Teaching a lefty?

[Pneuma]

Ok, so a friend of mine wanted me to teach them to play. I'm not a stellar player by any means, but I'm the only person they know that plays and I'm cheap (free).

So, we've been working on it the past couple months with hand dexterity, positions, scales and whatnot.

Here's the thing, she's left handed, and has been learning righty. It's not too bad on slower songs, but on the faster stuff she's having trouble because her right hand isn't keeping up.

I'm debating having her flip the thing over, reversing the strings, and trying it that way for a while. I figure if it works, great, and some day she'll just have to invest some more money in a real left handed instrument.

I know this will be somewhat of a reset, and we'll be doing a lot of stuff over again. But I realize how much of a problem I would've had trying to go opposite, and I don't want to handicap her by assuming that she'll just work it out over time.

I mean, I know I'll have to reset the intonation and bridge height, maybe redo the nut, and it might sound a bit different because of the pickup, but I figure that ain't too big a deal for now.

Anyone got any advice on this? Am I helping or hurting here?

Thanks,

P.

[teedub]

Have her play whichever way is most comfortable for her. There's no right or wrong way. She'll be slow starting out either way. Tell her the pro's to playing "righty" (more access to various instruments), but make it clear that there is no wrong way.

I'm a lefty by choice, and was "advised" on more than one occasion to play the other way. Have her do what feels correct to her.

[StickNaving]

I personally am a lefty and took up playing righty, and it feels perfectly natural for me.

Two of my friends (one a guitarist and one a bassist) are also lefties playing right handed and they both have quite good chops and playing right handed isn't slowing them down.

As said above, have her play whichever way comes natural to her. Some people just don't take to playing quite as quickly, which could explain her right hand holding her back a bit. With practice she should be fine. Of course, if playing lefty feels more natural to her, she should switch.

[vindy500]

my brothers a lefty but plays like a righty. he started on my bass and now if he ever trys a lefty bass hes as bad as me on it

[cosmicevan]

don't do it. have her learn righty. i'm a lefty who learned righty and it is a wonderful thing. the learning curve is slower, but in the end, her left hand will be powerfully fast on the frets once she gets used to holding the instrument that way.

the benefits of learning lefty:
- looking cool standing next to other players because your instrument goes the other way.

benefits of learning righty:
- you can play on most instruments
- no extra $200 for a bass to be built lefty
- the ability to easily resell your old axes
- when people say "wow, you play good" you can say, "and i'm a lefty"

the hurdels in learning righty as a lefty are minimal vs the life-long struggle in finding the right instrument and not being able to easily get rid of instruments you've outgrown. if she needs to be convinced further, have her go price out her favorite bass, then find out how much extra it will cost to have that same bass as a lefty instrument. it is just not worth it...

edit note...i do agree with the notion that she should play what feels right, but i think that forcing the learning as a righty will feel good soon enough. because duh...it will feel more natural to hold an instrument as a lefty would. when i first started, i couldn't even hold the thing...that was 14 years ago and now i can't hold it like a lefty would.

[theshadow2001]

Im awaiting the flurry of right handers telling someone who's naturally left handed to do the opposite of what feels natural.

It might be that she's just a beginner and all that needs work is just more practice. On the other hand she might be more comfortable playing lefty. When she picked it up for the very first time did she hold it like a lefty. Thats a big give away. Usually people will hold a guitar the way they feel most comfortable before they realise (or told) they are holding it upside down. If thats the case I'd say go lefty.

One thing you could do is ask her to play left handed with a bass line that you could play on one string like seven nation army or something and see if it feels more comfortable for her that way. You wont need to switch strings do this. Tell her to do it for a little while like this and if she says there's not much difference then stick with right handedness

[Pneuma]

Thanks for the input folks. I guess at this point, I just need to sit her down and figure out if she really likes the feel of left handed.

P.

