26 (edited by polyal 28-06-10 15:59:29)

Re: left handed

thanks for that ausieteacher......now would a lefty please respond and tell us why he plays ' backwards ' (ausieteacher)

would most of the answers be ' because jimmi was left handed ..and look how good he was '

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Re: left handed

It is an interesting point you make here!

It certainly could be a marketing gimmick but I do have my doubts!

Are there people that can play both left and right handed guitars I wonder?


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28 (edited by polyal 12-07-10 07:43:09)

Re: left handed

manmaoyy wrote:

It is an interesting point you make here!

It certainly could be a marketing gimmick but I do have my doubts!

Are there people that can play both left and right handed guitars I wonder?

have a look at this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutyA12z … mp;index=9
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Re: left handed

There is no easy answer . . .






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30 (edited by LeeRain 16-07-10 08:12:38)

Re: left handed

Isn't a left-handed guitar upside down just a right-handed guitar ?
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Re: left handed

if you turned a left handed guitar round and played it right handed ( is that what you mean ? )
then the bass strings would be at the bottom

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Re: left handed

...and the scratch plate, if it's an acoustic, would be at the top....

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33 (edited by polyal 17-07-10 07:55:26)

Re: left handed

if you turned it upside down from its original position.. then it would be all of the above but pointing towards you

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Re: left handed

Hmm, that is an interesting point.






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Re: left handed

There is an awful lot of misunderstanding and assumptions made by right handers about left handers going on here.  Let me try and shed some light and give you my perspective as a lefty.  Anything that requires each hand to do something different will generally have an orientation preference for leftys & rightys.

Polyal asked "when a beginner picks up a guitar for the first time  neither hand as a clue what to do from
the outset  so why the ' other way round ' preference ?"

You could ask the same thing about lots of activities that a child or baby learns.  They don't know how to do it, nor are they aware they are left or right handed, but they still have a preference.  It is how their brain is wired.

When I was young I always wanted to play left handed - it felt natural.  I wasn't copying anyone.  I think it is to do with the use of a tool and the dominant hand is nearly always used to hold tools. Holding a pick isn't that dissimilar to holding a pen for example.   As stated before fretting is alien to both hands.  So for me it feels natural to play left-handed because it feels natural to hold the pick with my left hand and using the pick is a more intricate activity for the hand as a whole (as opposed to individual fingers with fretting). 

Left handers are not at any advantage playing right handed guitars.  That is is something made up by people who aren't left handed due to the mistaken belief that a dominant hand equals finger independence.  It doesn't.  If this were the case at least some right-handers would play left-handed to take advantage of this benefit and they don't.  Left handers play right handed for other reasons:  there is a vastly larger selection of right handed guitars, left haded guitars usually cost more, 90% of them are black, tab & notation is in general easier to read, other learning materials are dedicated to right-handers & lefties are often treated as if they should just shut up and become right handed.

Left handed guitars are not a gimmick.  Who in their right mind would come up with a gimmick of producing instruments that only have the possibility of appealing to a maximum of 10% of the population (& in reality is less than that due to the number of leftys playing righty)?  And who in their right mind would buy them given the aforementioned reasons if there wasn't a fundamental reason for them?

I am genuinely shocked to hear a teacher call left-handers "backward".  I understand better than most the reasons for leftys playing righty, but for some kids playing right handed will be much more difficult.  Having a greater choice of guitars is no use if you give up because you found it too hard.

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Re: left handed

thanks for that... i think the 'tool' reference is the strongest point of your comments....perhaps now a few more lefties will air their opinions

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Re: left handed

What total nonsense.
""Backward"' means playing the instrument in a backwards fashion, not, obviously, that the student is backward as in dumb...the left hand fretting, except when learning clessical, requires far more effort than the right in the case of a beginner, again obvious..and if left-andedness in so important, why do thousands of piano players every year learn in a normal fashion, not on a reversed keyboard.?

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38 (edited by polyal 11-08-10 06:37:44)

Re: left handed

would a left handed person be any less of a player by learning the guitar in the conventional manner..is there any way of knowing?  if a left handed person was coaxed to write with is right hand from the onset would he/she be able to write just as well (and visa-versa). there must be loads of instances  where handedness could be an issue if one started to be conscious of it ..all the work driving a car is done  mostly with the left hand...gears/handbreak etc (UK)...if violins an classical instruments of that type were right and left handed..imagine the chaos in a classical orchestra..i see where vialli's coming from but is it a strong enough reason...if left handed guitars were'nt available would most left handed people not bothered and thought ..ah well never mind i'll have to think of something else to play

and food for thought .. if guitars were ' left handed to start with ' would a left handed person turn it round and play it normally because he/she is left handed??..for the sake of it..being left handed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutyA12z … mp;index=9

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Re: left handed

Aussieteacher, you seem oblivious to the fact that the term "backward" assumes the right handed way of doing things is correct and left handed is incorrect and it is commonly used in a derogatory fashion. Many lefties find the term offensive. Perhaps reversed would be a better term. How can you assert that I, as a left handed player, am talking nonsense on the subject of how it feels as a lefty? Unless you are lefty yourself.

Yours is a common view but one that many people find frustrating. Keyboards are entirely different as both hands do the same thing technically.

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40

Re: left handed

This is an interesting debate. And Thanks for that link Polyal - that is truly extreme!

Vialli - what do you think you would have done if there was no such thing as a left handed guitar and no one had swapped the strings around to play it in reverse in the past? Do you think you would have not played the instrument at all? Or perhaps naturally assumed to swap the strings around yourself to allow a more comfortable playing?

I can remember how foreign playing the guitar was to both hands when starting out. I wonder if, like in the link above, either hands can be trained to do either parts.

What is your view on the points raised about violinists  etc where left or right handed players play the same instruments using the same hands?

Did you start right out on a left handed guitar?

Thanks for your contribution to the forum!

41 (edited by polyal 15-08-10 00:17:41)

Re: left handed

i say this to any newbie.... learn and play the guitar as it is ..forget what handed you are...learn the instument as it is ,,,dont look for quick fixes so you can play in a day...it wont happen...be a guitar player
dont look for quick fixes...practice like f***k......................youve got your left hand to fret/hammer on/pull off
play harmonics/and all the rest of it ....why trade that off to pluck a friggin string...to 'be' like ' jimmy '

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