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Lefties: What do you gain?
- Thread starter aikakone
- Start date
Just a point about some classical instruments - all stringed instruments are right handed because if all players need to be orientated in the same direction, otherwise, a left handed violin player would stab the person to their right with their bow. As for brass or woodwind instruments, I'm assuming because they use both hands for a similar purpose it has little effect which hand is dominant. I think no-one can be bothered to make a left handed piano...
Lefties: What do you gain?
lefty's gain nothing if you are referring to bassplayers playing lefty.
your topic is not about cost or availability. it is not about "I'm righthanded/lefthanded and play lefty/righty" stuff.
whatever lefty/righty basses --- you all play them the same way. /pick/fingers/pop/slap/muting...it's all the same.
now as far as pick/fingers/pop/slap/muting for upsidedown players...although it may sound the same, the technique (especially muting ) is VERY different, my point being considered just as valid, if a righthander played a lefty bass upside down..
( being lefty never stopped anyone from picking me to be their bassplayer )
as to flintlocks great post...there are times where the SHOW, metal to Mozart, has to have the correct orientation, or it just won't work.
lefty's gain nothing if you are referring to bassplayers playing lefty.
your topic is not about cost or availability. it is not about "I'm righthanded/lefthanded and play lefty/righty" stuff.
whatever lefty/righty basses --- you all play them the same way. /pick/fingers/pop/slap/muting...it's all the same.
now as far as pick/fingers/pop/slap/muting for upsidedown players...although it may sound the same, the technique (especially muting ) is VERY different, my point being considered just as valid, if a righthander played a lefty bass upside down..
( being lefty never stopped anyone from picking me to be their bassplayer )
as to flintlocks great post...there are times where the SHOW, metal to Mozart, has to have the correct orientation, or it just won't work.
I think you answered your own question. We play lefty because it's more natural for us.
Simple as this: try throwing a baseball with your non-dominant hand. Sucks doesn't it?
Actually, no, it doesn't, but I wouldn't call myself typical.
And my question was real, not about getting gigs but if playing a different way actually leads to technical advantages somehow. For example, one of my best friends (a lefty, natch) plays trumpet (right hand fingers operate the valves) and guitar. He has said that for him, it's easier to play the guitar standard because his best dexterity is in his left hand, the place that for him would be most needed for fingering.
It's only a can of worms because some people are offended by even being asked, not that my question had rude intentions.
Well, I am the only person I have come across who is Right handed for writing and plays left handed guitar and bass!!
For years I fiddled around with right handed guitars, sometimes trying to learn them right way up, sometimes holding them left handed - I guess as a kid I picked up a guitar the wrong way round and started to play. Never got very far (strings wrong way up made it v awkward - never owned my own guitar) but when I bought my own guitar I decided to buy a leftie....and it just felt so right! (excuse the pun).
I've heard about the dominant hand attacking the strings and the "ballerina" on the frets...but I also play piano and the left hand does a load of rhythym stuff there which means again that it seems natural (to me) to use that on the strings and to "solo" on the frets with my right.
On the other hand I also kick predominantly with my left foot so maybe I am just weird!
For years I fiddled around with right handed guitars, sometimes trying to learn them right way up, sometimes holding them left handed - I guess as a kid I picked up a guitar the wrong way round and started to play. Never got very far (strings wrong way up made it v awkward - never owned my own guitar) but when I bought my own guitar I decided to buy a leftie....and it just felt so right! (excuse the pun).
I've heard about the dominant hand attacking the strings and the "ballerina" on the frets...but I also play piano and the left hand does a load of rhythym stuff there which means again that it seems natural (to me) to use that on the strings and to "solo" on the frets with my right.
On the other hand I also kick predominantly with my left foot so maybe I am just weird!
wow tizerdog this was a dead thread, but thank you for reviving it, cause this was a good thread when it was chatting.
and if you are weird join the crowd
, because I never stopped playing inverted, and years later it didn't matter. Once I learned the neck I could play lefty-normal, but from years of inverted, I only play lefty normal to show off.Jeff Schmidt is not my "HERO" as far as who I idolized when I was beginning but he sure loves to jam on his inverted string 6 stringed lefty bass and made a hell of a carrear out of it. Same with Man Kidal from Vietnam IIRC, another inverted lefty guitar player and have watched many of their videos.
As a former teacher (I'm a right BTW) I always advised students to play what we call "right-handed". Why?
