitar to begin with, but I wasn't very good. After I bought the lefty guitar, I really learned to play. Besides being able to play either guitar, I don't agree with your commentary.
man I'm left handed, but when I was first learning I looked so uncomfortable with a conventional guitar that my teacher made me play with a left. felt better tho
Do you play left-handed or right handed?
I'm the same. I play sport or bigger movements right but smaller movements - writing, eating, guitar left handed.
I'm left handed and I play left handed guitars, no problems
My problem has been finding instruments in stock. I can't walk into a local music store and pick my favorite guitar from the eleven that look cool and appear onstage with millionaire musicians. A special order often precedes a play-and-adjust session with a competent or better tech.
@@tomsimms674 Finding left-handed guitars can be a pain indeed, but it comes with upsides too. If you do find a rare guitar, being left-handed makes it even more rare but more importantly none of your "handsy" right-handed friends will ever be playing or borrowing it. #serendipity
@@forkless I've definitely found the non-borrowing part handy. The lefty rare bird is best exemplified by McCartney's Les Paul sunburst, one of four. I thought if an instrument got stolen, it would be easy to recover. Then someone broke into the house where I lived in Miami, and made off with my bass. I still think law enforcement and pawnbrokers didn't give the case their best efforts.
I'm right-handed I play left handed guitars cuz it's much more comfortable and easier
I'm left handed and play guitar left handed. I started out on a right handed strat copy. I tried it both ways, but playing left handed felt more natural, so I went that way, dooming myself to limited guitar choices forever (although the choices now are much, much better now than 25 years ago). While I feel there are no real rules (just do what's comfortable and natural), I do think there is something to the comments that say the strumming hand's dexterity is more important.
To make my case, let's look at a piano. Why is a piano set up like it is, with the notes starting in the low register on the left side, and rising as they move to the right? It's because, in reality, pianos are right handed instruments. At some point in it's development (like most things in the world), the decision had to be made on how to make this object work for the most people. This is why a computer keyboard is right handed (the number keyboard is on the right). This is why can openers are right handed, etc., etc.. When a right handed person sits down at a piano, it feels natural to play the rhythm notes on the left hand, and melodies on the right. When I sit down at a piano, being left handed, my left hand wants to play melodies, while my right wants to play rhythmically. Can I overcome it? Sure, but that doesn't take away from the fact that my brain is fighting my hands. (Full disclosure: I'm not much of a piano player, and these are my own personal observations. YMMV)
This mindset agrees with the commenters that say that it's the dominant hand that should be picking/strumming, as it is actually the one that requires the most dexterity. In my experience, the fretting hand (my right hand) is all about muscle memory. For example, think about playing a boogie woogie scale. A boogie woogie piano player (think Jerry Lee Lewis) is using their left hand to play that repeating boogie scale (muscle memory), leaving their right hand (the most dexterous hand for 90% of the population), free to play melodies or solos. For guitarists, who need both hands to play a note, you want your fretting hand to be the one with the muscle memory (forming chords and scales), and your picking hand the one with enhanced dexterity (how you play that chord).
I hope this made a little sense. In the end, there is no right or wrong way, it's whatever works for you.
You're right. There's good research showing that left-handed pianist are disadvantaged at the higher levels.
I agree with you, lefty still a beginner guitarist (using a right handed guitar coz it's what i had, thinking about getting a left handed one) i find melodies really easy but strumming and keeping time hard. Also barre chords are hard but i am still a beginner
Same here. This video is really ridiculous. As if being left handed was just a choice...
I'm a lefty, playing right handed guitar for nearly 10 years. I'm struggling to play on time and cleanly even easy songs, even though it shows that I've mastered the techniques I'm using. I need professional help. Where should I go? I feel im in dead end
@@spidey9556 Get a lefty guitar and try it for some time. Seen plenty of stories of lefties switching and all were happy that they made that decision. Either advancing way faster or stopped being totally stuck. Give it a try. :)
It’s called “orientation”. When buying a certain new guitar, that’s an option, left handed or right handed. It’s not just the fret board. As a left handed guitar player, I can assure you, there left handed and right handed oriented guitars. That’s also per manufacturers. So, it doesn’t matter what anybody “thinks”, those are just the facts.
It's not an "orientation", you're born that way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So Ryan we're the complete mirror image of each other. I am very right hand dominant. However I've always played guitar left-handed. It felt more comfortable using my right hand for all the fretwork. May also explain why I don't feel I'm a very good finger picker.
you are the person I wanted to know exists. a Righty who plays "lefty". Thank you for your existence!
I think it also depends on your degree of "handedness" or dominance; I'm probably 70/30 lefty but I don't seem to have some of the same problems as my other lefty buddies do...
Make it 2. I'm mostly righty (65/35) but I play lefty. I've only been playing for 2 years, so it may be too early to tell, but I'm better at leads than I am rhythm.
Me to bro but I am actually good at finger picking, not tremolo tho.
