Yup me too. Only things I do righty are playing bass/guitar/piano, using a knife and fork (lefty with a spoon, though) and blow my nose. Even left footed and left dominant eye...
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Lefty beginner - learn left or right?
- Thread starter Runnerman
- Start date
At primary school (elementary school for those in the US) in the early 1960s, our teachers used to whack kids on the knuckles with a ruler if they wrote with their left hand. 350 years before that, righties were "dexter", from which we get "dexterous" (skillful in physical movements, especially of the hands) while lefties were "sinister" (prompted by malice or ill-will, intending to mislead).
It's not the dark ages any more. Go see Ned Flanders, get a left-handed bass, and let him go.
Disclosure: Not a lefty.
It's not the dark ages any more. Go see Ned Flanders, get a left-handed bass, and let him go.
Disclosure: Not a lefty.
Learn according to your natural inclination. Ignore the right handers who say otherwise.
Probably more a question of gear aspiration. There are many examples of lefties playing righthanded, but there are also leftie instruments. There is a lot more selection of righthanded instruments, so that may be a consideration.
I am a lefty who plays righty. I have never even considered it strange. My dominant hand does most of the work anyway.
This is the 21st century, lefty instruments aren't as hard to acquire as they were 35 years ago, OP's friend won't really have that much of an issue if he chooses to go the true lefty path.
@Runnerman The fact that your friend thinks he needs a lefty bass in the first place is enough to tell he's already tried playing righty and it doesn't work for him.
Bring him down to a store with lefty basses for him to try out and see if he plays better and/or feels better. How he chooses to ultimately play will be a choice he has to make on his own, no one should should force him to play either way.
Starting out cold, learn to play standard instruments. Lefty pianos, saxophones and violins aren't a thing; guitars are unique in that. Learning anew means you will be training both hands to work independently at things they've never done, and arguably having your dominant hand working the fingerboard could be advantageous.
Learning to play lefty instruments will severely limit your choice of instruments, and I can't think of a single advantage.
Learning to play lefty instruments will severely limit your choice of instruments, and I can't think of a single advantage.
I'm a lefty who plays righty.
Both ways seem totally alien when you first start so you might as well go righty and have all the advantages.
A friend of mine who learned to play guitar at the same time as I was learning bass (1966) insisted on learning lefty and has regretted it since.
Both ways seem totally alien when you first start so you might as well go righty and have all the advantages.
A friend of mine who learned to play guitar at the same time as I was learning bass (1966) insisted on learning lefty and has regretted it since.
I am a proud member of TB’s Lefty’s who play right. I play bass right handed, throw a ball, cut paper, hit a golf ball, all right handed. I write left handed, can putt a golf ball either right or left handed equally (equally badly).
My advice for your friend is to just try what feels natural. If it were possible for him (or her) to get their feet wet using a borrowed right handed instrument, that would be ideal. I started bass as a guitarist and had a string upside down acoustic early on. It felt as weird to me as throwing a softball did when I was a wee lad. My dad thought I was going to be a first baseman. Catching with my right hand felt as weird as throwing with my left. Hopefully your friend is able to “know” right away what works the way I did.
My advice for your friend is to just try what feels natural. If it were possible for him (or her) to get their feet wet using a borrowed right handed instrument, that would be ideal. I started bass as a guitarist and had a string upside down acoustic early on. It felt as weird to me as throwing a softball did when I was a wee lad. My dad thought I was going to be a first baseman. Catching with my right hand felt as weird as throwing with my left. Hopefully your friend is able to “know” right away what works the way I did.
Uhh. Have you been to a music store lately? I'd be happy to bring someone down to a store with lefty basses to try out. If there were any around here...
If you can, take him to store which has both left and right handed instruments (preferably of the same or similar type, ie 2 squire jazz basses, set up similarly). Show him how to play an e minor scale and have him try that on both and go back and forth a few times. My guess is one will feel more natural to him. In which case he should go for that one. But if there's not much difference, he should go with right handed, because it will be way easier to find instruments and also sell them later.
I'm someone who's right handed but also not quite ambidextrous. So I do tend to do a lot of things with my left hand. I've tried picking up left handed guitars and basses from time to time and they always seem like an alien instrument. I can't say if the reverse would be true, because our left and right brains also tend to control certain tasks and thought processing, so there are a lot of factors. I will say left handed drumming is kind of cool because it opens you up to new patterns, and though I've only dabbled with drums, I always liked setting up left handed.
I'm someone who's right handed but also not quite ambidextrous. So I do tend to do a lot of things with my left hand. I've tried picking up left handed guitars and basses from time to time and they always seem like an alien instrument. I can't say if the reverse would be true, because our left and right brains also tend to control certain tasks and thought processing, so there are a lot of factors. I will say left handed drumming is kind of cool because it opens you up to new patterns, and though I've only dabbled with drums, I always liked setting up left handed.
Ha.