A. You avoid the ubiquitious 20% surcharge for being a lefty. How many basses are available left-handed? And how many used ones?
B. When you start playing, EVERYTHING is awkward, so using that as an excuse isn't valid.
C. You have the ability to pick up any bass sitting around. That can be very valuable for learning stuff from others.
There was an article in Guitar Player Magazine decades ago (before Bass Player existed, let alone the "net, TB, etc.). discussing this very topic. And there's actually quite a few left-handed famous guitarists who play righty. Glen Campbell and George Van Eps are two I recall off the top of my head (and I've heard that either Satch or Vai are, but I've not seen anything from them so I won't vouch for the accuracy of that) who are GREAT guitarists. And both said that playing righty was one of the smartest things they've ever done.
Besides, there aren't many left handed violinist, cellists, etc. playing orchestral music. And I've never heard of a left-handed piano, sax, trumpet, or glockenspeil
Sorry, I just can't let this one go. This is just plain... don't know what word to use here......
It's just simply moronic to think left-handed persons should play right-handed just because they're a minority and that all the rest of us, who are right-handed, seem to think our way is the "established" way to play.
Also, just because there're so few LH instruments available also in no way changes basic facts about human anatomy. That's just ridiculous.
It is also NOT the case that beginners can't distinguish handed-ness when they first pick up a bass. This is simply nonsense. Virtually anyone's handedness can be determined by simply handing them a bass and seeing what orientation they naturally assume. If they just naturally put the neck in their left hand, they should play that way. If they naturally put the neck in their right hand, that's how they should play.
SOME persons are ambidextrous and can play either way. But this does NOT characterize most left-handed persons any more than it does right-handed persons. This is just so basic......
If you're left handed, you should play LEFT HANDED. If you're righty, you should play RIGHTY. If you're ambidextrous, you should play the way that's comfortable. That goes for everyone.
There are lots of places to get LH instruments. You can even order them from Fender. Trying to adopt an incorrect playing method using instrument availability as an excuse is a terrible, ignorant thing to do. Don't do that! That's dumb dumb dumb!
The player/student comes FIRST, the instrument second after that. Never try to force a square into a round hole.
If the instrument is incorrect, you adapt the INSTRUMENT, not the PLAYER. The other way around is the dark-ages thinking of classically trained musicians who go around professing idiocy like "electric guitars are not real guitars" and other such backwards, medieval silliness.
Just Say No!
Ok, rant over. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.
LS
Besides the other points other folks have made... Classical music is not noted for being progressive or open-minded. It's pretty vacuous of originality and even good manners as well (how many of these pinnacles of classical music write and perform their own stuff? Especially compared to our genres?). Great bunch of guys and gals they are.
Wouldn't be surprised that there're a lot of "closet" left-handed classical guitar students out there struggling with an incorrect right-handed instrument that we just don't hear about because of this conservatism.
I think the freedom from medieval thinking that we enjoy in popular music is part of what has given rise to LH instruments. Carvin, for example, offers lefty versions of everything they make to my knowledge. Most other manufacturers aren't as upfront with their lefty models, but they are generally available.
I think even Rickenbacker still makes lefty 4003's.....
LS
Modern electric guitars and basses evolved from the acoustic stringed instruments of centuries past. Because of the nature of the music at the time, the left (weaker) hand was used to fret chords while the right (stronger) hand was engaged in the more important role of picking out melodies, outlining arpeggios, muting strings and all the other subtleties expected of musicians. Fingerstyle playing was ubiquitous and many musicians often employed thumb picks and multiple finger picks if they didn't just use their specifically groomed fingernails.
With the advent of the electric guitar, music has changed to where it's often the left hand that has more work to do. Most guitarists of popular music genres use one single pick held between the thumb and index finger and this is a good illustration of just how little the right hand has to work - in contrast with the left hand which is now expected to be all over the place and with mind numbing speed. If we were to invent electric guitars all over again from scratch, we would almost certainly make them so that we fretted with our stronger hand and picked/strummed with the weaker.
The electric bass has evolved from its acoustic ancestors in a different way from the guitar in that the bass used to be a one trick pony - all it needed to do was outline the root of the chord - this doesn't require a lot of dexterity from either hand. If you're talking about a bowed bass, then the right hand has more work to do compared to the left - same as the traditional guitar. But now the function of the bass has diversified so much that you may want either your fretting hand or your plucking hand to be stronger - or both. This varies greatly with the style of music being played. Heavy metal and funk benefit greatly from a strong fretting hand.
