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leftys who play right

#2
Interesting question. I am right-handed, but my son is almost completely lefty. Up until a few days ago, I thought he only thing he did right handed was swing a baseball bat. but just a few days ago, he told me that he could not fret with his right hand, so if he were to take up bass or g*****r, he would have to play righty. When he went into a music storre, a left handed salesman recommended that if he decided to play guitar, to play right handed because the lefty guitars were more expensive and not as available.

A week or so ago, I was told that a lot of right handed children pick up a guitar and think that they should use their dominant had on the neck and, therefore, try to play lefty.

Finally, I saw a musician play a 12 string g****r lefty without restringing it. I didn't think too much of it until a mutual acquaintance wt at my table and told me that he is not left handed.

This had nothing to do with your post, did it?

Go figure.
 
#5
I'm a lefty that plays righty. I've never felt that I'm being held back because of playing righty. As far as slapping goes, very early on I started double bouncing with my thumb. The only thing I ever felt holding me back on slapping was a lack of knowing licks to play.
 
#6
PastorofMuppets said:
thanks

why do you disguise guitar ?/
Click to expand...

yea im sick of people doing that here.


but anyway, im a lefty who plays right. i dont know why. its just comfortable. however there is some myth that the person who created the first guitar type instrument was left handed, leaving the complicated part for the left hand, and everyone else just followed now everyone plays left handed but they dont know it.
also there is a thread about this. and in that thread i believe there is a link to an article related to what i just mentioned.

EDIT: o yea, i dont think being a lefty who plays right has hampered my slapping ability. except for that last five taps of the solo on tommy the cat. my right hand just cant pull that off. my left can. WARNING: you may not want to read this next part... i told my friend(a drummer) about this dilema and he had a similar problem in which his dominant hand was faster than the other. his suggestion?(which worked for him apparently) masturbate with your other hand.

and in all seriousness. i feel two things have really improved my right hand slapping speed. 1. immitating fast, rhythmic guitar parts(fall of troy, dragonforce, jack sing (my band! check us out myspace.com/jacksing, sorry for the shameful plug) which usually takes place in my car against my steering wheel or seat belt and 2. an excessive amount of Guitar Hero.
 
#7
im a lefty who plays right. when i first started playing guitar i played right. it was really difficult for me. it seemed so much easier to play with a lefty guitar, but i had a righty so i learned righty. ive been playing guitar for about four years and bass for about a year and a half. my slapping/pick-work/playing seems fine to me, but i often think that if i were to have played lefty, which felt more natural, that id be much faster. it may just all be in my head, but i think that my speed suffers greatly due to playing righty.

oh, and to answer your question ive never heard of a righty playing left, but ive heard of plenty of lefties playing right. many do to insufficiant funds.
then again theres people like jimmi who switch strings around... i wish i wouldve known that when i started playing.

reading over this i dont think i helped you at all, but i typed it out so im posting :hyper:
 
#8
rockwarnick said:
WARNING: you may not want to read this next part... i told my friend(a drummer) about this dilema and he had a similar problem in which his dominant hand was faster than the other. his suggestion?(which worked for him apparently) masturbate with your other hand.
Click to expand...

ha, i heard the same thing from a few drummers i know. im not so sure itd work for any guitar like instrument though. different kind of motion used in playing those (unless you jerk or play in a very interesting way. in whihc case id like to see. well, the playing, not the jerking.)

p.s. GUITAR GUITAR GUITAR. eff censorship:scowl:
 
#9
I was just talking about this with a good friend of mine that has been a guitar teacher for 40 years. He feels that there may be an advantage for lefties playing right - the fretting hand really needs the most skill and precision in many cases. He also named several very prominent guitar players that do this.

He NEVER recommends lefties buying left-hand guitars. Everything is harder to find - instruments, lessons, books, etc. He just teaches them rightie and everyone is happy so far.

Maybe it is us righties that are at the disadvantage.
 
#10
Gio S said:
I was just talking about this with a good friend of mine that has been a guitar teacher for 40 years. He feels that there may be an advantage for lefties playing right - the fretting hand really needs the most skill and precision in many cases. He also named several very prominent guitar players that do this.

Maybe it is us righties that are at the disadvantage.
Click to expand...

this may be true too. i feel like my fretting hand is faster than it would be if i were right handed.
i think the nonfretting hand has more difficult jobs though.
it seems to me that any style that has a difficult fretting hand job also has a difficult nonfretting hand job. however, i know theres pretty technical nonfretting hand jobs where the fretting hand can be doing pretty simple things.

p.s. i said hand job like 3 times. oooops.:p
 
#13
Ten some odd years ago, I was a young Automotive Machinist. A Cummins block broke it’s lifting sling, and I got stupid. My left hand was under the pan rail from the knuckles down. I didn’t lose any fingers but there were lots of broken bones. After a few surgeries, and some re-braking, things look and work much like they should…

I am a righty, play right, bat left, and ya, I do ‘that’ right sided too. LOL In another pastime, I shoot with a twin western rig. I was faster and more accurate with my left than my right, but I could twirl better right… Go figure. But here is what I am posting, to say…

When I started therapy for my left hand, one of my poker buddies showed me how to roll poker chips, to improve my dexterity. It was something I think he called ‘prestigious digitation’, something magicians do. I know it really helped the strength in my hands, and was cool to be able to do for fun too…

My thinking is that this may help someone build strength and dexterity in their ‘off hand’. So if you’re a lefty and play right, maybe this can help your brain and hand work better (more easily) together…

Any ideas there???

TDY :cool:
 
#14
Im a lefty who always has played right handed basses as well as guitars.When i got started with guitar there were no left hand motels anywhere i didnt even know they were made so i learned right. Does it effect my slap..maybe but since i dont do it or play that style ...who cares.
 
#18
AlphaMale said:
Isn't everyone's slapping a little bit slow? I'm a lefty who plays right and I have the fastest right hand out of anyone I know as far as fingers.
Click to expand...


my righthand fingerstyle speed is as fast as anybodies but its that slap motion that I cant get quite as fast as I would like.
I dont concentrate to much on it but i want to have a well rounded experience on bass and the ability to play most anything on any style

I can move my left thumb much faster than my right.
But i could never switch. It would be like starting completely over one the instrument. I have pretty good technique and trying to play left is impossible at this point
 
#19
Me - another lefty plays righty...I believe Steve Morse and Glen Campbell
two players known for articulation and speed in their picking are lefty play
righty boys. Had a young kid come to me about this issue - I could NOT
get him to believe that as a lefty he had any choice..He was convinced he
simply HAD to play lefty. Told him it was a lifetime of limited choices and
higher prices in guitars - and that I and a few others I know could personally
vouch for the fact you can go either way - but there was no talking to the lad.
I have no problems slapping, but never did get very good with a pick.
 

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