Left handed kids - teach them to play right handed?

Vibetronic

I tend to let them stick with their dominant hand...but I do tell their parents that instrument choice is a lot easier later on if they learn right-handed! One thing I've found is that one of two of the left-handers find chord boxes really hard to read...there's a couple of sites which have printouts of the open chords for left-handers which is quite useful for them (they are very young though!).

WiresDreamDisasters

soma1975 said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

soma1975 said:

I'm a lefty that plays righty. It makes no difference which hand you lead with so don't limit their options for guitars and make them pay over the odds all their life and look weird to everyone else with their mirror guitars and not be able to pick up other people's guitars.

This is your experience. It's not mine. So "it makes no difference.... etc etc" is not truth, it's just opinion.

My experience is that I tried to learn right handed initially, and really struggled. Then I got a left handed strat copy, and became a badassmotherfucker.

And the options for guitars these days are very good for left handed players.

Forcing a kid to play right handed when they might be more comfortable playing left handed, is just going to result in them giving it up quickly and getting into making synthwave.

Alright mate, just a bit of fun. Sorry that everyone laughs at your back to front guitar. 

Alright Emp_Soma, chillout!

clarkefan

WiresDreamDisasters said:

soma1975 said:

I'm a lefty that plays righty. It makes no difference which hand you lead with so don't limit their options for guitars and make them pay over the odds all their life and look weird to everyone else with their mirror guitars and not be able to pick up other people's guitars.

This is your experience. It's not mine. So "it makes no difference.... etc etc" is not truth, it's just opinion.

My experience is that I tried to learn right handed initially, and really struggled. Then I got a left handed strat copy, and became a badassmotherfucker.

And the options for guitars these days are very good for left handed players.

Forcing a kid to play right handed when they might be more comfortable playing left handed, is just going to result in them giving it up quickly and getting into making synthwave.

Agreed.

I was on the other end of this question, the person wanting to play guitar, who happened to be left handed.  I tried the guitar both ways and lefty felt natural so I went with it.

I'm not sure why examples from the past have anything to do with what's "right" for a lefty beginner now.

Roland

There’s been some research done on this. Some left handers can play right handed relatively easily. Some can’t. It depends how their brains work. When I was learning left handed instruments were rare. I remember making the conscious decision to play right handed, and realising that it would move me away from being ambidextrous.

Let the child decide which it finds more comfortable.

rockinmark

Carl Brown spoke about this topic in one of his ask Carl videos. His advice is to learn right handed. Remember one of his points was the limited number of good quality lefty guitars available. 

jpfamps

A friend who is left-handed was asked "have you ever seen a left-handed piano?" at his first guitar lesson as a kid!

Equally, I know a few left-handed players who have tried playing right-handed and not gone on with it.

Given that it seems far easier to put someone off playing an instrument rather than encouraging them (and gawd knows learning an instrument is hard enough at the best of time), I suspect it is better to go with whatever feels more comfortable; the problem of finding left-handed instruments in the future is a hypothetical problem at the moment.

Incidentally Wilko Johnson and Barrie Cadogan are also left-handers who play right-handed. 

Wilko Johnson says his style of playing came about because of this as he found it impossible to play with a pick, which he attributes to the fact he was trying to hold it in his "wrong" hand.

dtr

jpfamps said:

A friend who is left-handed was asked "have you ever seen a left-handed piano?" at his first guitar lesson as a kid!

Equally, I know a few left-handed players who have tried playing right-handed and not gone on with it.

Given that it seems far easier to put someone off playing an instrument rather than encouraging them (and gawd knows learning an instrument is hard enough at the best of time), I suspect it is better to go with whatever feels more comfortable; the problem of finding left-handed instruments in the future is a hypothetical problem at the moment.

Incidentally Wilko Johnson and Barrie Cadogan are also left-handers who play right-handed. 

Wilko Johnson says his style of playing came about because of this as he found it impossible to play with a pick, which he attributes to the fact he was trying to hold it in his "wrong" hand.

I'm actually quite interested in why I've never seen a left-handed piano (or keyboard). Drummers who set their kit up reversed for left-handedness are rarer than hens' teeth, though that's a pretty simple matter of choice with no special kit needed.  Left-handed violins exist but don't seem to be as demanded or widely used as left handed guitars.  Cars are 'handed' only based on the convention of which side of the road we drive on, but we don't hear much about how that privileges or discriminates against lefties or righties.  Guitar does seem to be the statistical outlier.

Should there be left handed pianos?  Or left handed cars for that matter?

Disclaimer: I'm left handed and it never really occurred to me that I needed a left handed piano, car or guitar and I've always been a bit bemused by handedness of things that need both hands.  Shaped handles on one-handed tools (e.g. scissors) bug the hell out of me though.

GuyBoden

Make all the right handed people play left handed guitars. See how they like it.

LastMantra

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Play left handed. Make more interesting and better players.