You're my man
Congratulations, you've spent half a minute quibbling over semantics, the rest of the video wasting time making people feel high-maintenance simply for wanting a guitar for their orientation.
thank you
Agreed.
Anthony Marabito he won’t reply because he is unintelligent 💁🏽♂️
This is just silly. You're just an example of a left-handed person who can play right-handed guitars after years of practice.
what about it is silly? lots of lefties play right handed guitar, thats kind of the point.
60 Cycle Hum Because your whole video was about how left-handed people should just suck it up and learm right-handed guitars. You're an exception of someone who was forced to learn in a way that went against how they felt was most natural.
theYoungNation lol, you missed the point and read into it in your own way. I never said anything like that. The point of the video is "don't let anyone tell you which guitar to play, go with what's comfortable for you but know there are better gear options if you go left hand fretted"
And they're even right handed people that play Lefty guitar....
then im pretty sure EVERYONE missed the point
WOW this no... I mean, I´m left handed too and There are lots of stuff i do with my right hand, like using a mouse, shifting gears, and some random stuff, that is not really complicated and you get used to. But when I started playing drums I used to do it like a right handed with no improvements. After a couple of months someone pointed out that I shoud do it the other way around, and oh boy! that was hell of a difference! I started to get better and better and faster than before.
Now I can play both ways, but I´m deffinetely better playing as a left handed drummer. And I´m talking about an instrument where you use your hole body and just have to arrage the way you want.
Now, with guitars (or base) anytime a piked up one I hade to swap it, because it felt more natural to fret with my right hand and strum with the left.
My point is, yeah you can lear to do it both ways, but there is a huge difference between just learning and feeling comfortable while doing it. I know I can pick up a right handed guitar and maybe eventually learn to play it... but I´ll stick with my lefthanded guitar because it just feel right hahaha the irony!
Exactly. Ringo was left-handed playing on a right-handed drum set. That's why he does that odd little reach over to use his left where he needs it. With drums you also need to rearrange them depending on whether you are left or right footed.
When using a cash register or desk calculator I use my right hand. I am very fast punching in numbers right-handed but suck trying to do it with my left.
Extra bonus is that I am able to write with my left while simultaneously punching in numbers with my right.
Ryan, please don't make the argument against "left-handed" cigarettes, OK?👀
is there such a thing?
That's what the big boys tell me...😇
Ryan, ask your Dad. Don't make me explain it to you.👹
He has "heard" others talk about it. Yeah right!
yes, there is. * closes video *
i guess you missed the point then.
Shut the fuck up, Nerd.
Left-handedness and guitar playing is such a fascinating subject. I play left-handed guitars left-handed, but I know of many left-handed musicians who play all sorts of different ways. Some play right-handed guitars right-handed (unnatural, if you ask me)
others re-string right-handed guitars to play lefty. Others play right-handed guitars upside down without re-stringing, learning all the chords the wrong way around. Really, really weird but i've seen it done a lot of times (the bloke in World Party, Diesel Park West and a few others) Me, i'm glad i learnt left-handed because there are lots and lots of left-handed guitars available these days, and they aren't realy any more expensive than right-handed ones. Good video!
Nah there are Left Handed guitars
I think this advice would be helpful 20+ years ago. Left handed guitars are still more rare, but with online retail it makes it easier than ever to get anything shipped across the world.
I was told to just "learn right handed like everyone else" as a kid, but it just didn't feel right. Sure, maybe I would've adjusted eventually, but I can't imagine playing right handed now.
I think a simple test is give a left handed kid a guitar and let them hold it however comes natural, answer solved
Rhythm hand issues usually don't come up until much later in the learning process. I feel the strumming hand should be whichever one keeps better time naturally.
Well said! As a left-handed guitarist myself, I would have to agree with you. This guy is a self-loathing apostate lefty
Ian Snider lol
laugh all you want not only are you self loathing youre literally doing damage to newbies who want to take up guitar. Youre an idiot
yeah, I don't think so dude.
Just play however you want and what feels comfortable. I'm a lefty, always play left-handed and always will. If a lefty wants to play right handed go for it. No need to be a major discussion in my opinion.
I am "left-side dominant" and learned on a conventional guitar...and it seems natural.
also, injuries,etc. may influence your orientation, like Iommi...
Same here. Why wouldn't you want to do chording with your dominant hand?
Jason, Keith Richards says it's all in the picking hand...? Maybe that's why he sucks?😜
UA-cam flagged your comment, but I approved it so everyone can see what a terrible person you are.
60 Cycle Hum Thanks bby
I played right handed initially. A lefty here but as soon as I decided to play it left handed, I felt more comfortable playing it for rhythm.
Now I play left handed. Learning how to play lead now as I was brought up just playing rhythm for a longgg time.
Long story short, just fine out what works well for you and don't worry about it.
As a confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool lefty what I REALLY want is a left-handed piano!
I want a left-handed cello. I did see a circular piano keyboard. You stand in the center. That would be interesting.
I want a left-handed xylophone.
Dee Broughton, they may exist. I know there are left-handed violins out there.