[thatguy5623]

I'm a lefty and i play right handed. i dont think id ever be able to play left handed. thats just how i learned tho. My right hand eventually got more comfortable. I am still having trouble with using my ring and pinky fingers tho. That shuld eventually get better too tho.

I'd tlk to her about it and see wut seems better for her psersonally like some of you have said.

[steveb98]

I will add to the Lefty who plays righty. I am a lefty in how I write and eat, but sports and music I play right handed just felt natural. I would say if that is how she feels comfortable let her be.

Supposedly it is an advanage to be lefty playing right. That since you have more control of left hand and some more strength being your dominate hand that helps on the instrument.

[cosmicevan]

Originally Posted by theshadow2001

Im awaiting the flurry of right handers telling someone who's naturally left handed to do the opposite of what feels natural.

It might be that she's just a beginner and all that needs work is just more practice. On the other hand she might be more comfortable playing lefty. When she picked it up for the very first time did she hold it like a lefty. Thats a big give away. Usually people will hold a guitar the way they feel most comfortable before they realise (or told) they are holding it upside down. If thats the case I'd say go lefty.

One thing you could do is ask her to play left handed with a bass line that you could play on one string like seven nation army or something and see if it feels more comfortable for her that way. You wont need to switch strings do this. Tell her to do it for a little while like this and if she says there's not much difference then stick with right handedness

i know everyone keeps saying to do what feels natural, but that's a no brainer...what's natural is to hold it as a lefty.

i've said it before and i'll say it again...learn righty. it will eventually feel natural. like i mentioned in my previous post, when i started i couldn't even hold it righty. now i can't hold it lefty. she is in the unique position of having no habits to break...start off on the right foot and learn how to play as a righty. the amount of instruments that are available for a righty outweigh doing what feels natural.

trust me on this...or enjoy paying stupid mark-ups for the identical instrument strung upside down...and have more fun trying to sell that instrument.

it's a right handed world...stop fighting it, learn things righty and then freak them all out when you drive to the left when playing basketball.

[theshadow2001]

Originally Posted by cosmicevan

i know everyone keeps saying to do what feels natural, but that's a no brainer...what's natural is to hold it as a lefty.

i've said it before and i'll say it again...learn righty. It will eventually feel natural. like i mentioned in my previous post, when i started i couldn't even hold it righty. now i can't hold it lefty. she is in the unique position of having no habits to break...start off on the right foot and learn how to play as a righty. the amount of instruments that are available for a righty outweigh doing what feels natural.

trust me on this...or enjoy paying stupid mark-ups for the identical instrument strung upside down...and have more fun trying to sell that instrument.

it's a right handed world...stop fighting it, learn things righty and then freak them all out when you drive to the left when playing basketball.

I don't believe in making it more difficult on myself to learn the instrument backwards. I was already a lefty guitar player when I started. At what point is it acutally worth it to be a righty? When your technique suffers? When you have trouble doing slap lines since the rythmically dominant hand is on the fretboard. How well would you have played if you stuck with being a lefty are you actually at your full potential inspite of playing against your nature?

I don't have intentions in selling basses. I see it as fruitless and full of hassle to be constantly buying and selling instruments. I buy quality instruments that I like and stick to them(same with amps). I don't believe I was charged any extra for my left handed musicman sterling.(Or Possibly £30 I'm not sure either way it wasn't lot of money). I'm not tempted by gas as much. I cut out a lot of mid range mediocre stuff that isn't bad but isn't good either, from my choice of basses. I can play guitar and bass upside down (not as well as the other way round but I could still hold my own) No one wants to borrow my instruments yet I can play theirs. Surplus charges although not a fantastic thing to have are just as normal as paying tax for you. Because I'm not buying a bass everyday of the week it doesn't bother me too much.

In fact there has only been 1 time in 6 years of playing guitar and bass that I regretted being left handed. Which was a fleeting moment as well. Other than that I have never wished that I was right handed nor regretted my left handedness. It was just the normal thing to do for me.

