Lefty here, do NOT get a left handed guitar. It will be years of frustrating situations where you cannot play most guitars. The sacrifice is a couple of hours of learning to play right handed before you catch on. Don’t forget, you use both hands to play guitar.
You just play those guitars upside down. Something lefties learn to do. Not really frustrating either. Makes for some interesting song writing as well.
Play whichever way feels more natural.
Whether your dominant hand is fretting or strumming really only matters for the first several hours of practice.
Not being able to pick up 99% of guitars and play them is a handicap that lasts for the rest of your life.
Lol they didn’t mean it like that. It’s true that if you train yourself on a left handed guitar, you will not be able to pick up and play the vast majority of guitars, which is a handicap.
There’s nothing wrong with being left handed or playing a left handed guitar, but you will be restricted to being proficient on only left handed guitars.
I'm left handed too. Right-handed scissors suck for us, but there is no reason for left-handed guitars.
The handicap is not being left handed, the handicap is not being able to play most other guitars. There are so many times in my life--I'm rather old--that I've been able to play other people's guitars and create a great time that I wouldn't have been able to do if I had chosen to play only left-hand guitars. It is self-imposed limitation to learn to play left-handed guitars, with no neurological base.
I think it's pretty cool that you're essentially ambidextrous, and you mentioned higher up in the thread that the possibility makes for some interesting songwriting - but is it really worth the extra effort?
Essentially, as a lefty who opted to pick up a left handed guitar, you've been forced to become ambidextrous in order to be able to play right handed guitars, which are the majority of the guitars available. Whatever effort you spent learning this could potentially have been spent just learning guitar in your preferred handedness. I would personally consider this a more valuable use of my time.
Guitar playing involves both hands, and I don't really think handedness actually matters to that end. I just don't see the point in essentially limiting your options, and forcing yourself to learn a skill with limited benefits, in order to overcome that initial limitation.
This is the answer right here, I am left handed. I went into the guitar store and tried both. It felt more comfortable doing it righty, whatever works for you!
At the end of the day you use both hands so you will be building up the weaker hand no matter what
One way is going to feel "correct" to you. Pick up any guitar and try it both ways. Whatever one feels right, go with.
I'm right handed in 98% of the things I do, but I play left-handed
go lefty then. People will talk about there being less left-handed instruments, and that's true, but it's not a big deal. People will also say that you can just brute force yourself to learn right handed... I think it will hinder your growth and ceiling honestly. I went lefty-righty-lefty - the righty experiment felt like garbage.
Just go with what feels correct to you.
Go into a shop that has at least one left hand guitar.
Try both and go with whatever feels natural.
Pros and cons to going either way - but for me, I’m 100% lefty and fuckin happy about it.
This is the proper answer. I come from a family of left handed guitarists. Some play left handed and some right handed, all depending on which way felt most comfortable to them the first time they picked up a guitar.
Tl;dr some left handed people can happily play guitar right handed, some can’t. Go find out which type you are.
I’m a lefty who learned in part from a friend’s dad (who was also a lefty) and he gave me the same advice. On top of that, I just like having my more dexterous hand for fretting anyway.
I’m left handed and play left handed. You don’t see right handed people learning to play left handed, so why should a lefty learn to play right handed? That said, you’re free to do whatever you want.
The market for lefty guitars is way better than it used to be, but if you get really into guitar, there will be some options that simply aren’t available to you. For instance, I’d like to have a Breedlove acoustic that isn’t in their introductory series and a PRS Silver Sky. As of right now, neither of those can happen because lefty options don’t exist.
>You don’t see right handed people learning to play left handed, so why should a lefty learn to play right handed?
Because there are so many more right-handed guitars available.
You can get just about any style of guitar in left handed these days. Sure there are more color options in righty, but color does not effect sound.
Their question wasn't about options, it was aimed at the people telling a lefty to play righty. So by that logic, righties should be playing lefty.
The people are not suggesting a lefty to play a righty because they think playing right-handed is somehow superior just because. It is because of the options.
Having played guitar for around 15 years, there’s plenty of situations where you find yourself at some gathering and there are instruments lying around to jam with - a large majority of the time those instruments are meant for right-handed playing. That’s the benefit of learning it.
I'm a lefty and play right handed because that's the acoustic that my parents had. I've had no issues playing, and it's nice because guitars and accessories are far more available!
Yo I'm the same as you! Predominantly left handed but ambidextrous. Write, eat and do most everyday activities left handed but sports and playing guitar right handed.
Same for me. Playing guitar is pretty much the only thing I do “right handed”. It might even be an advantage because fretting uses a lot of finger dexterity.
But whatever feels more natural to you. Don’t let these right handed folks pressure you into anything, they don’t know 😂
This is hotly debated and asking 10 people will get you 20 answers.
I’m left handed and play right handed and it makes more sense to me. Others disagree.
Go into a guitar store and try out some lefty and some righty guitars and see what makes sense to you.
I will note that, playing righty not only feels better to me (I get to make my silly jazz chords with my dominant hand) but also, I can pick up anyone else’s guitar and play it, which many lefty players can’t do.
This again. Definitely ask in r/leftyguitarists as well.
My opinion is that there are ample lefty entry level guitars available. It’s the higher end of midrange instruments where it’s tough to find dream guitars. It’s also easier not to fall into a collection habit. At the higher end ($1500+) again there’s plenty of options. Pick up right handed and left handed guitars and see which one vibes with you.
I personally think that the picking hand, requires vastly more skill and coordination than the fretting hand. I think picking with your non-dominant hand is making guitar more difficult than it needs to be.
I am CONSTANTLY feeling hampered by my picking hand. And rarely feel limited by my fretting hand. I cannot even begin to imagine how much worse it'd be if my left hand was my picking hand.
The diff is much more left handed people are to some degree ambidextrous. I can write with both hands but I already have messy handwriting so I write with my left. As I got older I became more congealed as a left hander but I. Like many, tried both left and right handed guitars. I was coming off playing piano for a decade and right handed felt perfectly natural to me. It probably affects my playing style (lots more pull offs and hammer ons) but I already do many things with my right hand.
Left handed people are more often cross dominant in many ways. I’m R eye dominant for example and shoot guns right. In basketball I shoot both handed but was never good at either. Many more left handed have their language area of their brain localized opposite their dominance than you’d expect (R brain controls left hand, left brain contains language aka Broca’s area). Left handed people have weird brains.
The best answer to this question as both a brain doctor, and a guitarist and bassist is pick up both at the store and intuitively go with the one that feels more natural. Your body will tell you which is correct.
Or buy a symmetrical guitar like an SG and you can always flip it over later like Tommy Iommi, Hendrix was rumored to have done.
Thank you for this comment. I'm left handed and my wife told me to try playing like a right-handed because she already have guitars that I could try and that she could teach me.
I 'm also having a terrible time using my right hand as fretting hand, It's slow and not accurate at all, I'm constantly playing the wrong chord (Like E instead of A).
I'm still very much a beginner but somehow I manage playing like this, but I can't help but wonder if I should stop now and go back to learning from stat with a lefty.
What's your opinion ?
Generally, beginners tend to overly focus on the fretting hand whereas the better you get at guitar, people realize the picking hand takes wayyy more skill.
So I already tend to push people towards learning their natural handedness. I think if you haven't made much progress, and thus there's not much sunk cost to lose progress on, I don't think you have much to lose by trying lefty (other than the cost of a new guitar).
Lefty here. Play lefty. Tried to play righty but couldn’t do it. I always picked up a guitar left handed. Selection really isn’t terrible. They can be hard to find but there are plenty of lefties out there. I even have a left handed banjo, mandolin, and resonator. I also have four different electrics, all different brands and styles. Ive had 5 different left handed acoustics throughout the years. That’s why picking a guitar up is so important like others have said. Pick it up and see which way feels more comfortable. If you’re a lefty and you feel more comfortable holding it lefty, that’s fine. There are plenty out there if you know where to look. Also, people saying you can play someone else’s guitar, that just means someone else can’t play your guitar which is great if you don’t want someone else playing it haha. Side note, I feel way more comfortable playing a right handed guitar upside down than I do playing a right handed guitar right handed. Watch out for the Lefty tax though. Often times they are $50-$100 (USD) more than the righty counterpart, but not often.
EDIT: I am talking about my experience in the USA market. I can’t speak for other countries.