I seems natural to me to assume that someone would want to know ahead of time what style of music they will be playing and what their approach is to the instrument will be before learning on one that favors one hand or the other in terms of fretting to plucking strings. Most people don't have this luxury and either default to a traditional right handed instrument because it's what's available or else they buy a left handed one simply because they think they're a lefty so they should get one.
As for me, I'm a natural lefty but I play a traditional right handed bass, simply because that was the bass that was lent to me at the time I was learning. I think I'm better off because of it now, as having a strong fretting hand that I've purposely developed for speed, versatility and dexterity has given me a signature sound and I can really let it rip in a heavy metal style that I enjoy so much. I can do fret work that most bassists can't do but the tradeoff is my right hand is relative crap and I struggle to utilize techniques that other bass players have long ago mastered with ease. I'm resigned to the fact that I will never be any more than barely adequate at using a pick, for example.
But you asked what is to be gained by a lefty using a left handed bass. The simple answer is: if the music style calls for a lot of plucking/picking articulation, finesse or speed as compared to fretting technique then a lot is to be gained by doing it that way.
With the advent of the electric guitar, music has changed to where it's often the left hand that has more work to do. Most guitarists of popular music genres use one single pick held between the thumb and index finger and this is a good illustration of just how little the right hand has to work - in contrast with the left hand which is now expected to be all over the place and with mind numbing speed. If we were to invent electric guitars all over again from scratch, we would almost certainly make them so that we fretted with our stronger hand and picked/strummed with the weaker.
The electric bass has evolved from its acoustic ancestors in a different way from the guitar in that the bass used to be a one trick pony - all it needed to do was outline the root of the chord - this doesn't require a lot of dexterity from either hand. If you're talking about a bowed bass, then the right hand has more work to do compared to the left - same as the traditional guitar. But now the function of the bass has diversified so much that you may want either your fretting hand or your plucking hand to be stronger - or both. This varies greatly with the style of music being played. Heavy metal and funk benefit greatly from a strong fretting hand.
I seems natural to me to assume that someone would want to know ahead of time what style of music they will be playing and what their approach is to the instrument will be before learning on one that favors one hand or the other in terms of fretting to plucking strings. Most people don't have this luxury and either default to a traditional right handed instrument because it's what's available or else they buy a left handed one simply because they think they're a lefty so they should get one.
As for me, I'm a natural lefty but I play a traditional right handed bass, simply because that was the bass that was lent to me at the time I was learning. I think I'm better off because of it now, as having a strong fretting hand that I've purposely developed for speed, versatility and dexterity has given me a signature sound and I can really let it rip in a heavy metal style that I enjoy so much. I can do fret work that most bassists can't do but the tradeoff is my right hand is relative crap and I struggle to utilize techniques that other bass players have long ago mastered with ease. I'm resigned to the fact that I will never be any more than barely adequate at using a pick, for example.
But you asked what is to be gained by a lefty using a left handed bass. The simple answer is: if the music style calls for a lot of plucking/picking articulation, finesse or speed as compared to fretting technique then a lot is to be gained by doing it that way.
Holy crap, what a sweet thread.
Okay, I use a fork and chopsticks with my left hand. If there's a knife involved, I eat left-handed "continental" style with the knife in my left hand. Writing happens with my left hand.
I'm sure I could throw a ball further with my left hand. But for tossing things in the trash from less than 20ft, either will do. Scissors are okay in either hand. I would never handle a knife in my right hand, for safety.
I'm almost positive I began playing guitar righty because I was emulating Joe Perry of Aerosmith. God forbid I'd emulated Kurt Cobain; he was around when I was impressionable.
The thing of it is, even though I would never consider playing lefty, I find myself expressing rhythms (when I'm on the train or something) with my left hand, as if it's plucking strings. I feel like "Hey man, that's unnatural!" Maybe it comes from my lefthand technique. Who knows? I think lefthanded instruments look NUTS!
Okay, I use a fork and chopsticks with my left hand. If there's a knife involved, I eat left-handed "continental" style with the knife in my left hand. Writing happens with my left hand.
I'm sure I could throw a ball further with my left hand. But for tossing things in the trash from less than 20ft, either will do. Scissors are okay in either hand. I would never handle a knife in my right hand, for safety.
I'm almost positive I began playing guitar righty because I was emulating Joe Perry of Aerosmith. God forbid I'd emulated Kurt Cobain; he was around when I was impressionable.
