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Which leads to another interesting question...I am left handed, but play
right-handed. I
also golf and play hockey right handed, but hit tennis balls and baseballs
left-handed. I
hammer, badly, with either the left or right hand! I surf and skate and
snowboard regular-
foot.
My lifetime observations:
1). Which way you play a two-handed instrument, like the guitar, depends on
what's
available to you when you first pick it up, and whether there is a salesman
there to turn
the instrument around if you try and play it backward.
2). Right handed people are always right-handed. Left handed people have degrees
of
ambidexterity.
3). It's a lot harder to play a left-handed guitar, because all the chord charts
are written for
right-handers. Playing a right-handed guitar, upside down and backwards, is an
impossibility for all but the mighty Dick.
4). Left handed players have far fewer guitars to choose from, and all of them
are ugly.
5). Handedness has nothing to do with footedness.
Does any lefty have some (guitar related) observations to add?
Gavin
> I am left handed and play guitar upside-down and Backwards.
> Where the right handed guitars cost more than the lefties!
> I'll be looking into that...
>
> Laterz Verbz, Kim
>
Gavin...I am also left handed, but play the guitar right handed. My
first guitar had a Les Paul shape, and that isn't too comfortable
upside down. I also figured I would want my left hand on the fret
board. So that is what I went with. However, for years, I still played
air-guitar like Dick Dale. But I noticed I switched at some point.
I do agree with you on the varying degrees of left handed. I only act
like a righty when it comes to guitar and scissors. I think the
scissors were forced on me by a teacher when I was a tike. I use the
mouse with my left hand, but I don't reverse the buttons. I know some
lefties who do left mouse, swap buttons, and some lefties who actually
use the mouse with their right hand.
And to get back on topic...I dig both the Shadows and The Ventures for
different reasons. I don't care for Britney Spears.
Have a good weekend, y'all!
BN
In a message dated 10/28/2005 6:35:33 P.M. Central Daylight Time, writes:
Playing a right-handed guitar, upside down and backwards, is an
impossibility for all but the mighty Dick.
There have been several recognized players to play this way. One who comes
to mind is Johnny Jenkins, a blues guitarist from Macon, GA, who recorded with
Otis Redding and The Allman Brothers, and was an early mentor to Jimi
Hendrix.
-Matt Crunk
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gavin,
> Does any lefty have some (guitar related) observations to add?
Yeah, I do.
It has been long known that left-handers have a better imagination
and are more creative than those of the right-handed persuasion.
This plays out very well in sports, be they team or individual.
Check most rankings for tennis players, pool players, batters,
pitchers, BB guards, etc., and you'll see a pattern. Painters,
sculptors, check 'em out, most of them are left-handed.
The point here is, it you can't imagine it, you can't create it,
which precludes playing it. However, as Gavin points out, if you
first attempt to do something and are "corrected" to the "norm",
then you're likely to keep doing things that way. So it is with
the majority of left-handed guitar players. They may feel like
they're doing it backwards from the way they'd like to do it
(they're playng right-handed), but they are still just as capable,
and more imaginative/creative, as a rule.
Just an observation on life in general, as applied to musicians
in particular. <g>
unlunf
p.s. FWIW, I am truly ambidextrous.
p.p.s. I'm "lucky" enough to have not one, but four Guitar Centers
within easy driving range, plus a bunch of other music stores. I
see where left-handed instruments (not just guitars) are getting
their own sections in most places now. And for the life of me, if
it's a Fender, how can it be ugly just because it's reversed? <g>
Strange, yes, but ugly? Naw.
--- In , "Gavin Ehringer" <gavinehringer@e...>
wrote:
>
> Which leads to another interesting question...I am left handed, but
> play right-handed. I also golf and play hockey right handed, but
> hit tennis balls and baseballs left-handed. I hammer, badly, with
> either the left or right hand! I surf and skate and snowboard
> regular-foot.
>
> My lifetime observations:
> 1). Which way you play a two-handed instrument, like the guitar,
> depends on what's available to you when you first pick it up, and
> whether there is a salesman there to turn the instrument around if
> you try and play it backward.
> 2). Right handed people are always right-handed. Left handed people
> have degrees of ambidexterity.
> 3). It's a lot harder to play a left-handed guitar, because all the
> chord charts are written for right-handers. Playing a right-handed
> guitar, upside down and backwards, is an impossibility for all but
> the mighty Dick.
> 4). Left handed players have far fewer guitars to choose from, and
> all of them are ugly.
> 5). Handedness has nothing to do with footedness.
>
> Does any lefty have some (guitar related) observations to add?
>
> Gavin
>
>
--- In , MattCrunk@a... wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 10/28/2005 6:35:33 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> gavinehringer@e... writes:
>
> Playing a right-handed guitar, upside down and backwards, is an
> impossibility for all but the mighty Dick.
>
> There have been several recognized players to play this way. One
who comes
> to mind is Johnny Jenkins, a blues guitarist from Macon, GA,
What about Albert King? didn't he play like DD?
Ivan
When?
--- ipongrac <> wrote:
> --- In , MattCrunk@a... wrote:
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 10/28/2005 6:35:33 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> > gavinehringer@e... writes:
> >
> > Playing a right-handed guitar, upside down and backwards, is an
> > impossibility for all but the mighty Dick.
> >
> > There have been several recognized players to play this way. One
> who comes
> > to mind is Johnny Jenkins, a blues guitarist from Macon, GA,
>
> What about Albert King? didn't he play like DD?