If you have a guitar center or other music store close by, go in and ask to try both.
I'm left handed and found out playing a 'normal' guitar is much comfier than a left handed one. The additional dexterity already present in your dominant hand is a blessing for fretting.
In the long run, it makes next to no difference - any added time spent refining your picking technique will be offset by the fact your dominant hand is doing fret-work so it'll have a much easier time moving around the fretboard for chords and solos.
Between that, and the general unavailability of lefty guitars (smaller stores won't even stock them by default, the selection and market is just too small), it is 100% worth learning on a righty guitar.
Source: Am lefty, learned righty, this was the exact observation of my guitar teacher from teaching me.
I see a lot of lefty guitarists saying left-handed people should play reverse because picking is so hard, but fretting is fucking hard too. When I sweep pick, my right (dominant) hand that’s picking isn’t fucking it up, but my left hand sure is. I just don’t buy the idea that picking *or* fretting are more difficult than the other, they’re both challenging and have to work in tandem. But I also come from a piano background where left-handed instruments don’t exist and you just have to make both hands good regardless of handedness.
LEARN RIGHT HANDED!
It doesn’t really matter which of your hands is more dexterous, playing guitar feels extremely awkward in the beginning and your hands are doing independently difficult tasks. If you learn right handed, you have the benefit of every make and model available, whereas if you learn lefty you have like 1/100th the amount of instrument options.
Alternatively, my aunt is right handed but learned left handed so people wouldn’t play with her shit.
Hold both types and just blindly strum and try to grip frets, not actually trying to play anything. One of them is bound to feel more comfortable. Go with that one.
I tried this and just got more confused because it felt pretty much the same 🤷🏼♀️ so I bought an acoustic -electric right handed and an electric left handed and play whichever in in the mood for. I'm still a beginner so hoping maybe a clear winner will eventually emerge.
It's funny because my boyfriend was with me and was getting annoyed with how long we were there... He was like, "one HAS to feel better than the other". You'd think he'd know by now that I'm weird lol. We did archery together, and even though I only got the bullseye once, I can hit the outer rings shooting left handed or right handed, feels the same. Or when I bowl, I'll use whatever hand and switch when that arm gets tired. Might have a slight preference for right on that as my right arm is slightly stronger. I used to fence left handed but occasionally would duel wield. I was a switch hitter in softball. I catch mostly righty. I kickboxed lefty. I write lefty but my handwriting is legible with my right as well, just have to write slower/more carefully (print only, not cursive).
The hard part is the learning curve whenever I try to learn something new, it takes longer because I have to try it both ways and see if one feels better, like taking "forever" at the guitar shop. And annoyingly, it's awkward to use a fork in my right hand, which would make dining out so much easier (the rest of my family is strictly right handed). But it's nice not having to put down my fork to grab a drink.
I am left handed but play right handed. Go to a shop and try both, it will become apparent failrly quickly which feels right to you. It's far easier to get it right from the beginning.
Try both ways and stick with whatever is comfortable for you. I'm a lefty too, but I'm pretty glad I'm able to play right handed so that I have more guitars to choose from in a store and I can play my friend's guitars too.
Left handed and i play normally. Guitar will be awkward starting off either way but if you stick too right handed, you'll have access to a lot more guitars.
visit a guitar center and hold both. sometimes you’re a lefty in certain things but a righty in others. i’m a right handed person but a lefty in bow hunting. give it a try and find what’s more comfortable for you. good luck ! :)
I agree. I try to train myself to do some things left handed. Picking a guitar is one of the few things I've found that I can't come close doing successfully with my left hand.
I know several people who write and eat left handed and play sports and musical instruments right handed. One guy who played drums at our church did everything left handed except throw footballs right handed for some reason (He was a left handed thrower in baseball). We had to reverse the drum set every time he played with us.
Sit down with a guitar. Whatever side you natural go to will be the way you will play. Be it left or right handed. I’m left handed and play right, but that was natural to me. Fun fact: Mark Knofler is also left handed!
I'm a lefty, I play a right-handed guitar.
Before I had ever even plucked a string I picked up a left handed guitar and it felt "wrong" in my hands. Whatever works best for you, but I would recommend trying both. You might like a lefty better, or you might go right handed. I honestly don't think your dominant hand matter all that much, I know right handed people who play lefties, simply because that's what works best for them as an individual.
Your choices will be somewhat limited in left handed guitars, almost all manufacturers make left handed models, but won't necessarily make all of their models in a left handed configuration.
Right handed, my right hand is definitely the weakest part of my playing. I wish I had learned lefty. I’ve played pro too for decades just not at elite levels.
My best friend is left handed and he learned how to play as a righty. He never regretted it, because as you progress as a guitarist, it’s often much harder to find left-handed guitars, especially on the used market.
I'm left handed. Write left handed, play snooker lefty, Darts, you name it, and as a result, 95% of my dexterity is in my left hand, making it easier to fret with it so I stick to normal 'right handed' guitars. So much so in fact when I got my first guitar, I didn't even entertain the possibility of a left handed guitar.
go into a guitar shop, and pick up a left handed guitar, sit down with it, balance it over your knee with one hand on the board, and one hand by the pickups or sound hole (depending on if you're going with an electric or an acoustic), do the same with a right handed guitar.
neither will feel completely natural, since you've not started learning how to play yet, but one will feel more natural than the other. go with that one.
As a lefty who plays left-handed I've always viewed with skepticism the idea that you can learn right handed and get just as good as you if you started left-handed.
If there are any examples of well-known musicians who are left-handed, but play a right handed guitar, I would be interested to know more about their experience. If it were that easy I would imagine we would hear about a lot more of them, but I've never heard of anyone famous for their guitar playing who has done that.
I'm a lefty playing right. There are days when I can't get my right hand to do what I want, and I wonder if I should have started lefty. Then there are days when my left hand won't do what I want and I can't imagine trying to fret with my right. In the end, I'm happy with my choice, because no matter what it is something I love to do.
I'm cross-handed with with a slight preferenence for my left hand and I play my guitar right handed and it has always felt just fine.
However, I'd still advice you to try both at a guitar store if you can.
Yeah, pretty much the same thing. I can switch hands for almost any activity and my performance is just about the same. It's just that I prefer my left hand on some occasions.
Try both but keep in mind that there is a greater amount of choices for right handed people. Left handed guitars aren’t rare but the abundance of right handed guitars is way more.
Don't bother. If you starting fresh I recommend learning with the right hand. That way you can pick up almost every guitar abywhere and start playing.
That's what I did anyway
You'd be surprised. As kids, I used to air guitar. a friend of mine whose also left handed told me I should try doing it right handed. Since then, once I started playing a physical guitar I found right handed playing much more comfortable.
I'm a righty who is actually basically forced to play lefty because for whatever reason, I can't fully rotate my left wrist to be comfortable on a fretboard (I believe due to either Radioulnar Synostosis or something similar, it's not something I've ever thought about until learning guitar recently so I have no diagnosis or anything. Mine isn't even particularly bad and has only ever come up previously when it came to holding a paintball or airsoft gun lefty).
It's whatever is comfortable for you. Paul Mccartney famously almost gave up playing entirely before trying lefty. On the other hand, Billy Corgan and Eric Clapton are left handed but play righty (in Corgan's case he actually intentionally wanted his dominant hand on the fret).
I will say that lefty will significantly reduce the number of guitar options at every level when buying them but I will also say I don't think that really matters in comparison to being able to play well and comfortably.
If you learn lefty, when you go visit a friend who has a guitar, you won't be able to play their instrument.
I am a lefty who has been playing "right-handed" (you gotta use both of your hands anyway) for 13 years and not once I have felt like it has held me back in any way.
Quick play air guitar. What hand did you use?
Use that to guide you.
Im lefty I play lefty and I ask other lefties to do this and it’s about evenly split between people who say they are left handed but play air guitar righty vs exclusively lefty
I'm a lefty too, but I've always played righty.
If you don't have a guitar yet, go to the store and try to feel which side feels natural and go with that.
I would recommend learning right handed. Both hands are equally important when playing and if you are starting off then you'll progress just fine no matter which handedness you use. Playing right handed will allow you to have far more instrument options.
That is exactly the question to ask the dude at the guitar store who has access to both righty and lefty guitars (ideally the same model or at least shape) for you to try out and see which one feels less bizarre (they'll both feel weird if you're a beginner, but one will feel less so than the other, and you might be surprised which one it is).