[Pneuma]

Originally Posted by theshadow2001

I don't have intentions in selling basses. I see it as fruitless and full of hassle to be constantly buying and selling instruments. I buy quality instruments that I like and stick to them(same with amps). I don't believe I was charged any extra for my left handed musicman sterling.(Or Possibly £30 I'm not sure either way it wasn't lot of money). I'm not tempted by gas as much. I cut out a lot of mid range mediocre stuff that isn't bad but isn't good either, from my choice of basses. I can play guitar and bass upside down (not as well as the other way round but I could still hold my own) No one wants to borrow my instruments yet I can play theirs. Surplus charges although not a fantastic thing to have are just as normal as paying tax for you. Because I'm not buying a bass everyday of the week it doesn't bother me too much.

I lean in the same direction of opinion. Yes, it's a shame that she wouldn't be able to go to a shop and beat around on all the gear. But, if she was a better player for it, I think it'd be worth it. The extra $75 or so for the instrument isn't terrible, as long as she really WOULD play better that way. I mean, people here drop $150 to make sure their knobs match their tops. It seems like you wouldn't be any worse off if you instead put that money into making you a more competent player (by virture of the lefty instrument).

Thanks,

P.

[cosmicevan]

don't get me wrong. i LOVE being a lefty...in fact, i'm not a true lefty, i'm ambidextrous, but lefty dominant. for you, don't switch to learning righty...once you start you've already started devleoping habits, which is why i preach to start off learning righty.

it sounds like you had no problems with lefty instruments, but as a musician (especially as a bassist since we seem to be in short supply) i have a ton of firends who play instruments and some of them are lefty's who play left-handed. i've heard them bitch about having to pay more for instruments and i've seen them get left out of an open jam since they didn't have their instrument around. it's like playing baseball...when you are the only lefty around and don't have your mitt, you either catch bare-handed or you don't play. if you can't sing, then you are asking for trouble at open jams if you don't have your axe with you. and what if you decide down the road that you want to pick up guitar for fun...finding a cheap lefty guitar is tougher than finding a cheap righty guitar.

honestly, i don't think that the hand you use makes you a better player or not...i think that is all up to practice time. sure, you may be able to play a groove sooner in your learning if you do what feels more 'natural' but in the long run, you'll be just as good no matter which way you learn as long as you practice. learning righty simply puts a larger barrier in place for getting a feel for the instrument. i was over that hurdle pretty quickly and believe me when i say i couldn't even hold the instrument righty when i started.


basically in a nutshell...what i'm saying is if you are first starting out, it is my opinion that it is worth the extra practice hours to learn righty then go with what feels more natural. after all, it feels pretty natural to me to go to the bathroom outside, yet i still wait in line for the bathroom.

please let us know which route you/your student went and why.

[MO542]

Originally Posted by Pneuma

Ok, so a friend of mine wanted me to teach them to play. I'm not a stellar player by any means, but I'm the only person they know that plays and I'm cheap (free).

So, we've been working on it the past couple months with hand dexterity, positions, scales and whatnot.

Here's the thing, she's left handed, and has been learning righty. It's not too bad on slower songs, but on the faster stuff she's having trouble because her right hand isn't keeping up.

I'm debating having her flip the thing over, reversing the strings, and trying it that way for a while. I figure if it works, great, and some day she'll just have to invest some more money in a real left handed instrument.

I know this will be somewhat of a reset, and we'll be doing a lot of stuff over again. But I realize how much of a problem I would've had trying to go opposite, and I don't want to handicap her by assuming that she'll just work it out over time.

I mean, I know I'll have to reset the intonation and bridge height, maybe redo the nut, and it might sound a bit different because of the pickup, but I figure that ain't too big a deal for now.

Anyone got any advice on this? Am I helping or hurting here?

Thanks,

P.

