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Lefties why didn't you start playing a righty?

#281
Leftie here... But when i was buying my first bass i bought a right handed bass... My theory behind it was that my dominate hand is left, I probably want my dominated hand on the neck as it does more...

Then i started to play slap, yeah, plucking strings with right hand is no problem, slap however just doesn't feel natural... I think with practice i will get it but i am also thinking about going to store and trying out some left handed bass... It sounds stupid but after 3 years of playing right hand I might switch and start over again. I am still not sure, I think i can get it with practice though... :(
 
#282
After reading through some more, I got to thinking about different instruments and the fact that some, (eg; the bassoon, for one, which I studied in college), do not offer the option to get instruments based on left or right-handed use. Maybe it's just a great thing that the bass industry actually does offer the option to pick what you want/need to do the job!:)

Let the debate continue, but it all boils down to what is the best for the individual, and also the easiest. Some left-handed players here have mentioned that they play right-handed with no problem and others say they found it difficult for quite a while until they got used to it. Why beat yourself up when there's a left-handed bass just waiting for you to lay your hands on it?!:bassist:
Thanks out there to all those companies that give us the option!:D

Now, on with the show...;)
 
#283
One Drop said:
There is one issue that has not been addressed which might be more germaine to this discussion than the some of the ones brought up so far.

When we are fretting an instrument, we are not merely performing a random mechanical motion, we are in fact creating music; playing melodies, playing notes that fall within a musical/mathematical structure, looking for harmonies or dissonances with the instruments and voices we are accompanying. I believe we lead with the fretting hand and the plucking hand follows, though I'm not certain of this, it just feels so. This would explain why instruments are traditionally configured this way better than a simple mechanistic view concerning digital skill.

In other words, our brains are not merely manipulating our fingers randomly or due to memorized pattern but doing so as a means of manually translating tones and melodies we create to the fretboard via mechanical operations.

When we speak of muscle memory we are more accurately speaking of neurological pathways that increase due to practice or mental imaging, thus it is really a mental process as much as a physical one. This illustrates the importance of the brain's function in playing an instrument, and we all know how the brain operates as two sides of a hemisphere that communicate with each other.

Looking at the situation in this light makes it easier to consider that there might very well be more to the issue of left or right hand preference for fretting an instrument than simple questions of manual dexterity.

Left or right hand dominance is a result of how the two sides of the brain interact and of how impulses are tramsmitted to the parts of the body.
Click to expand...


This touches on things that I don't think anyone in the thread has really considered so far... like the fact that people are not only left- or right-HAND dominant, but also left- or right-BRAIN dominant in various ways.

For example, language and speech capacity are usually centered in people's left brain hemispheres, which also control the right side of the body. The typical righty player is thus presumably placing the plucking duties on the same side of the brain that is also doing most of the work in singing lyrics or reading music. Beyond questions of right-vs.-left-hand dexterity, how might that player's playing be affected if he chose to play "lefty" instead of "righty", pairing his linguistics brainwork with fretting duty, rather than plucking?

Would singing while playing get easier or harder? Would he come up with different riffs while composing? There may be many more choices implicit in your selection of guitar orientation than simply how easy it will be for you to fret vs. pluck.

One reason I chose to play lefty (even though I am a RIGHTY) is because I liked the reasoning of putting my strong hand on fingering. But another reason was that I wanted to be a weird player, and I thought maybe switching up my brain hemispheres like that would help make my playing distinctive in some way. Of course, since it's not possible to retroactively make the opposite choice, I'll never know for sure what difference my decision made. But I'm satisfied with it, even if I'm annoyed a bit by lefty selection and resale issues.
 
#284
Jagdmusik said:
This touches on things that I don't think anyone in the thread has really considered so far... like the fact that people are not only left- or right-HAND dominant, but also left- or right-BRAIN dominant in various ways.
Click to expand...

I've heard recently that us lefties actually use both sides of the brain almost equally.

Here are a couple of articles describing how left handed people's brains work more efficiantly:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20061207/ai_n16894408
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6212972.stm

An excerpt from one of those articles--
"Dr Cherbuin explained that people tended to use both hemispheres for tasks which are very fast or very hard and which require interpretation of a lot of information, such as computer games or driving in heavy traffic or playing sport.