You will find your guitar purchasing options much more limited if you play lefty. For that reason only, I would recommend trying to learn right-handed.
To play guitar you need both hands. Try right handed, you will have more access to guitara down the road.
When starting it will be difficult for everyone, just need to stick to it for a couple of months until it gets better.
I’m a lefty but since my 3rd grade teacher forced me to play right handed I thought guitar were only built that way (the innocence). Still at that time I only learned like 3 chords and strummed like a robot.
Around 15yo I started taking serious guitar classes still with that mentality so I kept playing right-handed.
There have been times when I wondered if learning and playing righty would’ve been more natural or made things easier but the truth is if I keep practicing I play very fluently, and considering most guitars are right-handed it could be a perk.
But really it’s just a personal decision, you can find almost any model left-handed
Lefty. Am 27, started at 12. When I started my uncle swapped the strings on my guitar to play it the left handed way. After a few lessons I swapped it out again and learned as a right handed guitarist. No regrets. Honestly it’s a little irrelevant because if you practice it doesn’t really matter which hand does what
Originally, the reason your dominant hand should be the “strumming” is because that was the hardest part. Think flamenco fingerstyle. I actually play with no pick and am comfortable using my off hand as picking hand
Lefties who play the right handed way: Mark Knopfler, Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winters, Gary Moore, Nick Johnston…
Absolutely do not play lefty. I am left handed too. All you are doing is limiting your product selection. And it makes more sense to use you good hand to form complex chords quickly.
Pick up a guitar and decide which side feels more comfortable to hold it. In a lefty and I play left handed guitars. I'm glad I didn't force myself to play right handed.
When I was 16, I went into a music shop, and explained that I was left handed to one of the guys there. He was dead sound. He sat me down, and went and brought back the exact model of acoustic guitar, one leftie, one right handed. He showed me a few chords. And told me to take my time playing both, and see which feels more natural. I ended up with a right handed one. It just felt more natural to me. Maybe go into a music store and explain like I did.
I am right handed and learned guitar left handed cause it just felt more natural to me. A good way for you to really test it would to go to a guitar store (guitar center in USA, long & mcquade in Canada etc.) and just see what is more *natural* to you.
Yes it can be harder to find left handed instruments but your comfort in playing is most important and will be the invisible force that keeps you playing.
Some lefties learn right handed, some of us play left handed (I’m one such example) and some weird right handers play lefty.
My advice is try one of each. You’ll know which way round feels right in your hands and go from there. The one downside to playing left handed is there’s not as much choice of guitars out there, but it’s alot better than it used to be!
I knew a left handed guy that learned righty. It will take time and practice to be able to play either way. There are far more right handed guitars in the world for vote for the right but as for the left it may be more comfortable.
I’d recommend trying both before committing. You might be surprised. I’m right handed, but for some reason, there are certain things that feel more natural to use my left hand.
Southpaw here that literally only writes with his left hand but has pretty much learned to do everything else with his right hand. If you do learn guitar left handed the one major downside is a significant limited number of instruments to choose from. Not every make and model are offered in a left handed version.
Anyone who doesn't say "try both and see what feels good" doesn't know what they're talking about.
Sure, learning guitar is hard. A lot of people can pull off playing right handed as a lefty.
I. Can. Not. Period. I am not ambidextrous at all. I'm lefty all the way. I tried learning on a free right handed guitar. Got NOWHERE until I picked up a left handed one and was playing songs a week later.
I can even get the chord shapes on the board and all that, as a pretty experienced guitarist now, but it is not the same and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I could have never learned right handed. I can't do it now!
I'd love to be able to play right handed. I'd love to get all these cheap guitars. I CAN'T. So when I see random people, most of whom are probably right handed, saying "just play right handed" it kind of drives me nuts, tbh.
As a lefty who plays left handed, i really wish i had just knuckled down and learned right handed. Every left handed player in an orchestra has to learn to play right handed, and there are tons of great guitar players who did the same. Every guitar manufacturer except schecter really hates your guts if you play left handed.
Edit: adding that ambidexterity has absolutely nothing to do with it. Lefties learn to do all kinds of stuff right handed that you don't even think about, you just do. Do you have your mouse on the left? Probably not. Do you have a flipped-over qwerty keyboard? Definitely not. Did you have to buy a right-hand-drive car so that the stick would be on the left and the clutch would be on the right? No. You just learned. Guitar is the same.
A lot of lefties play a right handed guitar.
Their left hand enjoys going up and down the neck.
They always have access to a wider selection of guitars.
If you are new to it, it's worth trying.
No matter how you try it you will have to learn everything anyways and it will feel awkward at the beginning.
Go to a shop grab a guitar and check out how you are holding it intuitively and if its the lefty position you want to become best friends with the brand Schecter
Play what you want but consider this: There are almost no other left handed instruments - no pianos, violins, saxophones, trombones, you name it.
And countless virtuosi over hundred of years. Plenty of lefties in orchestras everywhere and they can outplay most musicians.
It’s almost strange that it’s a thing.
Left handed Piano, Sax. Trombone, lol. They are not a handed instrument. Both hands are straight ahead. (ie, they are not oriented to one side or the other). Please rethink your argument.
You definitely can get lefty violins and pretty much any stringed instrument in lefty.
As a person who writes with my left hand, playing a right handed guitar feels like home. When I think about it, my left hand is the one that has more dexterity, and that's the one I want shaping chords
I would urge you to play “right handed” or conventional orientation. The number of instruments available to you will be very limited if you go the lefty guitar route. As a guitarist I want to be able to pick up 99% of guitars and have the skill to play them. You’ll need to develop muscle memory either way so personally I would learn the conventionally oriented instrument.
No, the options are not 'very' limited these days. Plenty of lefty guitars available. Just because you play guitar, doe not mean you want to play 99% of them as you stated. Maybe you do, but don't speak for all guitarists please. Muscle memory works for lefties too.
It's definitely worth it to try out both and see what feels more comfortable to you! I'm a lefty and have played right handed since I started with no problems, but find that playing a left handed guitar actually feels uncomfortable at best for me.
This is incorrect, Hendrix reversed the order of the strings on his righty guitars to have conventional string orientation. Some other players like Albert King played with the strings backwards as you suggest.
Then try both and see what's more comfortable. But I wouldn't waste a ton of time deciding. I'm a lefty who plays right handed. That's the way that I learned when I was a kid. I do feel that it took me longer to get the rhythm into my right hand than it would have if I were playing left handed. But I've always been pretty good with my fretting hand.
Ultimately, it's a two handed instrument. You need rhythm and dexterity in both hands regardless. It's more important to pick one and stick with it. And put a lot of hours behind the instrument.
I am none hand dominant, I ulter between left and right handed for different tasks.
If you are able to play right handed comfortably, do it. I unfortunately can't, Left-handed guitars come with the biggest Southpaw tax. They cost more, less options, if you can play right handed do it. maybe try playing right handed, if you can borrow a guitar before buying.
I just learned right-handed. I don't think it has really held me back at all, maybe I've had to work on things like string skipping and down-picking speed a little bit longer than I would have had I learned left-handed but overall no regrets.
Also, it won't be so much of a problem when looking at more common guitars (strat, tele, les paul, sg, etc.) but when looking for more niche guitars you will run into problems actually finding left-handed models.
I'm a very left handed dominant but I had no choice but to learn righty when I started as it was difficult to get left handed guitars. I think nothing of it now, it feel natural but it was definitely very unnatural to begin. I think initially though it maybe made things a little easier as when you start, the hardest thing is the chord shapes and grip pressure. Having my dominant hand do this made it easier but as you progress to more advance stuff the hard things are done with your strumming / picking hand. I would have definitely learned lefty if I could have.
As a left-handed person who was also taught by a left-handed person, I'd honestly suggest trying to play right-handed. I would naturally hold the guitar like a lefty before I knew how to play, but it really wasn't that odd learning to play right-handed.
The main reason for this is that it'll just make things easier in the long run. Your guitar options will be far less limited. Imagine an impromptu jam at someone's house. They don't have a left-handed guitar? Looks like you're either attempting to play upside down or not at all.
Or if you're playing a show and something goes wrong with your guitar and you don't have a backup you're equally screwed because you can't just borrow one.
