Left Handed Guitar or Not

BDSC1964

I am looking for advice. I am left handed. Should I buy a left handed bass guitar or right. Some people are saying to me it doesn't matter if you are a lefty stick with a right hand guitar. I've never played base and only have very little experience with an acoustic guitar. It feels very natural for me to play left handed. My immediate tendency on air guitar is to go left sided. Any advice before I spend some money would be appreciated.

Asphyxia

I'm left handed and I learned the bass using a right handed bass, I was very uncomfortable with a left handed one. Head to a music store and pick up different ones and see which one fits you

-=al=-

sounds like a lefty to me, whatever way feels natural has to be the best way, nowadays playing left handed is no big deal, but make sure you pick whatever way feels natural

I myself am right handed but I play guitar left handed, it just feels natural and wouldn't change it for anything

pablo-jericho

As Asphyxia said, stick with what feels best, I'd imagine learning on yer weaker side would feel forced and uncomfortable

RC88

best way to tell, go into a shop, ask if you can try out some guitars/bass guitars, try both left and right handed models to see what feels more comfortale and natural to you in both sitting and standing positions, thats what i did, i'm a lefty too and i play righthanded guitar, it just felt better and my left felt more at home on the fretboard that plucking strings, truth is ya never know till you try

Rigsby

As others have said, play what feels natural to you. The only disadvantage I can see with playing leftie is the scarcity and lack of choice in left hand basses.

BDSC1964

Yea a couple of people mentioned to me there would be a scarcity of left handed guitars around. Thanks lads.

Orando Broom

Lefty, myself. I play right handed. Figured I was going to be crap at the beginning with whatever hand I used. I am mostly pleased with the decision.

Tzuky

What people have been saying up to the point is true. How it feels is the best way to go.

Most people do not completely favour one hand over the other ie, everyone's a little bit ambidextrous. So just pick up a guitar and see which way you instinctively hold it.

There are advantages to either way. Having your dominant hand in the picking position, like most people, is good for picking dexterity. But on the other hand (haha), the extra strength in your dominant hand's fingers works well if you choose to use it as your fretting hand.

Have fun playing.

EDIT: And yeah, there is less choice for leftys. But don't take that to mean that there's nothing. It just means you have to look harder, play more guitars, and ultimately learn more about what you want. Not really a bad thing, IMO.

-=al=-

I think I've my dominant hand is on the fretboard and I'm fine with that.... it's just the way I've came to play and love it, I've very decent legato and love the way I works

Im almost 100% certain if I chose to play righty I would not be half as comofortable or good at the instrument.

novarock

Im a lefty,

I do everything with my right hand bar writing and playing guitar. I dont think I would have the same flexibility fretting a guitar with my left hand however, so I play left handed guitars.

As a kid, I just naturally picked up a right handed guitar and held it backwards. Its hard to explain..

Fringe

I'm another lefty who plays right handed guitar. Personally, I'd suggest playing right handed since it's more convenient. I think no matter what, it will always feel awkward when you first start but you'll get used to it once you practice a lot. Besides that, I don't think there's much of a difference.

TheoBoone

As another lefty who plays right handed, I'm going to have to agree with Fringe here. Guitar is always going to feel really weird when you start off. Just stick at it and it will become second nature to you. There's a lot of great left handed players out there (Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Dick Dale), but there are just as many great left handed people who play right-handed (Gary Moore, Mark Knopfler, JOe Perry).

Malice

This has come up before and the general consensus is the same, go with what's comfortable for you. If your tendency is to play left-handed then go with that. It works for you. Sure there are drawbacks e.g. the lack of choice in most music shops but that just means you'll treasure your guitars (you can never have just one ) all the more when you get them!

riffmongous

I guess this is a bit trivial, but it can be annoying going to someone's house for a party or something, out comes the guitar and everyone wants you to play a bit, but of course it's upside down and you can't manage anything other than a few horrible sounding single note pieces.

It sounds trivial sure, but it always annoyed me :pac:

-=al=-

riffmongous wrote: »

I guess this is a bit trivial, but it can be annoying going to someone's house for a party or something, out comes the guitar and everyone wants you to play a bit, but of course it's upside down and you can't manage anything other than a few horrible sounding single note pieces.

It sounds trivial sure, but it always annoyed me :pac:

I never minded this and its almost a good excuse when you dont wana plat..., I was at a party once with a left handed gutiar and tore the palce down 8) aww yeah :rolleyes:

It's not to hard and prob even more impressive if you play the righty left handed, ive played enough to figure out stuff upside down it's not to bad tbh

i still think everyone has a more natural way of picking up the instrument, keep **** natural i says