I’m a lefty that learned to play right handed. I’m also not ambidextrous at all; I do everything left handed (except for bass). I really think that it is a mental thing because you use both hands either way. In fact, the reason I choose to play right handed was because my left hand is more agile than my right; thus my fretting hand is faster. I’m not up on the history, but I really don’t understand why playing right handed means fretting with your left and plucking with your right; seems kind of arbitrary to me.

Anyhow, my point is that I really think that it is probably a mental thing. She is left handed so she thinks that she has to play that way. But in the end you have to use both hands and there are difficult things to do with both. I think it is worth her time to learn (conform) to the dark side , but in the end she has to do what is most comfortable.

[iplaybassguitar]

that seems like kind of an obvious one right?

have her play whatever way feels better and easier

[teedub]

Just to add a little something....

The fact that I'm a lefty hasn't hindered a thing, in fact, I think of it as a blessing. I had an Ibanez SR800 for years that was just fine. When I decided that I wanted a more hearty and personal instrument, I had one made for me. It, hopefully, will be my #1 for the rest of my years. I don't find myself GASsing for basses, and consequently, don't spend my hard-earned dollars buying and selling basses. I'd like a fretless, but that's where my arsenal will end.

What I'm getting at, is that in the long run, it may actually SAVE her money. There are companies that do lefty basses at no extra charge (Ernie Ball, Warwick), but the urge to have many just isn't as plausible.

And I know there are some lefties on the boards that DO have numerous basses, and that's cool too. I've just never been able to find any, so I don't really crave them.

[slybass3000]

Well, I believe there is a natural position for everybody on bass. I'm kind of righty in almost everything but sports. I'm mixed up between right and left depending on the position BUT for bass,it was natural for me to pick up the bass on the left side and I still don't know why. I learned the instrument really fast and I can play on a right bass if I have too but on the left side. There is no way I would be able to play the other way around because it just doesn't feel natural at all. Yes, it is true that you don't have acces to the same amount of basses on the market but there are some and some good ones too. You just have to look for it. In my case I have mines custom build for me and I really enjoy that.

I suggest that you make your friend try both ways at first and ask her what feels more natural for her. I'm sure she'll be more confortable on a particular side and this is very important (I think,it was for me anyway).

SB

[Jim Carr]

I think the important thing is that she has already started one way.
Keep it that way.

It will not hinder her to play right-handed, and switching will waste effort,
she probably needs to work on left-hand technique. Many left-
handed players play right-handed, me included. i consider it an advantage!

Also---staying RHed will really help her if she wants to learn
String Bass later.

Just be the best teacher you can be, focus on gettng the left hand up
to speed, and pass her on to someone you respect when the time
comes. Just my $00.02

[slybass3000]

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

I think the important thing is that she has already started one way.
Keep it that way.

Sorry Jim but I totally disagree with this. If the person feels more natural the other way around she will be able to learn faster,play better and faster,more precise and have more fun with it.

SB

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by slybass3000

Sorry Jim but I totally disagree with this. If the person feels more natural the other way around she will be able to learn faster,play better and faster,more precise and have more fun with it.

SB

That's OK. You may be right.

When I started, I had already studied piano (no options for lh vs. rh
there for sure) and french horn (same). I didn't know (in 1963!!!) that
there was such a thing as left-handed basses (only baseball
mitts).

The horn valves are fingered with the left. That seemed great to me,
as a lefty, but what about the 83% of all horn players who are
right-handed?

My point is that given that she has experience, seems to me the focus
might be more about making music while improving what she is doing.
Most of my students find right-hand speed harder, because IMHO, it is.
That is because those fingers move more often and faster. That
doesn't mean they can't be just as good as the right. Think of great
pianists--they use each hand equally. And what about orchestral
violinists? They all play right handed!

If there were no such thing as right-handed basses, we would all still
play. It might take a little longer for us to learn the skills needed by
our left-hands or right-hands, but we would all learn.

Pianists and horn players rise to the highest levels, regardless of their
handedness.

Having not seen or heard her, it is probably wrong for us to think we
know what is best for her.....