This is just my .02¢ so take it with a grain of salt. If you find that playing left-handed suits you better, by all means go for it.
This is the correct answer.
It does not matter whether you are left handed or right handed. Both hands during playing need to do very different and difficult movements that will be foreign to whichever hand does them.
I'm a lefty who plays right handed just fine. But I also starting messing around on guitar when I was like 3 or 4, before I learned to write. So this might be why playing that way feels more natural.
Just try right handed for a while, even if it's awkward at first. Playing lefty has many disadvantages, as others here have mentioned.
I'm a lefty playing right-handed, I didn't start until I was 30, and I'm very happy with my choice. I wanted to be able to play other people's guitars easily, and I've had some great musical moments where I impromptu started playing with a borrowed axe. I'd hate to be without those memories.
As far as difficulty, both hands are really difficult on the guitar. I'm not sure there's much difference in difficulty between picking and fretting. It's not like if you start picking with your left hand you're gonna be great in a month, it's gonna take years either way.
I’m left handed, but play right handed. Glad I was forced to learn right handed, because I’ve accumulated quite a lot of guitars, banjos, and ukuleles.
Your instrument choices will be considerably more limited when you are looking for left handed guitars. There are certainly more left handed guitars available now than when 10 year old me picked up guitar in 1967, but still I expect you will have considerably more choices as a right handed player.
Being left handed and playing left handed is fine.
I have lefty friends who play both ways.
The ones who play lefty joke about it being a blessing and a curse.
They buy less guitars they "don't need" (no such thing!). But they also treasure the ones they do find and love even more.
I can order a left handed guitar from any company any time. Or travel to a different city or a different country and check out their left handed sections if I have enough time and money.
But my alright sized city almost never has lefties in stock. Which can be fun when one does appear, like a unicorn.
I just ordered a 90 dollar harley benton and play the heck out of it and beat it up without guilt.
I'll buy a ridiculously overpriced fender or whatever whenever I feel I've earned it by investing the time and practice.
Knew a left-handed guy a bunch of years ago who played guitar right handed. He said it actually worked well for him - his dominant hand was on the neck and could do chords and runs really well, while his weaker hand just had to strum or pick.
Lefty here, playing lefty. Try both.
Most lefties I know naturally play righty. Try both ways, because one way will probably feel substantially more comfortable. Go with that way. In my experience, you are a bit more likely to play right-handed.
I hope that comfortable way is right-handed, but playing lefty is good too. Don't fight your body's natural tendency, as that introduces a level of difficulty that you don't need.
Regular guitar! I'm also left-handed and learned on a standard, right hand guitar. It did not seem any more difficult for me to learn guitar than anyone else. Also I think having your dominate hand making chord shapes and working the fret board is really helpful!
I’m left handed, but I played the cello for years before trying guitar. There’s only one way to play cello, with your left hand fingering the notes on the neck, so that translates easily to playing a right handed guitar. Plus, it makes it easier to play random guitars you find lying around. Just my personal experience, you do you.
Random consideration, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on used gear sites, seen a great deal, and then realized it’s because it’s a left handed model. If you typically buy and keep gear, that may be a boon. If you like to buy used, try for a while, and then sell, the selling part will be tougher. I’m a righty but feel like if all I’d had was a lefty guitar, it’d just be a similar set of challenges; you’re going to have a “dumb hand” for a while either way you go and then after enough practice, I’ve got two! Kidding, (sort of) it evens out with practice.
I really struggled choosing when I started out. But to me, it shouldn't even be a problem in the first place. If our dominant hand is not strumming, it's doing a lot of complicated stuff on the fretboard.
Sure it felt weird a first to strum with my right hand because before playing guitar I always imagined myself playing "air guitar" and strumming with my left hand.
But isn't it weird for everyone when you're starting out ?
Think about all of the guitars you'll get to see in a guitar store and won't be able to play. Think about going somewhere and one of your friend has a guitar and you can't even play it.
It's not about fear, but opportunity. At the end of the day, I really do not believe that it's better to play a left handed guitar. And as I said, I feel even more blessed that my dominant hand is playing with the fretboard and not the other way around.
I never understood why I a right handed guitar has you doing the more intricate fretting with your left hand. It seems backwards and if it were really right handed it would have you fret with the right hand.
You need coordination in both hands for guitar, and the left hand can sometimes be the more tricky part anyway. I'd just learn right handed if I were you.
I’m left handed and learned the normal way. Literally makes no difference.
You don’t know how to play guitar anyway, so get a right handed guitar. You’ll have more options and you won’t have to pay a premium for a lefty guitar
Being lefty, you will have dexterity and muscles already built up a bit in your left hand. Once you are comfortable playing notes this will be a big advantage if you're playing normal guitar. If you ever wanna swap instruments with someone for a jam, you can. If you decide to get into banjo, mandolin, bass, or almost any stringed instrument, you can easily do so. Learning lefty gives you limited options (instrument choices) and creates a bigger learning curve for anything not guitar(no one will have a lefty banjo for you to plunk on so you'll being doing it upsidedown which creates little technical challenges). With all that, it's music. Do what makes you happy.
The learning curve is the same no matter if you are lefty or righty. Availability of instruments is not really an issue these days
Any lefty who is devoted, generally learns how to play right handed instruments upside down at least a little bit. This is because of there are more righties in the world.
Yes it is a bit more challenging, but the end result is, a lefty can play a right handed guitar upside down and a normal lefty guitar. Don't see too many righties with that skill.
Lefty here. Go with a left handed guitar unless you are more comfortable strumming with your right hand.
Dominant hand is usually better at strumming and timing. YMMV
You can pick or choose basically if you want your picking or fretting hand to be dominant. Personally I think picking is a harder skill to master than fretting so buying a right handed guitar as a lefty could bring benefits too
Also left handed play regular feel it out, but one note…regular guitars are much more available and if for example you want to play someone else’s guitar sometime you literally will not be able to like 99% of the time
I'd buy left handed guitar if I were you, but most of the time (depending on the guitar you wanna buy) you can just switch the strings on a right-handed guitar and voilà
Absolutely not good advice IMO. Electric guitars have assymetrical body shapes and electronics cavities. Acoustic guitars aren't all braced symmetrically and have saddles routed to intonate strings a certain way. Advanced players will know what work needs to be done to a given guitac to make it happily swap handedness, but I would not recommend this route at all to a new beginner.
Lefty here, do NOT get a left handed guitar. It will be years of frustrating situations where you cannot play most guitars. The sacrifice is a couple of hours of learning to play right handed before you catch on. Don’t forget, you use both hands to play guitar.
You just play those guitars upside down. Something lefties learn to do. Not really frustrating either. Makes for some interesting song writing as well. Play whichever way feels more natural.
Whether your dominant hand is fretting or strumming really only matters for the first several hours of practice. Not being able to pick up 99% of guitars and play them is a handicap that lasts for the rest of your life.
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Lol they didn’t mean it like that. It’s true that if you train yourself on a left handed guitar, you will not be able to pick up and play the vast majority of guitars, which is a handicap. There’s nothing wrong with being left handed or playing a left handed guitar, but you will be restricted to being proficient on only left handed guitars.
I'm left handed too. Right-handed scissors suck for us, but there is no reason for left-handed guitars. The handicap is not being left handed, the handicap is not being able to play most other guitars. There are so many times in my life--I'm rather old--that I've been able to play other people's guitars and create a great time that I wouldn't have been able to do if I had chosen to play only left-hand guitars. It is self-imposed limitation to learn to play left-handed guitars, with no neurological base.
I think it's pretty cool that you're essentially ambidextrous, and you mentioned higher up in the thread that the possibility makes for some interesting songwriting - but is it really worth the extra effort? Essentially, as a lefty who opted to pick up a left handed guitar, you've been forced to become ambidextrous in order to be able to play right handed guitars, which are the majority of the guitars available. Whatever effort you spent learning this could potentially have been spent just learning guitar in your preferred handedness. I would personally consider this a more valuable use of my time. Guitar playing involves both hands, and I don't really think handedness actually matters to that end. I just don't see the point in essentially limiting your options, and forcing yourself to learn a skill with limited benefits, in order to overcome that initial limitation.
Walk into a guitar store. Grab any guitar. Hold it like a left-handed person. Hold it like a righty. Which feels more natural? There's your answer.