I'm waiting on a left handed piccolo.
I think King George IV had a left-handed piano specially made.
Apparently Duane Allman, Steve Morse, Billy Corgan, David Bowie, Dave Hill, Mark Knopfler, Gary Moore, Barry Gibb, George Michael and Paul Simon are all lefties who play right-handed.
I'm right-handed but have always prefer to fire left-handed bows.
But what about Jim Hendricks
@@josephlaliberte9899 and court cockbrain
nah
still left handed
It makes a huge difference.. I've been playing the guitar since I was 5 years old.. my father, grandmother and great grandmother we're all left-handed. My grandfather attempted to teach me guitar right-handed even though he knew I was left-handed and I was completely inept but would literally flip the guitar over and hold it and demonstrate what he was trying to show me my fretting it with my right hand only upside down haha.. he quickly realized that I could play guitar near effortlessly strumming with my left hand.. now at 40 years old it is no different, it's like day one if I attempt to fret with my left hand, but my left hand has the utmost precision and control with a guitar pick or with plucking while playing classical pieces. If you believed that it truly did not matter that you would not have had a problem switching and fretting with your right hand, and if it did not matter any of us guitar players would be able to play in both positions. Your dominant hand wants to be the one creating the sound when it comes to stringed instruments because it correlates with how your brain receives those sounds and processes them... perhaps you should learn more about the science behind left and right-handed dominant people and understand how it affects people who plays stringed instruments.. yes we use both hands, but there's a scientific difference.
I'm also left handed but have always played regular guitars.
I’m left handed and I’ve been playing for 3 years now. I play guitar right handed, reasons why is.
1. More dominance on the Fret board. I can switch chords easy, can stretch more, can do better leads. Playing a left handed guitar my right hand on the fret board can’t get 98% of the chords that my left hand can. Strumming with no rhythm anyone can do with any hand, I just had to develop rhythm in my right hand, that was hard at the start, but I got used to it and I can now do it with ease. I dedicated so much into learning guitar, often all day everyday at some point. Either way you pick up the guitar, both hands play an equally important part of playing.
2. More guitars to choose from. Left handed guitars are a minority and it can be hard to find one, so by playing right handed you have a wide range to choose from.
3. Is most of the time cheaper.
4. I can use someone else’s guitar. Most people are obviously right handed and if you’re with another guitarist you can have a go with their guitar.
5. They can use your guitar too. If you let them use your guitar you can teach them how to play since most people are right handed. And with reasons 4 and 5 you can teach someone guitar by letting them use yours, I’ve taught people and they used my guitar before buying their own.
So I agree that there’s no such thing as a left or right handed guitar, both hands do just as much when playing. It’s more of a preference. Some prefer it one way and some prefer it another.
What it really is is this.
Some lefty’s play right handed
Some lefty’s play left handed
Some righty’s play left handed
And some righty’s play right handed.
I am lefty in everything but guitar
I am right handed in everything but guitar
I'm a righty in everything but guitar, playing pool or shooting a rifle
Finkster Fitness I'm a righty in everything but guitar
Rita Rodrigues same
Same
I am right-handed and have been playing bass lefty since 1966. If you have a problem with that, it is YOUR problem, not mine. Carol Kaye is left-handed, but plays righty. She once told me to learn to play right-handed. That is the only piece of advice I ever received from her that I did not take. LOL
ShikataGaNai100 no problem here.
im left handed was forced to try and play righthanded by teachers in the 70s a gave up bought a lefthanded guitar in the 80s been playing since,mechanic by trade so fairly dexterious its a individual thing
As another leftie, may I offer some observations from my own experience? I've played for 32 years & started out on classical guitar. (then learned electric & bass) The way my guitar "handedness" was decided was by putting a guitar in my lap & seeing which way felt more natural. (my dad was my instructor) I found leftie felt better, & have found some advantages over the years. For one thing, the intricacies of finger picking are helped by having my dominant hand do it. Oddly, my right hand is physically stronger, but my left is more dextrous. Instruments DO have a handedness to them. Brass instruments are right-handed, & only use the left to hold them aloft. Pianos have the dominant hand on the higher, melody keys. I think it largely comes down to where dexterity is most required, & with stringed instruments, I think that's mainly in operating the strings, rather than pressing them down. Just my view.
Your observations explain perfectly my own experiences over the years being left-handed and now 40 years old... I was introduced to guitar at about 5 years old by my grandfather who gave me a right handed guitar knowing I was left-handed lol.. his story is that he handed me the right-handed guitar and showed me how to play a G major chord, I immediately flipped the guitar upside down holding it left-handed and played the chord perfectly. My left hand has complete control with a guitar pick or plucking and like you said.. more dexterity, while my right hand seems stronger.
I am not left handed, i am very dominate right, almost left hand retarded, but a decade and a half ago i had the tips of my middle and ring finger broke between the tip and the first knuckle,one finger the middle healed. My ring finger is still broken after 15 years, and I cant seem to hit the right angle on the strings without crossing more then 1 string. I have always wanted to learn guitar but felt a handicapped in this dept. I started watching banjo videos and think I want to learn opposite of my dominate, as banjo requires 3 to strings, and I want to string with my left and note with my right.