The thing of it is, even though I would never consider playing lefty, I find myself expressing rhythms (when I'm on the train or something) with my left hand, as if it's plucking strings. I feel like "Hey man, that's unnatural!" Maybe it comes from my lefthand technique. Who knows? I think lefthanded instruments look NUTS!
I am a right-handed person who plays bass leftie.
Reason is that my left wrist is sort of deformed? So I can't play righty because I can't grip the neck. Weird thing is, it seems I was born a lefty guitarist because when I grabbed my first guitar, I chose a lefty instead of choosing a righty and noticing i have have to convert to a lefty.
Anyways, back to your question. No, I don't think lefties gain any advantages to righties when it comes to lefty instruments. Because to a righty, a righty instrument would make sense. To some lefties like me, lefty instruments make sense. Hope that sort of helped.
Reason is that my left wrist is sort of deformed? So I can't play righty because I can't grip the neck. Weird thing is, it seems I was born a lefty guitarist because when I grabbed my first guitar, I chose a lefty instead of choosing a righty and noticing i have have to convert to a lefty.
Anyways, back to your question. No, I don't think lefties gain any advantages to righties when it comes to lefty instruments. Because to a righty, a righty instrument would make sense. To some lefties like me, lefty instruments make sense. Hope that sort of helped.
now that makes sense. in fact, when you consider bowed string instruments, the argument applies there as well: bow technique is such a huge part of playing, and is harder to "get" at first, so it was likely natural for the first bow players in the mists of history to grab the bow with the dominant hand. once the convention was established, there it was.
for beginning guitar players, maybe it's just that holding a pick is "hard", so they naturally grab it with the dominant hand. perhaps in the mind of the beginner, the fretting part is just not as immediately "grasped" as the "hitting the strings to make sound" part, so the dominant hand goes to hit the strings, leaving the "choosing which note to hit" part to be learned "later".
i've also wondered a lot about this, as i'm a lefty who plays righty. there weren't any left-handed cellos in my 5th-grade orchestra class, so i learned string instruments righty from the beginning.
i will say it always felt natural to me that way regardless; in fact, i can remind myself what being a rank beginner feels like by holding a lefty guitar. my fingers just won't work right to fret a chord or hold a pick!
Lefty playing right hand basses here. Use right hand for throwing stuff and the pc mouse, other than that I use left hand for everything else. When writing with right hand, it looks like a 4 year olds writing, half of the characters end up being backwards.
Can't use normal everyday tools that are designed for right hand.
When I played a bit of guitar a few years back, I played on a left hand guitar, but have always played right hand bass. It just feels right that way, like playing Quake, alternate between the two mouse buttons (like plucking the strings) with right hand, and left on the keyboard (fretboard) moving quickly from side to side/up and down.
benne^
Can't use normal everyday tools that are designed for right hand.
When I played a bit of guitar a few years back, I played on a left hand guitar, but have always played right hand bass. It just feels right that way, like playing Quake, alternate between the two mouse buttons (like plucking the strings) with right hand, and left on the keyboard (fretboard
) moving quickly from side to side/up and down.benne^
Do any lefties here actually think they gain anything from playing left-handed?
It's really the contrary. It's a major inconvenience and a costly one at that.
I dont think we "gain" anything but for people who are dominantly left-handed like myself, I have no other choice. I know it severely restricts the amount of stringed instruments I can play but Im not going to let my musical ability suffer because of that. When I first picked up a guitar I held it left handed. Playing righty was never an option. Its just the same as if you tried to turn your guitars around and play. Yes I hate no being able to go into the guitar shops and play around but I also like the "rarity" of being a left-handed player and a left-handed bass player at that.
Well it's not what a lefty gians playing right handed, it's what he doesn't lose. There is a reason we do things left or right handed and going against that will hinder your playing.
What we do is controlled by the neurons sending messages from the brain. Not playing the way nature directs you to play will only make sure you can never live up to your potential.
Sure you can learn to play, but your going against instinct, your adding additional misalignment from your ear to your hands and you will never have the complete hand cordination you think you do.
The plucking hand, the dominant hand does the hard work. It contols tempo, tone, feel. It's what defines your sound.
Sure playing left handed narrows down your bass choices, but it's not about status it's about playing.
Regardless how much you diet or exercise some folks just shouldn't try to wear them tight skinny jeans. Some women don't have the booty they want. It's nature and nature says you should play left handed,then play left handed
Andy