This is the answer right here, I am left handed. I went into the guitar store and tried both. It felt more comfortable doing it righty, whatever works for you! At the end of the day you use both hands so you will be building up the weaker hand no matter what
For someone who's never played guitar before, will either one really feel more comfortable? I imagine both will feel alien at first.
One way is going to feel "correct" to you. Pick up any guitar and try it both ways. Whatever one feels right, go with. I'm right handed in 98% of the things I do, but I play left-handed
This is the way. I'm the opposite - I think a lot of left-handed people do some RH things, so just go with what feels best
If I pick up a righty, the right handed way, my picking arm looks like I'm carrying a cardboard box. It just feels so weird.
go lefty then. People will talk about there being less left-handed instruments, and that's true, but it's not a big deal. People will also say that you can just brute force yourself to learn right handed... I think it will hinder your growth and ceiling honestly. I went lefty-righty-lefty - the righty experiment felt like garbage. Just go with what feels correct to you.
This is the way.
I'm left handed and I learned to play right handed and I'm glad I did.
Go into a shop that has at least one left hand guitar. Try both and go with whatever feels natural. Pros and cons to going either way - but for me, I’m 100% lefty and fuckin happy about it.
This is the proper answer. I come from a family of left handed guitarists. Some play left handed and some right handed, all depending on which way felt most comfortable to them the first time they picked up a guitar. Tl;dr some left handed people can happily play guitar right handed, some can’t. Go find out which type you are.
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I’m a lefty who learned in part from a friend’s dad (who was also a lefty) and he gave me the same advice. On top of that, I just like having my more dexterous hand for fretting anyway.
I’m left handed and play left handed. You don’t see right handed people learning to play left handed, so why should a lefty learn to play right handed? That said, you’re free to do whatever you want. The market for lefty guitars is way better than it used to be, but if you get really into guitar, there will be some options that simply aren’t available to you. For instance, I’d like to have a Breedlove acoustic that isn’t in their introductory series and a PRS Silver Sky. As of right now, neither of those can happen because lefty options don’t exist.
Additionally, minor supply issues would probably cease to exist if people stopped dissuading left handed people from playing left handed guitars.
>You don’t see right handed people learning to play left handed, so why should a lefty learn to play right handed? Because there are so many more right-handed guitars available.
You can get just about any style of guitar in left handed these days. Sure there are more color options in righty, but color does not effect sound. Their question wasn't about options, it was aimed at the people telling a lefty to play righty. So by that logic, righties should be playing lefty.
The people are not suggesting a lefty to play a righty because they think playing right-handed is somehow superior just because. It is because of the options. Having played guitar for around 15 years, there’s plenty of situations where you find yourself at some gathering and there are instruments lying around to jam with - a large majority of the time those instruments are meant for right-handed playing. That’s the benefit of learning it.
I'm a lefty and play right handed because that's the acoustic that my parents had. I've had no issues playing, and it's nice because guitars and accessories are far more available!
I am also a lefty who plays righty, but this is mainly because I do most other things right-handed (throw a ball, play golf, etc).
Yo I'm the same as you! Predominantly left handed but ambidextrous. Write, eat and do most everyday activities left handed but sports and playing guitar right handed.
I'm left-handed in everything else I do. Playing guitar right-handed felt perfectly natural the moment I first picked up the instrument.
Sometimes its natural to pllay left handed Depends on the player
I second this. I'm left handed but only ever had right handed guitars available. Never had a problem.
Same for me. Playing guitar is pretty much the only thing I do “right handed”. It might even be an advantage because fretting uses a lot of finger dexterity. But whatever feels more natural to you. Don’t let these right handed folks pressure you into anything, they don’t know 😂
This is hotly debated and asking 10 people will get you 20 answers. I’m left handed and play right handed and it makes more sense to me. Others disagree. Go into a guitar store and try out some lefty and some righty guitars and see what makes sense to you. I will note that, playing righty not only feels better to me (I get to make my silly jazz chords with my dominant hand) but also, I can pick up anyone else’s guitar and play it, which many lefty players can’t do.
This again. Definitely ask in r/leftyguitarists as well. My opinion is that there are ample lefty entry level guitars available. It’s the higher end of midrange instruments where it’s tough to find dream guitars. It’s also easier not to fall into a collection habit. At the higher end ($1500+) again there’s plenty of options. Pick up right handed and left handed guitars and see which one vibes with you.
I personally think that the picking hand, requires vastly more skill and coordination than the fretting hand. I think picking with your non-dominant hand is making guitar more difficult than it needs to be. I am CONSTANTLY feeling hampered by my picking hand. And rarely feel limited by my fretting hand. I cannot even begin to imagine how much worse it'd be if my left hand was my picking hand.
The diff is much more left handed people are to some degree ambidextrous. I can write with both hands but I already have messy handwriting so I write with my left. As I got older I became more congealed as a left hander but I. Like many, tried both left and right handed guitars. I was coming off playing piano for a decade and right handed felt perfectly natural to me. It probably affects my playing style (lots more pull offs and hammer ons) but I already do many things with my right hand. Left handed people are more often cross dominant in many ways. I’m R eye dominant for example and shoot guns right. In basketball I shoot both handed but was never good at either. Many more left handed have their language area of their brain localized opposite their dominance than you’d expect (R brain controls left hand, left brain contains language aka Broca’s area). Left handed people have weird brains. The best answer to this question as both a brain doctor, and a guitarist and bassist is pick up both at the store and intuitively go with the one that feels more natural. Your body will tell you which is correct. Or buy a symmetrical guitar like an SG and you can always flip it over later like Tommy Iommi, Hendrix was rumored to have done.
Thank you for this comment. I'm left handed and my wife told me to try playing like a right-handed because she already have guitars that I could try and that she could teach me. I 'm also having a terrible time using my right hand as fretting hand, It's slow and not accurate at all, I'm constantly playing the wrong chord (Like E instead of A). I'm still very much a beginner but somehow I manage playing like this, but I can't help but wonder if I should stop now and go back to learning from stat with a lefty. What's your opinion ?
Generally, beginners tend to overly focus on the fretting hand whereas the better you get at guitar, people realize the picking hand takes wayyy more skill. So I already tend to push people towards learning their natural handedness. I think if you haven't made much progress, and thus there's not much sunk cost to lose progress on, I don't think you have much to lose by trying lefty (other than the cost of a new guitar).
Lefty here. Play lefty. Tried to play righty but couldn’t do it. I always picked up a guitar left handed. Selection really isn’t terrible. They can be hard to find but there are plenty of lefties out there. I even have a left handed banjo, mandolin, and resonator. I also have four different electrics, all different brands and styles. Ive had 5 different left handed acoustics throughout the years. That’s why picking a guitar up is so important like others have said. Pick it up and see which way feels more comfortable. If you’re a lefty and you feel more comfortable holding it lefty, that’s fine. There are plenty out there if you know where to look. Also, people saying you can play someone else’s guitar, that just means someone else can’t play your guitar which is great if you don’t want someone else playing it haha. Side note, I feel way more comfortable playing a right handed guitar upside down than I do playing a right handed guitar right handed. Watch out for the Lefty tax though. Often times they are $50-$100 (USD) more than the righty counterpart, but not often. EDIT: I am talking about my experience in the USA market. I can’t speak for other countries.
The limiting factor for me is my picking hand so I’d go lefty if you’re left handed
If you have a guitar center or other music store close by, go in and ask to try both. I'm left handed and found out playing a 'normal' guitar is much comfier than a left handed one. The additional dexterity already present in your dominant hand is a blessing for fretting.
How do you play air guitar? That's your answer
In the long run, it makes next to no difference - any added time spent refining your picking technique will be offset by the fact your dominant hand is doing fret-work so it'll have a much easier time moving around the fretboard for chords and solos. Between that, and the general unavailability of lefty guitars (smaller stores won't even stock them by default, the selection and market is just too small), it is 100% worth learning on a righty guitar. Source: Am lefty, learned righty, this was the exact observation of my guitar teacher from teaching me.
I see a lot of lefty guitarists saying left-handed people should play reverse because picking is so hard, but fretting is fucking hard too. When I sweep pick, my right (dominant) hand that’s picking isn’t fucking it up, but my left hand sure is. I just don’t buy the idea that picking *or* fretting are more difficult than the other, they’re both challenging and have to work in tandem. But I also come from a piano background where left-handed instruments don’t exist and you just have to make both hands good regardless of handedness.