This was inspiring!
Thank you!
Wait until he discovers left handed golf clubs
rhythm is in your dominant hand so you strum with your dominant hand, unless rhythm is not important to you then you can choose any guitar
I was getting pretty frustrated with what you were doing in the beginning, but then you finally made that first argument and it put me in a better mood, but I’m gonna stick with left handed guitars due to the fact that I’ve been playing left handed guitars for about 6 years at this point.
I guess your argument makes sense in a certain way. You are a left handed person but prefer "right-fretted" guitar. imagine there are lots of right-handed people that would potentially prefer "left-fretted" guitar but never even know that could be an option.
I choose to play with a left-handed guitar cuz I mainly use my left hand when playing sports(like shooting basketball or tennis) so that my left wrist is more flexible and that's good for strumming. I write with my right hand BTW. It doesn't matter I'm lefty or righty, I just feel better with a left handed guitar.
So I agree with most of your arguments but I just believe that everyone should follow their gut feeling about choosing left-fretted or right-fretted guitar. More people feel comfortable to take a left-fretted guitar then manufacturers may increase the production. Boom, happily ever after.
JINGRU SUN I agree
JINGRU SUN Just to be clear, a fret is a fret. Guitars are labeled right-handed or left-handed according to the dominant hand the picks or strums, not the hand that plays the chords.
I am one of those who do it like that
When I strum with the left hand the hand feels light and airy, if I strum with the right the hand feels heavier and I'm more conscious of the movement, so I went with a left handed guitar.
I'm a lefty and started playing lefty guitar 35 years ago. I think you're correct about the rhythm. That's something which has always be strong for me. Even when I was just starting out and I couldn't fret anything the rhythm just came naturally.
This issue has been debated ad nauseam. I’m a natural lefty with almost everything and was very inclined to hold the guitar lefty (right hand fret) without any prodding or intervention. My left hand is more rhythmic and it just worked for me. I’m sure I could have learned righty, but now it feels completely unnatural as if I’m a total beginner. I’ve known natural righties that play lefty and natural lefties that play righty. I’m pretty sure Kurt Cobain was a righty that played guitar lefty. It’s less a matter of handedness and more a matter of which hand is more rhythmic. I think the feel and musicality really comes out of your strumming/picking/bowing hand. My ultimate conclusion : play however you want to. There are plenty of lefty guitar options these days so don’t let that argument hold you back. Besides...it looks badass on stage.
Yup. This debate is really old and ridiculous.
I do think that lefties have an advantage as they stand out more on stage. When I’m watching a Beatles video, the first thing I look at is Paul because he’s a lefty Bassist. I actually kinda wanna learn Left handed to see if I could be good. (I’m a natural righty playing a righty guitar)
Paul I might be biased (bring a lefty player) but I agree that it stands out. There’s a Beatles cover band here in LA called Hard Day’s Night Band where the bass player, normally a righty guitar player, learned to switch to look the part! I was impressed to hear that.
gtrbri98 That’s pretty cool but at the same time it must have been a pain to relearn everything. I would like to try left handed out. I’m thinking of restringing my guitar
I am sure my first grade teacher made me change to right handedness. So I refused to even contemplate playing a right-hand guitar. Still getting started.
I've always written, and done most things with my left hand. When I started playing guitar, over 30 yrs ago, I happened to pick up someone's guitar that was lying around, and I started learning on that. It was a right handed guitar. I've played right handed guitars ever since. I've never picked up a left handed guitar. Looking back, it seems natural, the fretting hand is my left hand, the hand that normally likes to do the more intricate stuff. Really glad I did learn on right handed. So much more choice in instruments around :)
I am lefty and play bass and drums righty. Back in my day as a kid they never ASKED you - Never even heard of a lefty guitar until I was playing for years. That said you should ALWAYS do what WORKS FOR YOU. At one point in a band with a guitar and drummer who were both lefty play righty. Both of those guys were top shelf players. All the advice I would offer to beginners is try BOTH, find a store with a lefty in stock (most have only a few) and see how you get on. Handy (pun) reference here - ALL these guys are lefty and play righty -
Billy Corgan
Herman Li
Johnny Winter
Steve Morse
Kiko Loureiro
Mark Knopfler
Gary Moore
Duane Allman
Robert Fripp
Janick Gers
Joe Perry
David Bowie
I understand what you're saying and I agree to some extent! I'm left handed myself, but I play right-fretted.
The point you make about either orientation feeling awkward at the beginning no matter what, I disagree with. When I first started, I went for the left-fretted and it felt WRONG. I just knew it was more comfortable the other way. I think you should play both and see which feels better. I even know a guy who is right handed and plays right-fretted.
It's all personal preference. Good video though. You make an interesting point!
Andrew DeLaney I think there's wide variety of ways people can experience the instrument. Handedness comes into more strongly for some than others.
