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so...why do we use our hands like we do?

#41
I tried this one a while back and was burned at the stake. It's a very legit and thought provoking question. My question was, why do they make "left handed" instruments (or "right handed" for that matter)?

If you landed on a distant planet and a native being said, "this is an instrument, make it sound like this!" Who knows, you may end up playing it with your toes and nose. My point was, if you are untrained and your hands don't know what a bass is, what does Left or Right mean or matter on day 1??

I'll sit back and monitor this one from a distance...

Thanks
 
#42
Name the # of instruments where timing is left hand and melody is right hand.

Drums - no, timing is right (high hat) creativity is left (snare)

Violin/Cello/Viola/etc - no, timing is right (bow) and creativity (fingering) is left

Piano - tough call, I'm going to say this is rhythm left (bass notes) creativity right (treble notes), but you could see this as reversed - chords right, bass left.

Trumpet - more righty than lefty

Why? Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm going to go for.

Right hand -> Left brain
Left hand -> Right brain
 
#43
KenToby said:
If you landed on a distant planet and a native being said, "this is an instrument, make it sound like this!" Who knows, you may end up playing it with your toes and nose. My point was, if you are untrained and your hands don't know what a bass is, what does Left or Right mean or matter on day 1??
Click to expand...

But the point is that it is exactly NOT like your first scenario - we built and designed instruments to be comfortable for people to play!

At some point in history there were no guitars,lutes,viols, violins etc. - but then a person designed the instrument that way, to suit people - we are not picking up something alien - it was designed specifically with us and only us in mind !!

Lutes, viols and violins to guitars did not fall intact from space - they were designed and refined over many years to be the most comfortable playing experience for the most people - otherwise the instrument(s) would have been rejected and the maker would have got no money, gone out of business!

It's like Evolution - the designs that were uncomfortable or impractical were rejected and have fallen out of use - whereas the successful designs have been refined and have stayed with us for many centuries and are still with us today - because they work!
 
#44
This point of view does not hold water since there is no such thing as a comfortable instrument on day 1 of playing. Comfort, familiarity, dextarity, etc. are not inherant, they are developed. Yes, instruments are alien at first. I stand behind my initial post, there are no right or left handed instruments on day 1!! Once the familiarity factor sets in, then I buy into the right, left thing.

Bruce Lindfield said:
But the point is that it is exactly NOT like your first scenario - we built and designed instruments to be comfortable for people to play!

At some point in history there were no guitars,lutes,viols, violins etc. - but then a person designed the instrument that way, to suit people - we are not picking up something alien - it was designed specifically with us and only us in mind !!

Lutes, viols and violins to guitars did not fall intact from space - they were designed and refined over many years to be the most comfortable playing experience for the most people - otherwise the instrument(s) would have been rejected and the maker would have got no money, gone out of business!

It's like Evolution - the designs that were uncomfortable or impractical were rejected and have fallen out of use - whereas the successful designs have been refined and have stayed with us for many centuries and are still with us today - because they work!
Click to expand...
 
#45
because you the left (non-dominant) hand is easier to move and place on the frets but lacks strength to do something like pluck consistently which is why you use your right hand (dominant) for plucking. You could train yourself to do it the other way around but your left hand would still be lacking in the plucking department
 
#46
i think another thing to take in mind is that some years ago, like a century or so, left haned kids were not aloud to write or do stuff with their left hand, they were forced to act as right handed and had to train themselves that way. to write, Graba sword, whatever. Left handed instruments are a relatively new thing. I've never seen a violinist playing left handed.
and i agree to timing with the right hand.... that's why most people play that way.
 
#47
KenToby said:
This point of view does not hold water since there is no such thing as a comfortable instrument on day 1 of playing.
Click to expand...

It is not a point of view - it is a matter of fact and history!

We know that musical instruments were developed over many centuries and there is no disputing that fact!

We have reference books and drawings to show how musical instruments developed - they did not fall to earth dropped by aliens - as they were - we developed them over time!

End of story!
 
#49
The Earth revolves around the Sun, water is wet and no, instruments didn't come from extraterrestrial beings (I can't believe I have to spell this out to you). In case you missed it, my point about a foreign (alien) instrument was simply an illustration to show that there is no such thing as being as one with an instrument the moment you touch it for the first time, this has to be developed over time. What part of this very simple statement is not clear??? Do you remember the point of the original post? Hint, it's not about ET!
For the record, instruments don't come from distant planets and monkeys can't fly. There, I said it again!



Bruce Lindfield said:
It is not a point of view - it is a matter of fact and history!

We know that musical instruments were developed over many centuries and there is no disputing that fact!

We have reference books and drawings to show how musical instruments developed - they did not fall to earth dropped by aliens - as they were - we developed them over time!

End of story!
Click to expand...
 
#51
KenToby said:
In case you missed it, my point about a foreign (alien) instrument was simply an illustration to show that there is no such thing as being as one with an instrument the moment you touch it for the first time,

I am left handed. I have a photograph from the Xmas morning I got my first guitar. Never tried one before, never paid attention to it before (it was my mom's idea) and in the picture, that picture the first day I ever held a guitar, I am playing it left handed.
You start of with what feels right and take it from there.
Harpo Marx was left handed. After years of playing harp he decided to take some lessons. He found out he was playing the wrong way, he played left handed.
Also someone said why use the stronger hand to fret? Youn eed more power and stamina in yojur dominant hand, and plucking is a lot harder than fingering.
Andy
Click to expand...
 
#53
So given that the electric bass is directly descended from the double bass, are there any muscular concerns?

Larger strings need more energy to vibrate. So, is it possible to impart more energy to the bow / string when the bow is closer to the body (rather than with the arm extended, to play the higher notes as on the G string). Since I am not an expert on the human musculatory system, is there a genuine scientific reason for having the upright the way it is?

Having played upright, I would say that the right hand / arm has more work to do (definition of work = force x distance), especially when concerned with the left hand (the right hand still moves even if the left is stationary).

Given the design of the upright, it is only natural that the electric bass follow suit.

imp
 
#55
Look at video games. You do all the "important" things with your left hand! (d-pad/arcade stick)



The amount of dexerity people who play fighting games are required to have in their left hands is quite amazing! Especially in 3D fighting games where combos and movement are more left-hand intensive.

I dunno why it is either, but would you be able to have such precise timing so easily with your off-hand? And when you think about it, your left hand is really only doing very robotic commands. I mean on bass, it's fret this, slide down here, fret there. your right hand is still the one doing the stuff that takes real thought and it's your right that gives the music emotion.

Something like that anyway :/

But I still think about this issue a lot...
 
#57
interesting topic...my guitar/bass tech encourages left-handed beginners who want to play guitar to play right handed...for reasons mentioned previously

someone also once asked me if i'd ever seen a left-handed piano...which made me think for a moment--what about brass, woodwind, etc.? xylophones? are there left-handed versions of other instruments besides bass and guitar (drums can obviously be situated either way)
 
#58
coolrunner989 said:
I've been pondering this question for a while now.

So, most of us (I'm assuming) are right handed. OUr right hand is stronger and more dexterous than our left. So why did we first start playing bass with our left hand doing the more complex and difficult parts? Same goes for guitar. Why dont we use our right hand to fret and our left to pluck?

Now, after so many years of playing the standard way it is very difficult for me to play "backwards" but I dont think this would be the case if I had started out the other way.

Just wondering what you're opinions are and if there is any historical background to this
Click to expand...

I'm left-handed, but I play "right-handed," because it makes more sense for me to have my left hand on the neck. So, I don't know what to tell ya ;)
 

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