Which Hand's More Valuable to You?

[b to g is yummy]

Which hand/finger's techinique do you find more critical for YOUR style of playing?? Fretting hand or Picking hand??

[crkempton]

My Left (fretting) hand is more important to me... i could always "slap" the strings with the stump of my right arm if occasion called for it.... .......knock on wood. BUT I think in general i would rather lose my left hand simply cuz i'm a righty and i would have to relearn SO MUCH other non-music related stuff....

[skaliwag66]

Fretting hand for sure.

[Ramstien]

Fretting as well.

[Brad Maestas]

They are inseparable for me. Being a classical guitarist as well, I am constantly reminded of the yin and yang of it. If I really had to pick one, it would be the plucking hand because that is the one that produces the sound. I reckon I'd have a harder time re-learning the tone production aspect of my right hand with my left hand than learning how to simply fret with my right.

[JimmyM]

Ideally, I would like to use both my hands.

[hunta]

Both are important but my right/plucking hand is more important for me.

[elpelotero]

theoretically, if you lost the plucking hand, you could always hammer on and pull off really hard with low action and lots of gain. This is similar to that one-handed guy in the youtube video.

[Deacon_Blues]

Plucking hand. It controls the timing and the groove.

If I lost my index or middle finger on my left hand I could still play some bass lines, but if I lost any of them on my right hand, I think I would have to quit playing. Being left-handed, my right (plucking) hand has always been my weaker hand, and as both are needed to play, the right one needs to be in better shape for me to play well. (I'm disregarding Bill Clemets' way of playing here).

[Valerus]

I don't see how I'd do it without either.

[b to g is yummy]

I didn't mean which hand you'd least want to lose or have to do without etc..I meant more the ability/technique/musicmanship of the fingers

[Phalex]

Back when I was a young man, I would concentrate on my left hand as I played. I had a bit of an epiphany a few years ago, and now I try to focus my attention on my right. I no longer strive to be the fastest kid on the block. These days I am focused on time.

My feel is very good, or so I've been told.

[SpankyPants]

I'd be fine if my right pinky was cut off, maybe even my right ring finger... but I need all of the fingers on my left hand all the time.

Fretting hand trumps picking hand imo.

[Wootsticks]

My plucking technique is more important to my sound, I think. It doesn't matter how you fret a note on a fretted instrument, you could do it with your forehead or your thumb or anything, but it's the stopping by the fret that makes the pitch. As long as there is enough pressure behind it, that hand doesn't matter. Right hand is more important to sound and tone.

[Steve³]

I voted equal, cause I really do need both hands working together to get a decent note out of my bass, though my fret hand is generally the culprit when I clank one.