Same here.. left hand dominant and I fret with my right hand playing left-handed guitars. I was 5 years old and grandfather got me a guitar that was right-handed even though he knew I was left-handed, he showed me how to play a few chords and I attempted to play them as a righty and it was very hard, according to him I immediately flipped the guitar over and demonstrated the same thing that he had just tried to show me well only playing it left-handed while fretting with my right hand even though the guitar then was upside down, it felt completely natural to use my left hand for strumming.. he ended up taking the strings and restrung it left-handed and the rest was history haha.
It's weird because even though my right hand is my dominant hand, it always felt more natural playing guitar left handed.
Same!
i love it when someone tells me how im doing something wrong.... even when its working for me much better than thier right way...
I’m left handed and when I started learning the guitar my first guitar I had was a right handed acoustic my dad didn’t even know I was left handed until I first picked up that guitar and he told me your holding it the wrong way so I went too hold it the right way and tried learning too play right handed but I just couldn’t it felt so uncomfortable I thought it was just the normal struggle of playing the guitar then months later my dad got me a left handed guitar and it was so much better I was less frustrated while trying too play the guitar and trying too teach myself too play right handed wasn’t getting me anywhere it was just holding me back so not every left handed person can learn too play the guitar right handed
I ve been playing for almost 28 years lefthanded,i tried to play several times righthanded,but it was impossible for my brain to coordinate,however i teached myself to play all basic minor and major chords and even 7 th and some blues/jazz chords upside down, i'm at least able to play on a certain level ata so called 'normal'(righthanded)guitar,andlearn myself al the open string chords to play righthanded,but it willnever feelnatural to me,just like writing righthanded
I’m right handed and I play a right handed guitar but I play upside down so should I get a left handed one or left fretted
I'm Right Handed and I play guitar Left Handed.
I'm left handed but learnt to play "right handed". I'm glad did because I can pick up any guitar and play it. I also agree that if your left hand is doing all the intricate work on the fret board and the guitar is pointing to the left then that should be called a left handed guitar, not right handed... It doesn't make any sense to me why you'd want your dominant hand to be strumming/picking/tapping?!
some people claim the strumming hand does all the hard work. I dunno, i feel like my strumming hand has it pretty easy. Either way its a two handed instrument.
im a left handed guitarist with 3 left handed guitars! left handed people should have left handed guitars!! if not! they will become like you! an awful guitar player!
my left handed friends! don't listen to this nonsense! watch the video below to choose wisely:
ua-cam.com/video/EqLwhEFMjDk/v-deo.html
You say shit. The best musician are left handed and play REGULAR instrument
I definitely agree with the part where he said because one is the hand on the neck and the other is strumming the strings
Unfortunately, I picked a guitar up the wrong way naturally when I was probably 10 or so. I wish I hadn't. The array of instruments for the regular players is incredible. Lefties get the "one size fits all" treatment. I love cool guitars but when you're only given one model in one colour (Black 90% of the time), you have to get pretty creative. So I get to mod all of my guitars to make them the way I want but it would be nice to just find what I want already prebuilt. That's only happened once. I managed to get a neon green 7 string with a maple fretboard and black hardware from Legator so that was pretty cool of them to do something different.
it doesn't really matter which one is you dominant/writing hand actually, the only thing that matters is when you first pick up the guitar, in which way it feels more comfortable for you to hold it. i'm left handed and when i first picked up the guitar i thought i'm gonna play like a lefty, so i first held it that way, and it felt like a massive cello under my hand, it was really uncomfortable, then i turned it the other way around and it felt much better and much easier to learn to play, it doesn't mean shit which one is your dominant or writihng hand, it matters only how it feels more natural and more comfortable for you to hold it when you start learning, then you know which one to chose
Lefty over here learning and excited to learn both
Im thinking about getting a guiter to start and im left handed but im wondering im just motioning it out and the strumming feels better with my right hand and if i do it with my left i jerk around so that means be a lefty using a righty?
Plz answer btw
if it feels better from the get go doing it one way over the other, id try it that way first.
Thx 8) buying a eight handed guitar
I always thought that "right handed" guitars were backwards. It seems to me that fretting and chording with your dominant hand would be more natural. Left handers should have an advantage here!
jimdkc Same here
Fretting and chording arent the hard part of playing. Thats really easy to learn with practice. It's your strumming/picking hand that has to jump all over the place, maintain fast complicated rhythms etc
The concept confused me but hey fretting with my dominant hand is preferable and being a lefty means I can get the instruments I want easier
cdreid99999
Exactly. Your strumming hand needs to be precise because it controls rhythm, dynamics and articulation (stuff that requires a lot more control than just placing your fingers in the correct spot on the fretboard).
The strumming hand movement (requires moving your wrist) is more complex than the fretting hand movement (mostly finger movement). It's like typing on a keyboard vs using a mouse. Typing on a keyboard feels pretty much the same on both hands, but using the mouse on your weaker hand is really difficult.
