Is guitar/bass the only instruments made either left or right handed?

Rocker

My wife and I attended a concert in the NCH Dublin last weekend.  It always amazes me that a composer/arranger/conductor can piece together, in real time, so many different bits of music to make a very interesting piece of music.

I have often thought that all or most orchestral instruments are right handed.  The bow for the violin/viola/cello etc is held in the right hand and the left hand is for stopping the strings.  All the bows point in the same direction!  Of course it would be chaotic and dangerous if one or two violin players played left handed.

We guitar or bass players are spoiled by having a choice of hand when we go to buy our instruments.  Left handed are less common but available. 

ICBM

As far as I know they're the only common instruments which are commonly made left-handed. There are others that are sometimes played left-handed - including violin-family instruments, outside classical music - but as far as I know they aren't built the other way round even if strung oppositely, although the position of the soundpost and bass bar should be reversed.

One thing that makes even acoustic guitars necessarily 'handed' is that the bridge needs to be compensated for intonation, because they're fretted - so a steel-string guitar is either right or left-handed depending on the angle of the bridge saddle, even if it has symmetrical bracing and no pickguard. A classical guitar will just need a new nut, unless it has a compensated saddle.

Roland

There have been some left handed pianos. Most harps are ambidextrous

thecolourbox

I've never been sure why right or left handed guitar playing is the way around it is, it whether it's even necessary really? I'm pretty sure your can teach your "wrong hand" to do whatever really. I wasn't particularly proficient using my left hand for stuff until I learnt the piano.

Also, a few people I know are right handed but play golf left handed. Confuses me even more

Bridgehouse

thecolourbox said:

I've never been sure why right or left handed guitar playing is the way around it is, it whether it's even necessary really? I'm pretty sure your can teach your "wrong hand" to do whatever really. I wasn't particularly proficient using my left hand for stuff until I learnt the piano.

Also, a few people I know are right handed but play golf left handed. Confuses me even more

I write with my left hand
I eat right handed
I cut with scissors right handed
I play guitar/bass right handed
I play cricket left handed (including batting and bowling)
I play golf right handed
I play snooker right handed
I play darts left handed
I will pick a glass up to drink with my right hand
I need both hands to wank tho.

hollywoodrox

I never thought about string sections being either handed but now you point it out I can imagine the chaos unless they were seated very far apart 

fretmeister

Drum kit layouts. 

Funkfingers

Rocker said:
Is guitar/bass the only instrument made left or right handed?

No.

thecolourbox said:

I've never been sure why right or left handed guitar playing is the way around it is, it whether it's even necessary really? I'm pretty sure your can teach your "wrong hand" to do whatever really. 

Try it. 

Flip a guitar over. Mute the strings somewhere on the fingerboard. Strum away. Observe how uncontrolled your timing has become.

Bridgehouse said:

… golf … wank …

Wis awarded.

shrinkwrap

Fripp says he's left handed but was taught to play right handed guitar - says it helps explain his fretting dexterity. Haha, dexterity..

thecolourbox

Funkfingers said:

thecolourbox said:

I've never been sure why right or left handed guitar playing is the way around it is, it whether it's even necessary really? I'm pretty sure your can teach your "wrong hand" to do whatever really. 

Try it. 

Flip a guitar over. Mute the strings somewhere on the fingerboard. Strum away. Observe how uncontrolled your timing has become.

My timing is shit with my right hand to be fair! It's hard when you've always learnt it one way (like using a knife and fork the wrong way around) but I used to have to do it with piano so I'm pretty sure if I stopped playing right handed and played left only then I'm pretty sure I could do it with enough drills and technique practice

the_jaffa

Justin Sandercoe is doing a series on YouTube at the moment where he is learning to play left handed. Interesting to see how he is progressing

Dcotorstewie

I am left handed, but learned to play guitar and drums right handed just because I knew that it would make life easier down the road. I have no idea if it was harder or not. I DO know that I can get by on a left handed drum set, but a left handed guitar? nope. Nope nope nope. 

drofluf

Left handed mandolins are available and I’ve heard of left handed violins

poopot

Triangle. I have both a left and a right handed version

sweepy

Drums can be technically left handed

Rocker

sweepy said:

Drums can be technically left handed

I would have thought that a drum is a drum and a cymbal is a cymbal.  It is how the drum kit is assembled that makes it left or right handed.  Or have I missed something?

drofluf said:

Left handed mandolins are available and I’ve heard of left handed violins

I follow your thinking about left handed mandolins (which could be considered part of the guitar/bass family) but a left handed violin in an orchestra is a recipe for a disaster.  Or the loss of an eye.....

drofluf

Rocker said:

sweepy said:

Drums can be technically left handed

I would have thought that a drum is a drum and a cymbal is a cymbal.  It is how the drum kit is assembled that makes it left or right handed.  Or have I missed something?

drofluf said:

Left handed mandolins are available and I’ve heard of left handed violins

I follow your thinking about left handed mandolins (which could be considered part of the guitar/bass family) but a left handed violin in an orchestra is a recipe for a disaster.  Or the loss of an eye.....

Rocker said:

sweepy said:

Drums can be technically left handed

I would have thought that a drum is a drum and a cymbal is a cymbal.  It is how the drum kit is assembled that makes it left or right handed.  Or have I missed something?

drofluf said:

Left handed mandolins are available and I’ve heard of left handed violins

I follow your thinking about left handed mandolins (which could be considered part of the guitar/bass family) but a left handed violin in an orchestra is a recipe for a disaster.  Or the loss of an eye.....

I agree but they’re fine for a soloist or a “fiddler” as opposed to a “violinist”. 

https://www.cmuse.org/famous-left-handed-violinist/

JanekLubanski

Flutes.

sgosden

bongos.

DLM

Left-handed classical string players tend to play that way owing to injury/disability/accident of birth. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Kolisch

The novelty of an all left-handed string quartet of a decent standard would make it a potential social-media click magnet owing to the rarity of practitioners and their likely unwillingness to be treated as a freak show.

Through my better half's work I know and know of a huge number of string players and can think only of one professional violist who only has the full complement of fingers on his right hand, so uses his left to bow.

All that said, she also plays the Froghorn, and we're considering catching this chap when he comes to town:

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/hannover_weser-leinegebiet/hornist108_v-podcast.jpg

hessodreamy

Keytar?