I actually agree. Suppose it depends on what you want to do. Some people aren't really interested in making interesting music.

roberty

Another lefty who plays right-handed here. A deliberate choice because I didn't want to live in a world full of guitars I couldn't play. Robert Fripp is a lefty who plays right-handed and it doesn't seem to have diminished his interestingness. That bit happens in your brain. Bob Balch is another. There's loads. As long as you can keep a rhythm with your non-dominant hand

lovestrat74

Wow I cannot believe how many left handers play right! I thought I was on my own. My reason was because it felt natural.  I also play golf right handed too for the same reason.

fastonebaz

I'm left handed but play right handed.  I'm special. 

yorkio

And I’m right-handed but play left-handed.

jpfamps

dtr said:

jpfamps said:

I'm actually quite interested in why I've never seen a left-handed piano (or keyboard). Drummers who set their kit up reversed for left-handedness are rarer than hens' teeth, though that's a pretty simple matter of choice with no special kit needed.  Left-handed violins exist but don't seem to be as demanded or widely used as left handed guitars.  Cars are 'handed' only based on the convention of which side of the road we drive on, but we don't hear much about how that privileges or discriminates against lefties or righties.  Guitar does seem to be the statistical outlier.

Should there be left handed pianos?  Or left handed cars for that matter?

Disclaimer: I'm left handed and it never really occurred to me that I needed a left handed piano, car or guitar and I've always been a bit bemused by handedness of things that need both hands.  Shaped handles on one-handed tools (e.g. scissors) bug the hell out of me though.

I suspect making a left-handed piano is slightly harder than making a left-handed guitar......

It's also worth pointing out that playing a piano both hands are performing a much more similar job than with the guitar.

re drumming, again you are using all you limbs anyway, so perhaps it's less of a bind. 

Having said that, I do know left handed drummers who play open handed on a regular kit, ie they are playing left-handed but right-footed. A friend of mine who is a drum teacher actually reckons that playing open-handed has advantages over playing cross-handed, and may be a "better" way of playing.

Driving on the left hand side of the road means that you have your right hand on the steering wheel when changing gear, which is of course most people's dominant hand. 

WiresDreamDisasters

I set my drums up left handed too. Feels way more natural. I can play a right-handed setup, but it took me a lot longer to get used to, and there are still things I cannot do with a right handed setup.

dtr

jpfamps said:

dtr said:

jpfamps said:

I'm actually quite interested in why I've never seen a left-handed piano (or keyboard). Drummers who set their kit up reversed for left-handedness are rarer than hens' teeth, though that's a pretty simple matter of choice with no special kit needed.  Left-handed violins exist but don't seem to be as demanded or widely used as left handed guitars.  Cars are 'handed' only based on the convention of which side of the road we drive on, but we don't hear much about how that privileges or discriminates against lefties or righties.  Guitar does seem to be the statistical outlier.

Should there be left handed pianos?  Or left handed cars for that matter?

Disclaimer: I'm left handed and it never really occurred to me that I needed a left handed piano, car or guitar and I've always been a bit bemused by handedness of things that need both hands.  Shaped handles on one-handed tools (e.g. scissors) bug the hell out of me though.

I suspect making a left-handed piano is slight harder than making a left-handed guitar......

It's also worth pointing out that playing a piano both hands are performing a much more similar job than with the guitar.

re drumming, again you are using all you limbs anyway, so perhaps it's less of a bind. 

Having said that, I do know left handed drummers who play open handed on a regular kit, ie they are playing left-handed but right-footed. A friend of mine who is a drum teacher actually reckons that playing open-handed has advantages over playing cross-handed, and may be a "better" way of playing.

Driving on the left hand side of the road means that you have your right hand on the steering wheel when changing gear, which is of course most people's dominant hand. 

Driving on the right, as in the UK, leaves your right hand on the wheel while your left changes gears.  Would you say that most of the rest of the world penalises right-handers and makes their roads more dangerous?  I wonder why they haven't complained and changed things?

Could it be that when we don't have a choice we don't really give it much thought (we just get on and learn to drive a car whichever way around depending which side of the road we drive, and we just learn to play a piano they way they are made) but when we have to make a choice that becomes significant?

I'm not arguing that the personal preference isn't real or valid, but I do wonder whether it's really much to do with handedness?  Could it be that left-handers are just encouraged more to make a decision, and in being encouraged to analyse their own preferences those preferences are realised as important?  If we presented guitars as 'Clapton stance' or 'Hendrix stance'  (or Lennon v McCartney) instead of left/right handed, with all players (not just lefties) asked to decide, would the numbers of right-handed learners choosing the Hendrix route increase?

in boxing some right-handers favour southpaw stance.  Tyson was left-handed in orthodox stance.  My kids are right handed and like their knife and fork the 'wrong' way round.  it all seems so muddled up to me that I find it much more likely that we all may choose our own preferences with no fixed rules, if given the opportunity.  And where we don't think enough about it to be prompted to make an actual decision, we just go with the flow and it's no big deal.

dangriffiths

Another right handed person who plays lefty - just felt right and even though I tried I kept going back to it that way.  I don't think it matters so if they prefer let them.

solar

I think just do what feels natural. I'm left handed and it feels completely unnatural to me to play right handed. If in doubt, ask them to play air guitar (with no setup/intro - so they don't think about it) and see which way they do it - that's probably how they should play real guitar.

WiresDreamDisasters

When I was 11 I remember picking up this black strat at school during music class. Everyone was having a bash on it. I picked it up and the teacher scolded me; you're holding it wrong!! 

It's ingrained in our society to try and correct left-handed people. And it goes unnoticed and unmentioned time and time again.

LEFTY POWER!

Kittyfrisk

My parents are both naturally left handed, they were physically beaten & forced throughout their lives to conform to right hand norms.
My younger sister is also left handed, she had a hard time too.
I'm right handed, I was caned & beaten throughout my educational life too, but not anything to do with my 'handedness', just because the educational system at the time was a bit shite & 'spare the rod, spoil the child' was an acceptable mantra.
Here's to a better future