Whether you should choose a left handed or a right handed guitar depends on which way feels more natural for you. Sure, people will suck in the beginning any way, but one way will still feel less awkward than the other. It's kind of like holding a hockey stick or a baseball bat. I pretty much suck at both sports, but my handedness is pretty strong, so I can only hold the hockey stick/baseball bat one way - the other way will feel really awkward (I hold both on my left side, though to my understanding this has nothing to do with whether you are left handed or right handed). I know some people who can switch sides without a problem.
I'm left handed and I find playing a guitar doing the fretting with my right hand much easier than with my left hand because for some reason my right hand has more dexterity than my left. So instead of playing traditional or standard models I have to play a left handed guitar. It feels natural and I have a lot more control that way. I have tried to play right handed before, but it's just too awkward. Oh, and I can't use left handed scissors.
This video is as stupid as saying that for example a lefty Pro Golfer Phil Mickelson should have started playing right handed because it's so hard an awkvard to start playing golf anyways and there was at that time like 90% more right handed clubs available too. I think, try both ways and what feels better continue with that side. It's more about hand-finger cordination imo.
J F I play golf with lefty clubs. I was just super awkward with right clubs.
Eye dominance should determine on which side you play your instument.
Left-Handed, and playing lefty, no problems for me!
My father is left handed and when he was in scool the teachers used to tie the left hand of students to the back cause "left hand is evil" so he can write right handed, that doesn't mean that writing is the same for left or right handed cause you touch the paper with both hands.
I'm left handed and the first time i used a guitar i started playing it like a left handed and it felt good but my teacher corrected me saying "You have to play the guitar right handed". I was young and didn't know so I didn't reply to that. Now I can't do somethings cause i lack the precision on my right hand and I can't learn from 0 cause i'm too old for learning at 100%.
You have both hands on the instrument but they do different jobs, like eating (both hand, one on the fork and one on the knife), playing soccer (one foot on the ground to balance and one foot to kick).
No offense but the "you use both of your hand anyway" is the dumbest argument I've ever heard in my life.
Right, but some people connect better with the guitar by using their dominate hand to fret vs strum and vice versa.
60 Cycle Hum You are right. Some people.
Some maybe, but I myself am left handed, and tried to learn right handed, had many tell me it would be better, but, I can not strum for the life of me, no matter how much I've practice, switched to left and *WHAM* success, Personally, I think it's in the person, whether they are going to left handed or right handed!
have you thought about single cutaway designs?
I've never picked up the instrument but as a resident left handed person whenever I imagine myself doing so not strumming with my left seems so off
I'm lefty.. played left handed since I was 7.. I'm 22 now... I'm going to buy a right handed guitar... Learning is good and putting yourself out of your comfort zone is far more rewarding once you overcome the struggle. Plus playing both right and left is a super cool thing to be able to do..
forget the debates...WHATS THAT EXPLORER BEAUTY YOU GOT UP THERE?
Kioni Hernandez it's a parts guitar, mim strat neck, gfs pickup, bigsby etc.
It is extremely nice looking... maybe that's how I'd like an Explorer, rather than for metal
Can I use a left handed guitar even if I’m a right handed? Just a quick question cuz I’m about to buy one and it’s left handed.
you can do anything you set your mind to, I believe in you.
I think that everyone is different. I am left handed and play guitar left handed. Maybe if I had started out playing right handed I could have made it work. I don't know. I do a lot with my left hand but I also favor my right for certain things like using scissors and throwing balls. In a nutshell just play the way that feels most comfortable to you.
What's the guitar you are using? The short scale make it look and sound really great
baby taylor
simple solution: refer them to "lefty" and "righty". it could refer to anything about the guitar.
seriously though, do we need to drag this "gender-politic-esque" bullshit in the guitar community? simple answer. no. its about the music, not nit-picky bullshit like this. my ten cents.
Actually I believe that he's trying to spare left-handed ppl of the hassle that is to find good variety of lefty instruments. And on top of that, you are banned of the guitar jigs if you don't take your own guitar. You can't ask for a friend's guitar to test it and to play, because playing it upside down limits you so much. I've been in this scene for 20 years and this sucks, I would be such a better musician if I had learned to play right-handed...
exactly
are you right handed?
Totally agree with you man. And there is no way that everyone should think that they have to play righty. When I went to the music store the first time I tried playing righty and lefty basses, the lefty felt waaaay better to me. I'm very happy with my results. There's plenty of lefty basses on the market. If you got decent skill you can get a lefty bass for $500 or less that is good quality and very playable. I don't know why the dude in the video is putting that propaganda out there.
Interesting points. I'm a right hander who excels at rhythm but isnt so great at leads in my left. Now I wonder.
Bull crap. You have been conditioned by righties to play righty.
Be a man. Be a lefty for go sakes
Right on! Lefties of the world unite! Im a lefty and im proud! ✊ Lol
I have a very important question pls reply, I am basically a right hander so thats why my right hand is powerful and flexible but i have already buyed a right freted guitar but now i think that I should change it to left fret guitar what should i do?????