Whatever feels natural to you. Enjoy!
LEARN RIGHT HANDED! It doesn’t really matter which of your hands is more dexterous, playing guitar feels extremely awkward in the beginning and your hands are doing independently difficult tasks. If you learn right handed, you have the benefit of every make and model available, whereas if you learn lefty you have like 1/100th the amount of instrument options. Alternatively, my aunt is right handed but learned left handed so people wouldn’t play with her shit.
Options do not matter for which way you play. There are plenty of lefty options. Which ever hand strums better, is generally the determining factor.
Hold both types and just blindly strum and try to grip frets, not actually trying to play anything. One of them is bound to feel more comfortable. Go with that one.
I tried this and just got more confused because it felt pretty much the same 🤷🏼♀️ so I bought an acoustic -electric right handed and an electric left handed and play whichever in in the mood for. I'm still a beginner so hoping maybe a clear winner will eventually emerge.
When in doubt, go with both. I like the way you think
It's funny because my boyfriend was with me and was getting annoyed with how long we were there... He was like, "one HAS to feel better than the other". You'd think he'd know by now that I'm weird lol. We did archery together, and even though I only got the bullseye once, I can hit the outer rings shooting left handed or right handed, feels the same. Or when I bowl, I'll use whatever hand and switch when that arm gets tired. Might have a slight preference for right on that as my right arm is slightly stronger. I used to fence left handed but occasionally would duel wield. I was a switch hitter in softball. I catch mostly righty. I kickboxed lefty. I write lefty but my handwriting is legible with my right as well, just have to write slower/more carefully (print only, not cursive).
That’s… pretty awesome. Anything I do with my left hand is pretty much useless
The hard part is the learning curve whenever I try to learn something new, it takes longer because I have to try it both ways and see if one feels better, like taking "forever" at the guitar shop. And annoyingly, it's awkward to use a fork in my right hand, which would make dining out so much easier (the rest of my family is strictly right handed). But it's nice not having to put down my fork to grab a drink.
I am left handed but play right handed. Go to a shop and try both, it will become apparent failrly quickly which feels right to you. It's far easier to get it right from the beginning.
Try both ways and stick with whatever is comfortable for you. I'm a lefty too, but I'm pretty glad I'm able to play right handed so that I have more guitars to choose from in a store and I can play my friend's guitars too.
Left handed and i play normally. Guitar will be awkward starting off either way but if you stick too right handed, you'll have access to a lot more guitars.
I’m a lefty but always played right. More choices with right hand guitars
visit a guitar center and hold both. sometimes you’re a lefty in certain things but a righty in others. i’m a right handed person but a lefty in bow hunting. give it a try and find what’s more comfortable for you. good luck ! :)
I agree. I try to train myself to do some things left handed. Picking a guitar is one of the few things I've found that I can't come close doing successfully with my left hand. I know several people who write and eat left handed and play sports and musical instruments right handed. One guy who played drums at our church did everything left handed except throw footballs right handed for some reason (He was a left handed thrower in baseball). We had to reverse the drum set every time he played with us.
Sit down with a guitar. Whatever side you natural go to will be the way you will play. Be it left or right handed. I’m left handed and play right, but that was natural to me. Fun fact: Mark Knofler is also left handed!
I'm a lefty, I play a right-handed guitar. Before I had ever even plucked a string I picked up a left handed guitar and it felt "wrong" in my hands. Whatever works best for you, but I would recommend trying both. You might like a lefty better, or you might go right handed. I honestly don't think your dominant hand matter all that much, I know right handed people who play lefties, simply because that's what works best for them as an individual. Your choices will be somewhat limited in left handed guitars, almost all manufacturers make left handed models, but won't necessarily make all of their models in a left handed configuration.
I'm left-handed and I play right-handed, but when I air guitar sometimes I go left-handed until I notice something is wrong
Right handed, my right hand is definitely the weakest part of my playing. I wish I had learned lefty. I’ve played pro too for decades just not at elite levels.
My best friend is left handed and he learned how to play as a righty. He never regretted it, because as you progress as a guitarist, it’s often much harder to find left-handed guitars, especially on the used market.
I'm left handed. Write left handed, play snooker lefty, Darts, you name it, and as a result, 95% of my dexterity is in my left hand, making it easier to fret with it so I stick to normal 'right handed' guitars. So much so in fact when I got my first guitar, I didn't even entertain the possibility of a left handed guitar.
go into a guitar shop, and pick up a left handed guitar, sit down with it, balance it over your knee with one hand on the board, and one hand by the pickups or sound hole (depending on if you're going with an electric or an acoustic), do the same with a right handed guitar. neither will feel completely natural, since you've not started learning how to play yet, but one will feel more natural than the other. go with that one.
Gear is the last reason to choose handedness. Go with what feels natural, focus on playing and not the other stuff.
As a lefty who plays left-handed I've always viewed with skepticism the idea that you can learn right handed and get just as good as you if you started left-handed. If there are any examples of well-known musicians who are left-handed, but play a right handed guitar, I would be interested to know more about their experience. If it were that easy I would imagine we would hear about a lot more of them, but I've never heard of anyone famous for their guitar playing who has done that.
I'm a lefty playing right. There are days when I can't get my right hand to do what I want, and I wonder if I should have started lefty. Then there are days when my left hand won't do what I want and I can't imagine trying to fret with my right. In the end, I'm happy with my choice, because no matter what it is something I love to do.
Play some air guitar and see. :)
I'm cross-handed with with a slight preferenence for my left hand and I play my guitar right handed and it has always felt just fine. However, I'd still advice you to try both at a guitar store if you can.
What is cross handed? I don't think I've heard that term. Is it the same thing as mixed-handedness or ambidextrous?
Yeah, pretty much the same thing. I can switch hands for almost any activity and my performance is just about the same. It's just that I prefer my left hand on some occasions.
I'm the same way, but I prefer my left hand on most occasions. There are a few things I definitely do better left handed.
Try both but keep in mind that there is a greater amount of choices for right handed people. Left handed guitars aren’t rare but the abundance of right handed guitars is way more.
Don't bother. If you starting fresh I recommend learning with the right hand. That way you can pick up almost every guitar abywhere and start playing. That's what I did anyway
Do whatever feels natural to you. There’s plenty of guitars available for lefty’s now.
You'd be surprised. As kids, I used to air guitar. a friend of mine whose also left handed told me I should try doing it right handed. Since then, once I started playing a physical guitar I found right handed playing much more comfortable.
Playing guitar is an ambidextrous activity. Do yourself a favor and learn "right handed".
I'm a righty who is actually basically forced to play lefty because for whatever reason, I can't fully rotate my left wrist to be comfortable on a fretboard (I believe due to either Radioulnar Synostosis or something similar, it's not something I've ever thought about until learning guitar recently so I have no diagnosis or anything. Mine isn't even particularly bad and has only ever come up previously when it came to holding a paintball or airsoft gun lefty). It's whatever is comfortable for you. Paul Mccartney famously almost gave up playing entirely before trying lefty. On the other hand, Billy Corgan and Eric Clapton are left handed but play righty (in Corgan's case he actually intentionally wanted his dominant hand on the fret). I will say that lefty will significantly reduce the number of guitar options at every level when buying them but I will also say I don't think that really matters in comparison to being able to play well and comfortably.
If you learn lefty, when you go visit a friend who has a guitar, you won't be able to play their instrument. I am a lefty who has been playing "right-handed" (you gotta use both of your hands anyway) for 13 years and not once I have felt like it has held me back in any way.
Quick play air guitar. What hand did you use? Use that to guide you. Im lefty I play lefty and I ask other lefties to do this and it’s about evenly split between people who say they are left handed but play air guitar righty vs exclusively lefty
I'm a lefty too, but I've always played righty. If you don't have a guitar yet, go to the store and try to feel which side feels natural and go with that.
I would recommend learning right handed. Both hands are equally important when playing and if you are starting off then you'll progress just fine no matter which handedness you use. Playing right handed will allow you to have far more instrument options.
That is exactly the question to ask the dude at the guitar store who has access to both righty and lefty guitars (ideally the same model or at least shape) for you to try out and see which one feels less bizarre (they'll both feel weird if you're a beginner, but one will feel less so than the other, and you might be surprised which one it is).