>
> Ivan
>
>
>
>
>
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--- In , Phil Dirt <phildirt@r...> wrote:
>
> > What about Albert King? didn't he play like DD?
>
> When?
When? What do you mean?
I don't mean that he played LIKE DD. I meant, didn't he also play
left-handed on a guitar strung for a right-handed player? Not sure
about that, but I thought I read that somewhere before. I could be
wrong.
Ivan
--- ipongrac <> wrote:
> I don't mean that he played LIKE DD. I meant,
> didn't he also play
> left-handed on a guitar strung for a right-handed
> player? Not sure
> about that, but I thought I read that somewhere
> before. I could be
> wrong.
>
> Ivan
Ivan,
You're not wrong. I think I read the same thing in
Guitar Player. Here's at least one article online
that refers to the fact that Albert King played this
way...
I once met a local guy that played this way as well.
It sure freaked me out the first time we jammed
together! He said it just happened to be the way he
taught himself how to play.
Rick
Ivan,
Several Google links confirm it, AK played regular-strung,
but left-handed. We've got a local rocker that does the
same thing, and it's weird to deal with when you need to
learn a progression from him during a jam - you keep wanting
to reverse what you're seeing, but it doesn't work that way!
<g>
BTW, in re: the earlier comment about 'not having a sales-
man around to show you how to do it right', I had the same
early experiences as many left-handed players, in that
when you walked into a showroom, you found nada on the
rack. You picked up a likely candidate, and you tried it
out just like that, no re-stringing. If you liked what you
heard, you bought it, and then did your thing. If you
didn't like it.....
But how many left-handers really go to the effort of learning
to play at least decently with the ax strung right-handed just
so they can test it at the local shop (or pickup a friend's
rig for an impromptu jam), and then go home and play their
own guitar(s) with proper stringing? Not too many, I'd bet.
That's why we just give it up, and learn to play it the
same way as everyone else. <g>
That is, unless your name is Jeff Healy!! <lol>
unlunf
--- ipongrac <ipongrac@g...> wrote:
>
> I don't mean that he played LIKE DD. I meant, didn't
> he also play left-handed on a guitar strung for a
> right-handed player? Not sure about that, but I
> thought I read that somewhere before. I could be wrong.
>
> Ivan
>
Sounds like they are more likely to have an inferiority complex as well
(grin)
Happy Reverbs!
Spanky
On Oct 29, 2005, at 2:31 AM, unlunf wrote:
> Gavin,
>
> > Does any lefty have some (guitar related) observations to add?
>
> Yeah, I do.
>
> It has been long known that left-handers have a better imagination
> and are more creative than those of the right-handed persuasion.
> This plays out very well in sports, be they team or individual.
> Check most rankings for tennis players, pool players, batters,
> pitchers, BB guards, etc., and you'll see a pattern. Painters,
> sculptors, check 'em out, most of them are left-handed.
>
> The point here is, it you can't imagine it, you can't create it,
> which precludes playing it. However, as Gavin points out, if you
> first attempt to do something and are "corrected" to the "norm",
> then you're likely to keep doing things that way. So it is with
> the majority of left-handed guitar players. They may feel like
> they're doing it backwards from the way they'd like to do it
> (they're playng right-handed), but they are still just as capable,
> and more imaginative/creative, as a rule.
>
> Just an observation on life in general, as applied to musicians
> in particular. <g>
>
>
> unlunf
>
> p.s. FWIW, I am truly ambidextrous.
>
> p.p.s. I'm "lucky" enough to have not one, but four Guitar Centers
> within easy driving range, plus a bunch of other music stores. I
> see where left-handed instruments (not just guitars) are getting
> their own sections in most places now. And for the life of me, if
> it's a Fender, how can it be ugly just because it's reversed? <g>
> Strange, yes, but ugly? Naw.
>
>
> --- In , "Gavin Ehringer"
> <gavinehringer@e...> wrote:
> >
> > Which leads to another interesting question...I am left handed, but
> > play right-handed. I also golf and play hockey right handed, but
> > hit tennis balls and baseballs left-handed. I hammer, badly, with
> > either the left or right hand! I surf and skate and snowboard
> > regular-foot.
> >
> > My lifetime observations:
> > 1). Which way you play a two-handed instrument, like the guitar,
> > depends on what's available to you when you first pick it up, and
> > whether there is a salesman there to turn the instrument around if
> > you try and play it backward.
> > 2). Right handed people are always right-handed. Left handed people
> > have degrees of ambidexterity.
> > 3). It's a lot harder to play a left-handed guitar, because all the
> > chord charts are written for right-handers. Playing a right-handed
> > guitar, upside down and backwards, is an impossibility for all but
> > the mighty Dick.
> > 4). Left handed players have far fewer guitars to choose from, and
> > all of them are ugly.
> > 5). Handedness has nothing to do with footedness.
> >
> > Does any lefty have some (guitar related) observations to add?
> >
> > Gavin
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I'm a lefty and started guitar at 12 years. I couldn't play a right
handed guitar. Still can't.
Trying to 'force' handed-ness on a child is dumb IMO.
If a confirmed lefty starts with a lefty guitar learning charts and
music is not more difficult.
You just cope until it becomes natural (just like coping with scissors,
notebooks, desks, and gear shfting)
I own 5 lefty guitars, a washburn ea20, a national delphi, a heritage
575 custom, a alhambra classical, and a new hagstrom swede.
Their may be fewer lefty guitars available but I think that just makes
the hunt sweeter.
>Gavin,
>
>
>
>>Does any lefty have some (guitar related) observations to add?
>>
>>
