Left Handed Playing Guitar – Tips for Left Handed Guitar Student
Tips for the Left Handed Guitar Student
If you are left-handed, should you learn left handed (upside down and backwards), or just stick with the way a right-handed person plays?
And the answer is…it depends. It depends on whether you are brand new and have never picked up the guitar or you have been working at it for a while.
Here’s the deal: playing guitar left-handed is a misnomer. There really is no right-handed or left-handed. Sounds confusing right? Everyone has heard of the left-handed guitar. What about Jimi Hendrix? Didn’t he play left-handed? Let me explain it like this: If you were playing the piano and you were left-handed, would you switch your hands around? Most people can immediately visualize how silly that would be. The reason we get confused with the guitar is that one end looks different from the other. It doesn’t really matter, because both hands have to learn roughly the same amount of complex movements. There’s no reason to switch the guitar around. If fact, the left hand will have to perform more complex movements than the right hand, at least in the beginning. It’s right-handed people who should be switching the guitar around!
What about Jimi Hendrix (one of my inspirations)? He just didn’t know better. He was great in spite of playing upside down and backwards. That’s what it actually is by the way: upside down and backwards. Not left-handed. Hendrix would have been great if he played the guitar straight up, behind his back, or standing on his head. Human beings are capable of incredible things.
What about the Guitars for sale that are “left-handed.”? One word—marketing. They found a certain number of people who either believed they needed a “left-handed” guitar or who had been playing upside down and backwards. They knew these people would buy it, so companies made it for sale.
There are problems with learning and playing a guitar upside down and backwards. You will always have to translate what another guitarist is doing in order to learn from it. It’s like learning by looking in a mirror. Everything look backwards. You won’t be able to pick up a friend’s guitar and play it. It won’t be strung the same way as yours unless he happens to be in the same boat. You won’t be able to buy the majority of guitars in the music store, and you’ll always have to pay more for a comparable left-handed version. You’ll have less choice of instructors available to you, and you’ll have a harder time with guitar videos and instruction books. Since it’s just not necessary, or even useful, I strongly recommend that if you are starting out, and you’re left handed, you learn with a right-handed guitar like anyone else.
What if you’ve been playing upside down and backwards already?
If you’ve been playing guitar “left-handed” for any significant period of time I most likely wouldn’t try to change you. It’s very difficult to undo the habits you’ve already created, and quite demotivating. It’s likely better to continue in the direction you’ve been going and buy a left-handed guitar. A guitar manufactured to be played this way has been designed to sound and work better than a regular guitar turned upside down and strung backwards. In the big picture, practice will make all the difference.
About the Author
Tomas Michaud is a guitarist, recording artist, entrepreneur, music educator, and father. He is the owner and Music Director of the SF Bay Area’s premier music education facility, Starland Music Center in Alameda, CA, and has taught or consulted with thousands of students over the past thirty years.
Receive more tips on Learning Guitar at http://www.StarlandGuitarLessons.com
Elliot Easton Talks About Growing Up A Left Handed Guitar Pl
|
|
Left-Handed Guitar **ISBN: 9780634030086** $14.88 … |
|
|
Left-Handed Guitar **ISBN: 9780793587889** … |
|
|
NIRVANA KURT COBAIN Red Guitar Picture Frame Mini Guitar Picture Frames are perfect for displaying in homes, music rooms, offices, etc.. Mini Guitars are made with extreme attention to detail and are detachable from picture frames. Frames can be hung on walls or displayed on desks. These are truly unique collectibles…. |
|
|
Oscar Schmidt by Washburn OG2CE Full Size Cutaway Acoustic Electric Guitar – Black $319.00 The OG2CE is a deep dreadnought cutaway with a full acoustic resonance. It features the WT92 Preamp with digital tuner built in…. |
|
|
Fender Presents: Getting Started on Electric Guitar — A Guide for Beginners $13.47 Over 3 hours long with 50 interactive guitar lessons on DVD. Covers tuning, essential chords and scales, music reference, practice tips, rhythm techniques, play-along tracks with a band, 3-D fretboard graphics, instrument care, and more. Includes 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and German. Hosted by Keith Wyatt of the Musicians Institute…. |
|
|
Children’s Guitar Method 1 $13.36 Does your child want to learn to play the guitar? Children’s Guitar Method is a popular and creative method for teaching guitar to young children. From the beginning, this method integrates chord playing with note reading. The student begins with simplified single-finger chord forms and strums as accompaniment to numerous well-known songs. Note reading is then methodically and carefully introduced… |
|
|
GCH Guitar Academy, Left Handed Guitar Course: Years 1 and 2 – Beginners to Intermediate Plus … |
|
|
Rocksmith $73.98 Rocksmith PS3… |
|
|
Rocksmith $75.42 Rocksmith X360… |
|
|
Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Mustang PRO-Guitar Controller for Xbox 360 $99.00 Mad Catz Rock Band 3 RB3985630M03/02/1 Gaming Guitar RB3985630M03/02/1 Video Game Controllers… |
|
|
Mel Bay`s Left-Hand Guitar Chord Chart (Wallchart) $4.94 Description not available. |
|
|
Left-handed Electric 43-inch Bass Guitar $89.99 Bass guitar is an ideal addition to your music collectionMusical instrument boasts a solid body and a 20-fret neckLeft-handed guitar features two regulator knobs for volume and tone |
|
|
Left Handed 5-string Banjo $179.99 Expand your musical horizons with this 5-string banjoBanjo is designed and strung specifically for left-handed playersMusical instrument features a rosewood fretboard and a nato resonator |
|
|
Left-Handed Guitar $9.85 Finally, a guitar method solely for south paws! This comprehensive book covers: chords, scales, riffs and strumming; rock, blues, fingerpicking and other styles; tuning, theory and other fundamentals; reading standard notation and tab; and lots more. I… |
|
|
Guitar Case Guide to Left-handed Scales $5.89 Tired of having to play “back to front” from scale books? Here`s the answer – the left-handers` guitar case scale book. Each scale shape has been specially designed for left handers, using clear diagrams and helpful hints and tips. All the scales you u… |
|
|
Left-Handed Guitar (Mixed media product) $10.09 Attention all Southpaws: it`s time to turn your playing around! We`re proud to announce that our groundbreaking guitar method solely devoted to lefties is now available with a CD! Complete with photos, diagrams and grids designed especially for the lef… |
|
|
Kona Left-handed Thin High-gloss Spruce Acoustic/ Electric Guitar $135.74 Play your favorite acoustic and electric songs on this left-handed Kona guitar. This musical instrument features a spruce top and high-gloss finish. |
|
|
Kona Satin Left-Handed Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar $98.99 Play your favorite songs left-handed on this dreadnought acoustic guitar from Kona. This musical instrument features a satin finish and D’Addario strings. |
|
|
Guitar Case Guide to Left-Handed Chords $7.87 If you`re tired of having to play `back to front` from chord books, here is the answer: the left-hander`s guitar case chord book! All the chords you use most often, with clear diagrams and helpful hints. |
|
|
Mel Bay Left-Hand Guitar Chord Book $19.85 255 characters or less! |
|
|
Picture Chord Encyclopedia for Left Handed Guitarists (Paperback) $10.8 At long last, the ultimate reference for left-handed guitarists! This amazing book features photos and diagrams for over 2600 chords specifically shown for the left-handed player. It includes easy-to-read chord grids, easy-to-see photos, basic chord th… |
|
|
Picture Chord Encyclopedia for Left-handed Guitarists (Paperback) $15.4 At long last, the ultimate chord reference book for left-handed guitarists is here! This amazing resource features photos and diagrams for over 2,600 chords specifically shown for the southpaw player. Includes: easy-to-see photos, easy-to-read chord gr… |
|
|
Play Bass Guitar :Master the Basics of Tuning, Left- And Right-Hand Techniques, Fills, Scales, and Much More As You Step into th $9.85 Learn to play blues, rock and country styles. Covers everything from how to tune the bass to advanced techniques like string-slapping and thumb slapping. |
|
|
30-Day Guitar Workout $19.85 A hit with teachers and students alike, this great collection of exercises and technical studies breaks up the tedium of doing the same old routine every day. Includes daily warm-ups, lessons on right- and left-hand technique, and more. |
|
|
The Puzzle of Left-handedness (Hardcover) $21.11   Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama have both signed bills into law with their left hands. And being left-handed certainly did not hold back the artistic achievements of Michelangelo or Raphael. And the dexterous guitar playing of… |
|
|
Bluegrass Guitar Basics (Mixed media product) $11.1 Covers all the basics and will have you playing all the classic bluegrass favorites in no time. You`ll learn classic bluegrass guitar techniques in the context of classic bluegrass standards. Beginning with basic left- and right-hand techniques, Dennis… |
|
|
Rock Guitar (Mixed media product) $22.56 Anyone interested in learning to play rock guitar can pick up this book and get started right away. This well-paced, comprehensive method covers everything, from basic to advanced techniques. Beginning concepts include rock theory, left-hand technique,… |
|
|
Beginning Rock Guitar (Paperback) $8.08 Perfect for beginning guitarists as well as players who want to enhance their knowledge, this volume covers basic rock theory, essential left-hand techniques, power chords, rhythm guitar, and how to improvise with the pentatonic scale. Includes licks … |
|
|
Teach Yourself Bluegrass Guitar (Mixed media product) $12.11 Teach yourself authentic bluegrass guitar with this book and CD pack. The book contains clear instructions on the basics: right- and left-hand techniques, solos, backup, personal advice on performance, and much more, as well as a complete selection of … |
|
|
Hal Leonard Guitar Method, Book 1 (Paperback) $6.92 Southpaws rejoice! This world-famous method is now available in a special edition just for lefties, with customized photos and diagrams. Students enjoy the method`s easy-to-follow format that gives them a solid music education while letting them play s… |