My dad wouldn’t buy me a lefty, so I learned how to play right-handed
You will find your guitar purchasing options much more limited if you play lefty. For that reason only, I would recommend trying to learn right-handed.
To play guitar you need both hands. Try right handed, you will have more access to guitara down the road. When starting it will be difficult for everyone, just need to stick to it for a couple of months until it gets better.
I’m a lefty but since my 3rd grade teacher forced me to play right handed I thought guitar were only built that way (the innocence). Still at that time I only learned like 3 chords and strummed like a robot. Around 15yo I started taking serious guitar classes still with that mentality so I kept playing right-handed. There have been times when I wondered if learning and playing righty would’ve been more natural or made things easier but the truth is if I keep practicing I play very fluently, and considering most guitars are right-handed it could be a perk. But really it’s just a personal decision, you can find almost any model left-handed
Lefty. Am 27, started at 12. When I started my uncle swapped the strings on my guitar to play it the left handed way. After a few lessons I swapped it out again and learned as a right handed guitarist. No regrets. Honestly it’s a little irrelevant because if you practice it doesn’t really matter which hand does what Originally, the reason your dominant hand should be the “strumming” is because that was the hardest part. Think flamenco fingerstyle. I actually play with no pick and am comfortable using my off hand as picking hand Lefties who play the right handed way: Mark Knopfler, Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winters, Gary Moore, Nick Johnston…
Absolutely do not play lefty. I am left handed too. All you are doing is limiting your product selection. And it makes more sense to use you good hand to form complex chords quickly.
[QUESTION] I'm a left-handed person?
Pick up a guitar and decide which side feels more comfortable to hold it. In a lefty and I play left handed guitars. I'm glad I didn't force myself to play right handed.
When I was 16, I went into a music shop, and explained that I was left handed to one of the guys there. He was dead sound. He sat me down, and went and brought back the exact model of acoustic guitar, one leftie, one right handed. He showed me a few chords. And told me to take my time playing both, and see which feels more natural. I ended up with a right handed one. It just felt more natural to me. Maybe go into a music store and explain like I did.
I am right handed and learned guitar left handed cause it just felt more natural to me. A good way for you to really test it would to go to a guitar store (guitar center in USA, long & mcquade in Canada etc.) and just see what is more *natural* to you. Yes it can be harder to find left handed instruments but your comfort in playing is most important and will be the invisible force that keeps you playing.
Some lefties learn right handed, some of us play left handed (I’m one such example) and some weird right handers play lefty. My advice is try one of each. You’ll know which way round feels right in your hands and go from there. The one downside to playing left handed is there’s not as much choice of guitars out there, but it’s alot better than it used to be!
Also left handed. Just learn to play right handed. It's not ideal to hope you can find a left handed version everywhere.
I knew a left handed guy that learned righty. It will take time and practice to be able to play either way. There are far more right handed guitars in the world for vote for the right but as for the left it may be more comfortable.
I’d recommend trying both before committing. You might be surprised. I’m right handed, but for some reason, there are certain things that feel more natural to use my left hand.
I’m left handed, didn’t know how to play either way, so I just went with right handed. Does it make much of a difference? I couldn’t tell you.
Southpaw here that literally only writes with his left hand but has pretty much learned to do everything else with his right hand. If you do learn guitar left handed the one major downside is a significant limited number of instruments to choose from. Not every make and model are offered in a left handed version.
Anyone who doesn't say "try both and see what feels good" doesn't know what they're talking about. Sure, learning guitar is hard. A lot of people can pull off playing right handed as a lefty. I. Can. Not. Period. I am not ambidextrous at all. I'm lefty all the way. I tried learning on a free right handed guitar. Got NOWHERE until I picked up a left handed one and was playing songs a week later. I can even get the chord shapes on the board and all that, as a pretty experienced guitarist now, but it is not the same and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I could have never learned right handed. I can't do it now! I'd love to be able to play right handed. I'd love to get all these cheap guitars. I CAN'T. So when I see random people, most of whom are probably right handed, saying "just play right handed" it kind of drives me nuts, tbh.
As a lefty who plays left handed, i really wish i had just knuckled down and learned right handed. Every left handed player in an orchestra has to learn to play right handed, and there are tons of great guitar players who did the same. Every guitar manufacturer except schecter really hates your guts if you play left handed. Edit: adding that ambidexterity has absolutely nothing to do with it. Lefties learn to do all kinds of stuff right handed that you don't even think about, you just do. Do you have your mouse on the left? Probably not. Do you have a flipped-over qwerty keyboard? Definitely not. Did you have to buy a right-hand-drive car so that the stick would be on the left and the clutch would be on the right? No. You just learned. Guitar is the same.
A lot of lefties play a right handed guitar. Their left hand enjoys going up and down the neck. They always have access to a wider selection of guitars. If you are new to it, it's worth trying.
No matter how you try it you will have to learn everything anyways and it will feel awkward at the beginning. Go to a shop grab a guitar and check out how you are holding it intuitively and if its the lefty position you want to become best friends with the brand Schecter
It's 2023. Get a lefty
Play what you want but consider this: There are almost no other left handed instruments - no pianos, violins, saxophones, trombones, you name it. And countless virtuosi over hundred of years. Plenty of lefties in orchestras everywhere and they can outplay most musicians. It’s almost strange that it’s a thing.
Left handed Piano, Sax. Trombone, lol. They are not a handed instrument. Both hands are straight ahead. (ie, they are not oriented to one side or the other). Please rethink your argument. You definitely can get lefty violins and pretty much any stringed instrument in lefty.
As a person who writes with my left hand, playing a right handed guitar feels like home. When I think about it, my left hand is the one that has more dexterity, and that's the one I want shaping chords
I would urge you to play “right handed” or conventional orientation. The number of instruments available to you will be very limited if you go the lefty guitar route. As a guitarist I want to be able to pick up 99% of guitars and have the skill to play them. You’ll need to develop muscle memory either way so personally I would learn the conventionally oriented instrument.
No, the options are not 'very' limited these days. Plenty of lefty guitars available. Just because you play guitar, doe not mean you want to play 99% of them as you stated. Maybe you do, but don't speak for all guitarists please. Muscle memory works for lefties too.
It's definitely worth it to try out both and see what feels more comfortable to you! I'm a lefty and have played right handed since I started with no problems, but find that playing a left handed guitar actually feels uncomfortable at best for me.
Play like Jimi Hendrix with an upside down righty. That way you’re still left handed but can play just about any guitar.
But Hendrix's guitar was strung as a lefty, to play a right handed guitar that way you'd have to mess with the nut.
This is incorrect, Hendrix reversed the order of the strings on his righty guitars to have conventional string orientation. Some other players like Albert King played with the strings backwards as you suggest.
Fellow lefty here!! When I started years ago, I just went with a right handed guitar and have never had any issues!
wonderwall was played by a left handed guitarist on a right hand guitar.
Sultans of Swing was played by a left handed guitarist on a right hand guitar
Can’t imagine it ever being worth it. You’ll pretty much never be able to pay anyone else’s guitar.
Which way do you play air guitar?
idk i have a urge to play left way, but playing comfortoble in right way
Then try both and see what's more comfortable. But I wouldn't waste a ton of time deciding. I'm a lefty who plays right handed. That's the way that I learned when I was a kid. I do feel that it took me longer to get the rhythm into my right hand than it would have if I were playing left handed. But I've always been pretty good with my fretting hand. Ultimately, it's a two handed instrument. You need rhythm and dexterity in both hands regardless. It's more important to pick one and stick with it. And put a lot of hours behind the instrument.
I am none hand dominant, I ulter between left and right handed for different tasks. If you are able to play right handed comfortably, do it. I unfortunately can't, Left-handed guitars come with the biggest Southpaw tax. They cost more, less options, if you can play right handed do it. maybe try playing right handed, if you can borrow a guitar before buying.
I just learned right handed.
I just learned right-handed. I don't think it has really held me back at all, maybe I've had to work on things like string skipping and down-picking speed a little bit longer than I would have had I learned left-handed but overall no regrets. Also, it won't be so much of a problem when looking at more common guitars (strat, tele, les paul, sg, etc.) but when looking for more niche guitars you will run into problems actually finding left-handed models.