Up until Covid struck I had been a regular visitor to the 3 music shops in the nearest town for the last 4 years. In that time I have seen exactly 0 lefty basses and only about a dozen lefty guitars.
Sorry I should have made it clear I was referring to previous generations, the "lefty playing righty" folks mentioned 2 posts above mine were mostly names in the 70's. Choices were slim back then.
I agree choices are better these days but more could be done. One of my favourite basses is the PB-50 from Thomann and it galled me left handers were denied playing them. Over the years I'd ask folks to support me in a mass email request for a left hand version, to no avail
Two years back it finally happened, thanks to TB'er @nerkoids hi-jacking an internet poll
As a lefty who plays lefty basses I would say this, give Him a guitar to hold and see which way He feels holding it is most natural, if it's a righty guitar ask Him if He feels the urge to flip it upside down, if that is more comfortable for Him then Yes He wshould play Lefty, also which way do You hold a baseball bat hockey stick etc I bat and shoot righty and guitar is reversed so therefore a lefty bass is most comfortable for Me.
If He goes lefty, then head on over to the thomann website and have him pick out a good reliable and Inexpensive Harley Benton bass.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/4_string_lefthanded_basses.html
If He goes lefty, then head on over to the thomann website and have him pick out a good reliable and Inexpensive Harley Benton bass.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/4_string_lefthanded_basses.html
Thx for all the responses guys. Interesting thoughts on both sides. I actually have only mentioned in passing conversation that he might think about righty. He's a headstrong guy so he will make the ultimate decision. I think the idea of comfort when first picking up either instrument is a good idea.
I'm a dominant righty in everything except I play(ed) hockey left handed just because it was most comfortable immediately.
Another thought that drove my question was that I've recommended he buy used so he can get more bass for the money. Not many used leftys in the Raleigh area especially more budget oriented first basses. And the final thought was if he turns out not to like playing bass, would be much easier to resell. But like many have said main thing we want out of this is to develop another bass player.
If there are any TBers in the Raleigh area that would have reasonably priced lefty bass they want to part with, please pm me. (hopefully this is not breaking a rule)
I'm a dominant righty in everything except I play(ed) hockey left handed just because it was most comfortable immediately.
Another thought that drove my question was that I've recommended he buy used so he can get more bass for the money. Not many used leftys in the Raleigh area especially more budget oriented first basses. And the final thought was if he turns out not to like playing bass, would be much easier to resell. But like many have said main thing we want out of this is to develop another bass player.
If there are any TBers in the Raleigh area that would have reasonably priced lefty bass they want to part with, please pm me. (hopefully this is not breaking a rule)
He's doing a huge disservice to himself if he doesn't at least TRY righty & see how he gets along.
IMHO stringed-instruments are naturally easier to play for a lefty, because all the tough work is being done with your fretting hand (dominant).
IMHO stringed-instruments are naturally easier to play for a lefty, because all the tough work is being done with your fretting hand (dominant).
I contend that people do many things backwards from what should be natural. Play guitar, hit a baseball, golf. But since 95% of people are right handed, we learn from them. My dad was a lefty, batted righty, golfed righty, but threw with his left hand. We spend no time thinking about what is natural, we just learn from those around us so here we are.
No disrespect intended for those that opted to learn lefty, ... what I think is the hugest reason to learn to play right handed.
I just read in another thread (literally minutes ago) someone saying that they played lefty and couldn't find the bass they were really wanting because of it.
Why set yourself up for a lifetime of shorting yourself on options. I recommend you go onto CL and go to the largest city in your state and see how many left handed used basses are for sale.
As a bassist, you use both hands, I wouldn't say dexterity in either hand over the other is critical.
I just read in another thread (literally minutes ago) someone saying that they played lefty and couldn't find the bass they were really wanting because of it.
Why set yourself up for a lifetime of shorting yourself on options. I recommend you go onto CL and go to the largest city in your state and see how many left handed used basses are for sale.
As a bassist, you use both hands, I wouldn't say dexterity in either hand over the other is critical.
I'm a lefty who learned to play bass right-handed. Like your friend, I had no prior experience with guitar when I started playing bass as an adult. I figured it would be easier to find right-handed instruments so why not learn that way? I had the opposite experience in golf, learned to play left-handed as a kid in an era when left handed clubs were VERY hard to find.
In retrospect, I'm glad I learned this way because I've been able to try and own lots of cool basses that would have been otherwise unavailable to me. There are some tradeoffs. I have a hard time controlling a pick with my right hand and playing fast, but to be fair I haven't spent a lot of time working on it. But I don't think it's any harder for a lefty to learn on a right-handed bass when you're starting from scratch.
In retrospect, I'm glad I learned this way because I've been able to try and own lots of cool basses that would have been otherwise unavailable to me. There are some tradeoffs. I have a hard time controlling a pick with my right hand and playing fast, but to be fair I haven't spent a lot of time working on it. But I don't think it's any harder for a lefty to learn on a right-handed bass when you're starting from scratch.
