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leftys who play right

#22
Orangeclawhamme said:
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.
Click to expand...

Hendrix played his Strat upsidown.

I'm psudo ambidextrous, I say psudo because I'm technically right handed since I write with my right (although my handwriting is basically illegable.) My left hand is my strong hand, so I'm definately lefty dominant in day to day life, but I do have greater control, accuracy and speed with my right. I initially though about playing lefty since I have better control with my right but eventually just started playing righty.

Having my right in charge of the sound has been easier to deal with. I never thought about the dynamics needed when it came to playing until I got down to it, but controling dynamics came far more naturally with my right than with my left. I'd assume this is why people usually use their "strong" hand for strumming and the weak for fretting. Weak hand may move alot, but there's not a whole lot when it comes to dynamics and controlling the tone (aside from ghost/dead notes).
 
#23
I'm another lefty that has always played bass right-handed. I started that way due to availability and price of lefty basses. I'm not sure if my speed would have been been any different if I played lefty--never had a reason to consider it. I don't regret the decision because, as others have said, the righty basses are cheaper and more available.

Ben
 
#26
Lefty that plays right...didn't know if I could do bass so started learning on a righty loaner bass. Tried the upside down thing once, decided it would be easier to just learn from the start righty. Course, I also golf right handed and do other stuff amibdextrious.. Since you asked, I went and tried slapping left handed.....right hand way better at it...I'm guessing because that's how I practice :). Started out as a drummer, played marching bass drums several years-similar hand motion as slap (the turning of the wrist), used the right hand more so that may also be part of it. :)
 
#27
Much like anyone else who has posted so far, I'm a lefty that plays righty.

I believe it was an advantage for me when I first started. I had more strength and articulation in my left hand so it made picking up techniques and learning more complex parts a lot easier, as well as quicker. As far as my right hand, it has only gotten stronger and faster with practice over the years.

I really don't think slap speed should be any sort of major issue in the long run as long you practice what you want to achieve on a regular basis.

Besides, with two equally as strong arms/hands, you should be able to beat anyone in arm wrestling! haha.
 
#28
Another lefty who plays right-handed here. I feel that my fretting hand is faster than my plucking hand. This is a drawback at times, and perhaps a strength at others. I have always wondered if I would be faster, better etc if I just started out lefty, and kind of regret that I never did... :hmm:

EDIT: I also have a "gut feeling" that the riffs/licks/melodies I come up with tend to differ significantly from what the other guys in the various bands I'm in create, and I wonder if this stems from my approaching the instrument from a different "angle". Anyone else feel this way?
 
#30
Add me to the list of lefties that play right handed. I never even thought about playing lefty I picked up a guitar and just started playing right handed same with sports. Everything else I do right or ambidextrous.

I'm glad I did play righty because over years I've tried different instruments and most instruments are righty only so no big deal. When there are no lefty instruments people just play righty and don't think twice about it.
 
#32
Not all of them.... most of the lefties who play lefty haven't posted in here yet. ;)

Speaking of which... I'm one of them! :D

I look back on my decision to play a left-handed bass without regrets - it came naturally to me. The greatest benefit of all was how it helped me improve my right-hand coordination and dexterity more than it has ever been. I toyed with the idea of playing right-handed, but I think I might be more left-hand-dominant than I'd like to be... so my attempts at playing right-handed guitar and bass never worked out quite right.

For anyone left-handed who is starting out on guitar or bass for the first time, I'd highly suggest giving both "ways" of playing a trial run, and weighing the consequences of each choice before deciding. Left-handed playing isn't the curse it's often made out to be. Besides, it can be a significant benefit to an uncoordinated right hand. While right-handed players have the advantage of price and selection, lefty selections are nowhere near as bad as they used to be. I've had a nice selection of lefty basses to choose from, and I've been able to get all of my basses for prices equal to or less than the costs of equivalent right-handed basses.