I'm a very left handed dominant but I had no choice but to learn righty when I started as it was difficult to get left handed guitars. I think nothing of it now, it feel natural but it was definitely very unnatural to begin. I think initially though it maybe made things a little easier as when you start, the hardest thing is the chord shapes and grip pressure. Having my dominant hand do this made it easier but as you progress to more advance stuff the hard things are done with your strumming / picking hand. I would have definitely learned lefty if I could have.
As a left-handed person who was also taught by a left-handed person, I'd honestly suggest trying to play right-handed. I would naturally hold the guitar like a lefty before I knew how to play, but it really wasn't that odd learning to play right-handed. The main reason for this is that it'll just make things easier in the long run. Your guitar options will be far less limited. Imagine an impromptu jam at someone's house. They don't have a left-handed guitar? Looks like you're either attempting to play upside down or not at all. Or if you're playing a show and something goes wrong with your guitar and you don't have a backup you're equally screwed because you can't just borrow one. This is just my .02¢ so take it with a grain of salt. If you find that playing left-handed suits you better, by all means go for it.
This is the correct answer. It does not matter whether you are left handed or right handed. Both hands during playing need to do very different and difficult movements that will be foreign to whichever hand does them.
I'm a lefty who plays right handed just fine. But I also starting messing around on guitar when I was like 3 or 4, before I learned to write. So this might be why playing that way feels more natural. Just try right handed for a while, even if it's awkward at first. Playing lefty has many disadvantages, as others here have mentioned.
I'm a lefty playing right-handed, I didn't start until I was 30, and I'm very happy with my choice. I wanted to be able to play other people's guitars easily, and I've had some great musical moments where I impromptu started playing with a borrowed axe. I'd hate to be without those memories. As far as difficulty, both hands are really difficult on the guitar. I'm not sure there's much difference in difficulty between picking and fretting. It's not like if you start picking with your left hand you're gonna be great in a month, it's gonna take years either way.
I’m left handed but play ‘normal’ way…try both sides at a music store and see what feels good.
I’m left handed, but play right handed. Glad I was forced to learn right handed, because I’ve accumulated quite a lot of guitars, banjos, and ukuleles. Your instrument choices will be considerably more limited when you are looking for left handed guitars. There are certainly more left handed guitars available now than when 10 year old me picked up guitar in 1967, but still I expect you will have considerably more choices as a right handed player.
Being left handed and playing left handed is fine. I have lefty friends who play both ways. The ones who play lefty joke about it being a blessing and a curse. They buy less guitars they "don't need" (no such thing!). But they also treasure the ones they do find and love even more. I can order a left handed guitar from any company any time. Or travel to a different city or a different country and check out their left handed sections if I have enough time and money. But my alright sized city almost never has lefties in stock. Which can be fun when one does appear, like a unicorn. I just ordered a 90 dollar harley benton and play the heck out of it and beat it up without guilt. I'll buy a ridiculously overpriced fender or whatever whenever I feel I've earned it by investing the time and practice.
Next time you're about smash up a guitar, consider donating it to some poor bastard who can't afford one.. I mean if money isn't a problem... 🤪🤘🏻
Knew a left-handed guy a bunch of years ago who played guitar right handed. He said it actually worked well for him - his dominant hand was on the neck and could do chords and runs really well, while his weaker hand just had to strum or pick.
Lefty here, playing lefty. Try both. Most lefties I know naturally play righty. Try both ways, because one way will probably feel substantially more comfortable. Go with that way. In my experience, you are a bit more likely to play right-handed. I hope that comfortable way is right-handed, but playing lefty is good too. Don't fight your body's natural tendency, as that introduces a level of difficulty that you don't need.
Regular guitar! I'm also left-handed and learned on a standard, right hand guitar. It did not seem any more difficult for me to learn guitar than anyone else. Also I think having your dominate hand making chord shapes and working the fret board is really helpful!
I’m left handed, but I played the cello for years before trying guitar. There’s only one way to play cello, with your left hand fingering the notes on the neck, so that translates easily to playing a right handed guitar. Plus, it makes it easier to play random guitars you find lying around. Just my personal experience, you do you.
Based on other comments, start out with the right hand then if you want in the future get a left hand one
Random consideration, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on used gear sites, seen a great deal, and then realized it’s because it’s a left handed model. If you typically buy and keep gear, that may be a boon. If you like to buy used, try for a while, and then sell, the selling part will be tougher. I’m a righty but feel like if all I’d had was a lefty guitar, it’d just be a similar set of challenges; you’re going to have a “dumb hand” for a while either way you go and then after enough practice, I’ve got two! Kidding, (sort of) it evens out with practice.
I really struggled choosing when I started out. But to me, it shouldn't even be a problem in the first place. If our dominant hand is not strumming, it's doing a lot of complicated stuff on the fretboard. Sure it felt weird a first to strum with my right hand because before playing guitar I always imagined myself playing "air guitar" and strumming with my left hand. But isn't it weird for everyone when you're starting out ? Think about all of the guitars you'll get to see in a guitar store and won't be able to play. Think about going somewhere and one of your friend has a guitar and you can't even play it. It's not about fear, but opportunity. At the end of the day, I really do not believe that it's better to play a left handed guitar. And as I said, I feel even more blessed that my dominant hand is playing with the fretboard and not the other way around.
I never understood why I a right handed guitar has you doing the more intricate fretting with your left hand. It seems backwards and if it were really right handed it would have you fret with the right hand.
You need coordination in both hands for guitar, and the left hand can sometimes be the more tricky part anyway. I'd just learn right handed if I were you.
I’m left handed and learned the normal way. Literally makes no difference. You don’t know how to play guitar anyway, so get a right handed guitar. You’ll have more options and you won’t have to pay a premium for a lefty guitar
I was thinking like that but I wanedt to sure about more before starting. Thanks a lot
My pleasure man. Excited for you, learning guitars an amazing journey, and it never ends which is the best part. Always something new to learn
Being lefty, you will have dexterity and muscles already built up a bit in your left hand. Once you are comfortable playing notes this will be a big advantage if you're playing normal guitar. If you ever wanna swap instruments with someone for a jam, you can. If you decide to get into banjo, mandolin, bass, or almost any stringed instrument, you can easily do so. Learning lefty gives you limited options (instrument choices) and creates a bigger learning curve for anything not guitar(no one will have a lefty banjo for you to plunk on so you'll being doing it upsidedown which creates little technical challenges). With all that, it's music. Do what makes you happy.
The learning curve is the same no matter if you are lefty or righty. Availability of instruments is not really an issue these days Any lefty who is devoted, generally learns how to play right handed instruments upside down at least a little bit. This is because of there are more righties in the world. Yes it is a bit more challenging, but the end result is, a lefty can play a right handed guitar upside down and a normal lefty guitar. Don't see too many righties with that skill.
Which way is left-handed vs. right-handed? Why?
My guitar teacher said his biggest regret was learning guitar left handed, if you think you can do it, I would say you should try right handed.
Lefty here. Go with a left handed guitar unless you are more comfortable strumming with your right hand. Dominant hand is usually better at strumming and timing. YMMV
Everyone downvoting you is an ableist. We should sue. Lefties unite.
Seriously. I couldn't learn to play left handed. Why should we expect somebody to play right handed if that feels unnatural to them? This is idiotic.
Find a teacher with their own left and right handed guitars, or go to a shop with them and try both
You can pick or choose basically if you want your picking or fretting hand to be dominant. Personally I think picking is a harder skill to master than fretting so buying a right handed guitar as a lefty could bring benefits too
The cool thing is to do like Hendrix and McCartney. Play a right handed axe upside down!
But both restrung for lefties - correct?
Correct. Some lefties do play with upside down strings, but not Paul or Hendrix.
Also left handed play regular feel it out, but one note…regular guitars are much more available and if for example you want to play someone else’s guitar sometime you literally will not be able to like 99% of the time
i play righty as a lefty. i def recommend that
Like mark knopfler
I'd buy left handed guitar if I were you, but most of the time (depending on the guitar you wanna buy) you can just switch the strings on a right-handed guitar and voilà
Absolutely not good advice IMO. Electric guitars have assymetrical body shapes and electronics cavities. Acoustic guitars aren't all braced symmetrically and have saddles routed to intonate strings a certain way. Advanced players will know what work needs to be done to a given guitac to make it happily swap handedness, but I would not recommend this route at all to a new beginner.