Chartered psychologist, Dr Steve Williams said left-handed people tended to be better at using both sides of the brain. "

Funny, I sure don't feel efficiant when my righty scissor handles dig in my hand, or when I smudge my (clunky) handwriting!
For the record I use a right-handed mouse
 
#286
RLK said:


I've heard recently that us lefties actually use both sides of the brain almost equally.

Here are a couple of articles describing how left handed people's brains work more efficiantly.

A couple of related articles;

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20061207/ai_n16894408
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6212972.stm

An excerpt from one of those articles--
"Dr Cherbuin explained that people tended to use both hemispheres for tasks which are very fast or very hard and which require interpretation of a lot of information, such as computer games or driving in heavy traffic or playing sport.

Chartered psychologist, Dr Steve Williams said left-handed people tended to be better at using both sides of the brain. "

Funny, I sure don't feel efficiant when my righty scissor handles dig in my hand, or when I smudge my (clunky) handwriting!
For the record I use a right-handed mouse
Click to expand...

That would make sense, since in many situations they're forced to work righthanded.
 
#289
Just wanted to chime in...the guitarist in my first band (who was a great musician) was left handed, and did everything lefty, except play.
When he was young and wanted to learn guitar, his parents figured he wouldnt stick with it and didnt want to hunt down or pay more for a lefty, so he learned to play righty on a righty guitar. He was able to fret notes like a maniac and play things that required a lot of dexterity. It is possible to train a "brand new" musician to be comfortable playing left or right handed on a string instrument i guess.
 
#290
Brad Johnson said:
No, we don't. Not as dominant hands.
Click to expand...

Sure, but what does dominant mean really? AFAIK all you do with your "dominant" hand is use it more than the other, but thats it. Your left hand still gets a work out, and while it may not be stronger in terms of strength, it can have more dexterity. I know my left hand can spread much wider than my right personally.
 
#291
morf said:
Sure, but what does dominant mean really? AFAIK all you do with your "dominant" hand is use it more than the other, but thats it. Your left hand still gets a work out, and while it may not be stronger in terms of strength, it can have more dexterity. I know my left hand can spread much wider than my right personally.
Click to expand...

Okay, I guess I use my right hand "more" when I'm writing.

Think.
 
#292
Re using both sides of the brain: That's very interesting research, it makes sense to me as well. We know that our brains aren't hard-wired at birth and that a lot of the neural connections and pathways are created from use. This continues through a person's life, but the majority of connections are made when young.
 
#294
I must be a really weird guy:
- I write and eat with my left hand although I'm able to use a knife with both hands (equal dexterity).
- I play bass/guitar the right way (pun intended :D ).
- I kick the ball (soccer) with both feet, my left kick is slightly more powerful while my right kick is slightly more precise.
- I can't use the scissors with my left hand.
- I play bowling with my right hand, although I can also use my left (not so well).
- I play ping-pong with both hands. As a kid I used to play much better with my left hand, but I started playing with my right hand to give a little advantage to my sisters and I play much better with my right hand now.

In sort, I think that I'm 50% lefty, 20% righty, 30% ambidextrous.

Regarding bass playing, I understand the OP point of view. I can't remember how I felt the first time I picked an instrument, but I don't feel any limitations being a lefty paying the 'right' way.

By the way, Garry Willis is also a lefty that plays righty.
 
#297
morf said:
Sure, but when you're playing bass, dexterity wise, you use the left hand more.
Click to expand...

And how did you draw this conclusion... just an assumption?
How do I use my right hand when playing?
:hmm:


And try to remember this tangent sprang from this statement by you: "If you think about it though, so are right handed people. We kinda use both hands for almost everything".

I still disagree... we don't use both hands for almost everything. That would describe my right hand, not both hands.
 
#299
Brad Johnson said:
I still disagree... we don't use both hands for almost everything. That would describe my right hand, not both hands.
Click to expand...

+1

And morf, to reiterate one of the points of my earlier posts... just because both hands are involved in a task doesn't mean they're doing the same kind of work. Nor does it mean that they're conveniently interchangeable for each part of the job, even with hand retraining.
 

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