I’m right handed but play left handed. My right hand is doing most of the work. Same for Kurt Cobain. He was right handed but played left. It’s all preference to the individual.
Lefty beginner here. You've convinced me to go standard. Thanks for the vid!
LikeSpiders if you have trouble try lefty, but learning guitar is hard no matter what.
Most lefties (like you and me) do one thing or another 'right-handed.' I play golf right-handed. However, being a leftie who's been playing left-handed for a long Time, I'm thoroughly entrenched in that playing style. I've found that bands actually think its cool because they don't see it that often. As for selection, you really have three options: buy one of the few lefties, convert a rightie, or make a lefty. I have done all three in my life. However, if you're not inclined to do woodwork or guitar surgery, the good news is that the selection of lefty guitars is probably double what it was a dozen years ago. Whatever orientation you choose, don't let anyone give you sh#t about it.
Darrin Nunyah 100%
Yep. I'm lefty in anything but golf clubs.
It always struck me as strange that we use our least dominant hand to do the difficult stuff on the fretboard, but like you say if you haven't played before it makes no difference
I’m just starting out but so far as I know, a “left handed” guitar is simply a regular guitar strung backwards.
I’m learning to play upside down and backwards right strung guitar because I’m borrowing it, I don’t own my own.
My reason for wanting my left hand as my strumming hand is that I don’t intend to just strum forever, is like to learn to pick tunes, maybe even play classical style, both require a lot more work and detail on the strumming/picking hand.
As a leftie I’ve had to do so many things right handed and poorly, ice cream scoops! Right! 🙄 It’s so unfair! 🤦🏽♀️
I want to learn to play guitar in an enjoyable, comfortable way.
"left-handed" guitars aren't just strung backwards, they're shaped and overall made for that handedness, as well! playing a lefty guitar removes the uncomfortable 'upside down' look and feel; it's more like a mirror image of a typical guitar. ^^
noelle hester
This I did not know!
I’m having a wicked time.
Gave up on upside down and backwards,
I was trying to learn right handed, which I think is easier than upside down and backwards,
But the real issue is I’m tearing up the fingertips of my dominant hand by fretting with them!
And honestly,
I can’t make my right fingers pick/pluck in any consistent manner.
I’m going to keep learning right handed until I can afford a left handed guitar. Shaped different sounds awesome because I’m also having trouble with my right elbow, which is had surgeries on years ago, resting on the corner/edge of the side and face.
I’m going to keep pressing on,
I’m not one to give up on anything, at least not until I’ve gotten good at it.
I never would have even looked for such a thing as left handed guitar, everyone always told me it was just a regular one strung backwards, but I suppose if you’re not left handed, one might not know they exist.
Lia Mari i definitely feel you with most of this! i hate playing right-handed- it hurts and while i do ALRIGHT picking and plucking with my right (probably in no small part due to years of piano playing making it more dexterous than it would be otherwise), it just feels unnatural and “bad”. the price point for a lefty guitar is so nightmarish, though, so i CANNOT blame you for just trying to stick with what you’ve got! mine, if i recall right, was $275 USD... bought SECONDHAND, no less! i saved up for over a year with the express goal of getting a guitar, but $275 is a lot of money when you’re 11 so handing it over was still SOOOO painful. anyways, best of luck to you going forward!! 🤗
noelle hester
I just realized we might be talking about different kinds of guitars.
Electric ones look asymmetrical,
But mine is an old Yamaha FG-160 acoustic, that seems symmetrical.
But still,
Maybe by the time I’m done
I’ll be able to twirl it in my fingertips and make music in three different positions that’s so sweet people cry... until then,
I’ll settle for getting good enough right handed to justify carrying a guitar around and asking people to show me riffs... or at least explain what riffs are.
😁
2:06 This is the way I play all the time, and if I try to switch it the "right" way that's when I feel like a beginner again. LOL
Oh my fucking god!!!! Thaaaank yooouuuuuu!!!!!! Iv'e been playing guitar for 20 yrs and I'm right handed. I noticed from a very early age that my right hand dexterity is way better than my left. I can manipulate all four of my right hand fingers independently down to each knuckle. My left hand can not do this! My pinkie and ring finger seem to not work as well independently, and forget about curling just the top knuckles like my right hand can do (at least closer to it than my left). When I started to play guitar in my early teens It made no sense to me why you would fret with your weaker hand! But I knew I was gonna be headed for a life of not being able to play my mates guitars, having a harder time reading tablature, restringing every pawn shop guitar I randomly wanted to buy just for the hell of it and so fourth. Left handed guitars were rarer back in the day, and more expensive. So. I learned righty. Its all good as the whole world of guitars is catered to rightys, but if you are born lefty, why go through all that trouble? DOES ANYONE PLAY LEFT-HANDED PIANO??? In fact that would make more sense!!! if the bass notes were on the right, you could play the melody with your left hand! This would make improvising and song writing easier for a lefty, as the weaker right hand could just play chords or repeat a simply bass line!
