That is what I was thinking - my left hand is much nimble than my right and fretting with my right hand would have helped me learn more quickly - but I just stuck with a normal right-handed bass.
Dan K.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Lefties why didn't you start playing a righty?
- Thread starter KenToby
- Start date
That is what I was thinking - my left hand is much nimble than my right and fretting with my right hand would have helped me learn more quickly - but I just stuck with a normal right-handed bass.
Dan K.
My wife is convinced that the only reason that women's shirts button on the other side is an excuse to charge more!
Dan K
Mr. KenToby, I doubt that you'll ever get how wrong you are because you haven't got any life experience with being a lefty player. I wouldn't have kept playing if they made me play righty as a kid (oh and they tried!).
Because i feel much more comfortable and it feels much more natural to fret with my right and pluckwith my left.
I write right handed
Hit a baseball left handed
Throw a baseball right handed
My left handed hockey slap shot is more precise, but my right handed one has more power (I can switch indiscriminatently between both and fooled more than one goalie like this in my youth).
I play bass right handed.
I mas...no, that's on a need to know basis...
All of this is natural, and reversing any is awkwards. In theory it shouldn't matter which side is used learning something new, but in practice it does matter, just plain fact of life.
Hit a baseball left handed
Throw a baseball right handed
My left handed hockey slap shot is more precise, but my right handed one has more power (I can switch indiscriminatently between both and fooled more than one goalie like this in my youth).
I play bass right handed.
I mas...no, that's on a need to know basis...
All of this is natural, and reversing any is awkwards. In theory it shouldn't matter which side is used learning something new, but in practice it does matter, just plain fact of life.
I'm right handed so I don't have that problems haha...
No, really.. I think that the plucking hand is more important, becuse of slap and many other techniques that require accuracy
I'll try to learn to play lefty so I'll let you know. (at least it will help to develop 8 finger tapping)
No, really.. I think that the plucking hand is more important, becuse of slap and many other techniques that require accuracy
I'll try to learn to play lefty so I'll let you know. (at least it will help to develop 8 finger tapping)
yeah, just plucking with your dominant hand and doing all that complext stuff with your non-dominant hand? how much sense does that make?
I'm still convinced that you can teach a righty to play lefty and vice versa most of the time. I meet a lot of musicians who only do what others tell them they can do. I was determined to learn on a righty...and I did. If I were a betting man and had an abundance of free time*, I'd bet that I could relearn bass on a lefty.
I'm not denying that some players will never be able to play a righty. Though I suspect that there might have been resistance to learn it without being totally biased.
Yes, I know, someone is gonna get very ticked off at what I said, but I know a lot of musicians who say "can't" waaaay too much. In my book, if you're gonna use "can't", it needs to be followed immediately by "yet".
*free time is now gone because I closed on a house Friday, work as a hospital pharmacist, avid cyclist, in 2 bands, and have a girlfriend.
I'm left handed. Before I learned bass, I naturally thought I would have to play it left-handed. But I learned it right handed and it wasn't very complicated for me as a beginner. Now right-handed basses feel natural and left-handed basses don't.
Just FYI, people do set up orchestral instruments to be played left handed (they're fairly symmetrical usually, so they just change the bridge, nut, and strings). And there are keyboardists who play left handed (you can get little units that reverse the keyboard layout, so it goes high to low, left to right). There's even a guy who had a left handed grand piano custom made and says that he can play better with his dominant (left) hand on the melody side.
Even if you've never played an instrument before, a left-handed instrument might just feel more natural and ergonomic. I've even had a right-handed person (completely non-musical) pick up one of my basses upside down and start trying to play it. Just felt like that was the proper way to him.
Even if you've never played an instrument before, a left-handed instrument might just feel more natural and ergonomic. I've even had a right-handed person (completely non-musical) pick up one of my basses upside down and start trying to play it. Just felt like that was the proper way to him.
ummmm...welll....I'm left handed....
I throw left, bat left (or right)...play golf right...shoot right...play drums right...play bass and guitar right...use scissors right...eat left...use a hammer left...use a bow right...
I'M SO CONFUSED....lol
I'm messed up like that too. I throw, bat and catch left. Play guitar right, write & eat right, shoot pistols right, rifles left. Play tennis right, golf left. I tend to think that if left alone I would be left handed but was encouraged to do some things right handed so I ended up a mutt.
When I first picked up a guitar as a kid I tried to play it left handed but I'm glad I switched since I can play with more gear. I too think I would encourage a newbie leftie to try playing right handed for their first 10 minutes or so just to see if they are only slightly left dominant or strongly left dominant. And then let them play whatever way feels right (pun intended).
For me, using my strong, accurate, nimble hand to do the hard and tricky stuff in bass playing (fretboard work) is natural. Therefore I play leftie basses despite being right-handed. Long before I had even touched a bass or knew anything about playing bass I dreamed of playing one, left-handed.
If I shoot a pistol, I use my right hand to hold and raise the weapon. When I play the bass, I raise my right hand to the neck to "lead the way", to "aim". It is just the way my brain works.
If I shoot a pistol, I use my right hand to hold and raise the weapon. When I play the bass, I raise my right hand to the neck to "lead the way", to "aim". It is just the way my brain works.
- Feb 2, 2001
- 12,719
- 1,291
- Disclosures
- Builder: Valenti Basses
Are you saying that I should stop wearing my wife's underwear?
Please dear god, no one say, "Pics or it didn't happen."
Are you saying that I should stop wearing my wife's underwear?
no, nino...don't stop...
that would seriously affect all that perfectionist "mojo" that you impart on your instruments....
we all KNOW you do those wiring harnesses wearing nothing but a bra and thong
(oh the visual just hit me )a little solder splashing is a hazard that must be accepted...
LOL!!!
If you had never swung anything before? Maybe not.
I know lefties who learned to play righty and most are glad they did... it opened up so many more options as far as instruments. Knowing what I know, if I were a lefty I'd give learning righty a serious shot first. I like the piano example.