I'm not bashing the lefty-playing-righty decision by any means, but I do wonder if certain individuals are actually at a minor loss for doing so. Given the diversity of playing styles and techniques, it's practically impossible to know for sure... but some of you may certainly feel it or wonder about it. And it works both ways, too - I wonder sometimes if my playing would have benefited from switching to right-handed instruments.

At this point, however, there's no desire for me to "turn back"... as long as I can lock with the drummer and rhythm guitarist, deliver a solid bassline, and still be able to show off some skills now and then, I'm not complaining. :smug:
 
#33
I'm a freak like Just J. With better penmanship. I win! :)

Think it started when I was a pup, and my older brother (a righty) started learning how to write cursive, so I'd plop down next to him and imitate. Now righty is finesse, lefty is strength. Which I actually find to be perfect, even with slap.

I throw a baseball lefty, but a frisbee righty. Probably the most pronounced oddity, but quite effective in class where I could bonk somebody on the head with a piece of paper while writing. Teachers with quick reaction times would get thoroughly confused.

As far as true oddities go, have a friend who plays a lefty modulus 6, and plays it lefty, but strung upside down. As in, I can sit down and play it righty, just the electronics are up top.

And, he plays -quite- effectively. Tap, sweet slap...uses his pinky, ring and middle for thumb tech, and pops with his index or thumb, and it sounds stunning. Wish I could throw a video of it up...it's hard to take your eyes away when he's playing, because it's so backasswards your brain kinda squeaks.

Anyhoo. Yup yup yup.

-tap
 
#35
Another lefty playing righty here.

My guitar teacher in high school made me learn righty solely due to the reason repeatedly stated so far: cost and availability of instruments.

I'm fine with it for bass and guitar for the most part. Like others have said, I feel my left hand 'outruns' my right...and even at my best I just simply can't play very fast with my right for plucking the bass or using a pick on a guitar.

I've developed a cheat or two over the years to cover that (for bass), using hammer-ons to quickly add notes. But that usually only will work during fills or changes. I could never play Metallica LOL. I can do steady 16ths at a medium tempo and that's the most I can do.

When I've futzed around with a lefty bass at GC now and again, I have found that my left hand can haul ass on the strings, but my right is like Godzilla stomping through Tokyo :D
 
#36
I've played righty for 25 years. I never had much trouble getting my right-hand to behave when I wanted to learn picking techniques. I've played with a pick (big Chris Squire fan), I've played fingerstyle (I sound very much like Geddy Lee because I practically hammer my strings into the pickups), and I also play classical guitar fingerstyle.

My guitar player in my current band is also a lefty who plays rightie, and he's got astounding technique, which I think is fairly common.

I also studied double bass in college, and there simply wasn't an accomodation for lefties to play right-handed, although I suppose it's not that big of a stretch to play from the other side of the bass and hold the bow with the right hand, but really all lefties have a natural advantage on the hand that does the most complicated work and requires the greatest strength. So why not do it?
 
#38
I'm with the rest of you guys. I actually use both hands for lots of activities (driving stick shift, for instance), and because of past threads like this I've noticed little things I do exclusively with my right hand, like using a mouse, or using keys on doors (always the right for me, subconsciously, but I can easily do it with either hand).

Like others have mentioned, my right hand does feel a little slower and clumsier than I'd like it to be. With enough practice I nail songs down, but I can't help but think if I made myself a little more ambidextrous it'd be better. I've tried various exercises to develop better right hand dexterity and coordination, like trying to learn how to write with my right hand by repeating alphabet letters, switching a lot of left handed tasks to my right, heck. I've even tried the unmentionable "exercise" that drummer has done. :) I just wish I could stick with these things because I did notice a little improvement. Hmm. Maybe I should try doing this stuff again.
 
#40
most lefties (like myself) are messed up:

i play bass and guitar right
i play drums right hand lead
i shoot a rifle right
i shoot a bow right
i use scissors in my right hand
i write left
i eat left
i throw left
i use a hammer left
i play golf right
i bat left
and i kick right

(see what I mean? MESSED UP!) :)
 

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