Really? I've seen MILLION times people pushing lefties to "not be stupid and pick up a RH guitar". And I decided to play LH as a lefty, exactly for the reason not to end up "a terrible rhythm player".
I noticed the difference between the capabilities of each hand regarding speed and rhyhtm through a video game with a RH layout. I just couldn't make my RH to be efficient enough to beat the game when playing with a RH layout.
Also, if I did a little research out of interest and found stories from ppl who started to play RH and later switched and relearned and all benefited from that (all I found).
I don't push anybody to play lefty. I'd push them to do research and some tests to help to determine which way is probably the right one.
Go tell Jimi Hendrix to play right handed.
dayluge hendrix was right handed, go look at pictures of him signing things. He always writes with his right hand, and then uses that dominant hand to fret.
If you put two guitars in a room. One that is left handed and one that is right handed. If the person feels more comfortable with one over the other. That is the one they should be playing. I don't think you've ever had any real experience helping a left handed person buy a guitar for the first time. If they want to choose to play lefty they should do that. Just because there is more variety to choose from if you are right handed doesn't mean a lefty should be playing righty. That actually shouldn't be a deciding factor at all.
@60cyclehum Jimi Hendrix would have actually have written left handed too but his father Al Hendrix forced him to do everything right handed. That's part of the reason why he bought a right handed and flipped the strings. So when his dad was in the room he could fake playing right handed.
You are right my Friend !! that's how i see it too !!
@@dayluge either way, u completely missed the point of the video
I am a Left Handed guitar player. I own some really nice left handed guitars, made for a lefty. You can get them now. I found a Left Handed Les Paul Traditional in the used section of Gruhn's Guitars. It didn't have a pick guard. So I Iooked on Amazon. They had a Left Handed Pick Guard for my guitar, $7.95 shipped today. So they are out there. I have also bought 2 left handed guitars from Amazon. My Cordoba nylon string and my SG-400.
Second point. When you learn guitar, you will eventually be faced with 6th Sting Barre Chords. Shiver runs up your spine. But think about it, if a Right Handed guitar player frets with his left hand, he/she is going to be doing Barre Chords with their weak hand, the left. So you go through the terrible times of lousy sounding chords. It discourages lots of people. I personally think we all play the guitar backwards.
Left and proud!
I’m also a lefty playing right. Totally agree with the amount of product and overall simplicity of your dominant hand doing the hardest bit!
im left handed but i learned guitar right handed, and got pretty good at it, but there came a point that it became frustrating, i can't put my finger on it, but it felt like i was stuck. so i decided maybe i should try playing left handed. it was difficult, but playing with my dominant hand just seemed more fun, and with more rhythm, i can play longer and it feels more natural. i just wish i had learned with a lefty guitar
I started out with a cheap Sears acoustic guitar strung lefty. My guitar instructor first day tuned it then laughed, he said "your left handed", I said "yeah". He said so I'm I. He said don't change. My rhythm (chords) came natural left handed and sooner.
Michael Bloomfield I read was left handed, but played right handed guitar according to his brother Allan.
One of the Everly Brothers was left handed but played right handed.
I play baseball, golf and bowling right handed. I throw a ball right handed. I use my utensil left handed. I write left handed.
Jimi Hendrix wrote with his right hand but played as we all know guitar left handed with a right handed guitar most of the time.
How do you figure?
Can confirm as a left handed right hand guitarist. It’s easier to find guitars if you learn right handed guitar. Also fretting is easier. Rhythm is definitely more difficult but I feel it’s easier to get proficient at rhythm than to be proficient at fretting. No matter what you’re going to have a weakness in your playing no matter which way the guitar strings are ran. Guitar is 50/50 between both hands.
One thing you're not understanding. I'm looking for a lefthanded/ left fretted guitar for a friend. Reason? Because he learned to play otherwise and a few years ago had an accident that took 3 of his left fingers. Its very difficult to play a regular conventional guitar without those fingers. So please be considerate of those.
Fretting hand does the harder job that the other hand, at least usually, so it would make more sense if what we call "left handed guitars" were actually normal guitars.
Fretting is way easier to me than trying to keep rhythm, strum, and do complex picking with my non-dominant hand. If standard guitars made things harder for right handed people, they never would have become standard.
I'm left handed and my left hand as my strumming hand feels natural. I have tried strumming with my right hand and it feel's so awkward lol. I feel like you did when you swapped. Would it be worth while to try working both ways? Maybe buy a left and right strung guitar and practicing with both?
Yeah... I’ve had an interesting relationship with scissors over the years...
Ya know, I came to this video to find out how to convert my left handed Taylor to right handed, and all I got was some guy playing the Taylor and telling me there is NO LEFT HANDED GUITARS!!!
(Yes, I’m a lefty, and never felt inclined to play left handed,)
I’m right handed, picked up a guitar when I was very small - strummed with my left, tried fretting with right hand. My logic was I have better dexterity and control with right hand, still struggling with fretting with left hand- maybe I need to rethink this