Lefty guitars... why?

[AprioriMark]

Feel free to enlighten me, leftys, as my two year old son is a lefty.

I don't understand why left handed string instruments exist.  Both hands are used equally (arguable the non-dominant hand more), so what does it matter if he learns "backwards?"  They don't make lefty pianos (ok, they probably do, but no one cares).

-Mark

 

[Kaoskadosk]

I think it's because your right-hand movement is very similar to writing, you use your wrist a lot to move around and the movements kind of resemble picking in a sense. Therefore, picking with your left hand for a lefty would, theoretically, be easier to develop well since the movement is already trained. Left-hand movement (for a righty) is nothing that you have trained since you were a child, so in that sense, using left or right is completely moot, it's a new set of motory functions to develop however you do it.

 

[Patrick]

i guess its the accuracy of picking. its harder to use intricate picking techniques with your non-dominant hand than to fret the strings.  :dontknow:

 

[line6man]

Joseph R.K. DeSimone says:
I think you should be able to choose what works for you
Apriori/Mark says:
sure
but im not teachign my son pointless habits~
Joseph R.K. DeSimone says:
not take the advice of some random right handed player that his lefty instrument is stupid
Apriori/Mark says:
he'll learn on my guitars
Joseph R.K. DeSimone says:
your son is a lefty?
Apriori/Mark says:
if anyone can show me ANY real reason to do it otherwise, i will
did you read teh post
ffs
Joseph R.K. DeSimone says:
ffs?
just reread it
 
Apriori/Mark says:
for fudge's sake
Joseph R.K. DeSimone says:
I skipped over that part then
Apriori/Mark says:
you = suck
Joseph R.K. DeSimone says:
why's that?
Apriori/Mark says:
i dunno, seemed fun to say
Joseph R.K. DeSimone says:
I've just become accustomed to skimming over your posts because they are so full of nonsense, that I guess my brain blocked it out
Apriori/Mark says:
ouch, im weeping now
Joseph R.K. DeSimone says:
you should be
let me pull up a sad song
little orphan annie
Apriori/Mark says:
hahaha

:icon_jokercolor:

(Mark told me "The sun will come out tommorow" from Annie makes him cry. :dontknow

 

[AprioriMark]

You left out the part about lefty rage!

Hahaha

-Mark

 

[Kaoskadosk]

I say like this; Your son is still young (I guess) and has the ability to learn how to play a right-handed guitar instead of playing a lefty. This in turn opens him up to bigger possibilities when playing with others or gigging, as it's much easier to find a righty guitar than a lefty.

It's all a matter of what you're used to and what you're not. If he can learn on your guitars, that's great, go for it and prove everyone wrong.  ccasion14:

 

[AprioriMark]

I just don't want to hinder him either way.  None of my very educated musician relatives know of any good reason why he should learn on a backwards instrument, especially since orchestral leftys have been doing it for a long time.  I'm just looking for alternate reasonings before I go and screw up his early childhood education.

-Mark

 

[line6man]

You left out the part about lefty rage!

Hahaha

-Mark

"Lefty rage" is what I call it when a liberal politician, uh, let's not go there. :blob7:

 

[AprioriMark]

Since you threw in the part about Annie...

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=13061.0

-Mark

 

[Superlizard]

Well, it's all a big secret... helped in no small part by the world-wide shadowy Sinister (latin for left-handed) Consortium.

But this advice I can give you:

- if you want him to have easy accessibility to guitars yet wallow in mediocrity, teach him right-handed.

- if on the other hand (pun intended) you want him to achieve glory and immortality, then teach him in the Sinister ways.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

funny that everybody is quick to say that a lefty should learn to play righty. I've always wondered ... what if all the rightys were forced to learn to play lefty instead? I'm sure it would definitely be a  :sign13: for many, many players

as a righty who builds a -significant- percentage of my inventory in a lefty configuration, I found it essential to learn to play lefty so I know from playing experience when I have the crafting and set-up dialed in just right perfect  :glasses9: in learning to play lefty I've come to understand that your dominant hand is definitely more skilled at the intricate nuances of plucking in time and across strings, while your other hand has the luxury of simply 'following along' and pressing strings 'somewhere' in between the frets in various configurations. chording and melody playing are easier for the non-dominant hand to gain adequate muscle memory function to play proficiently, but it's quite difficult to bring the non-dominant hand up to skill with the intricate details required for finger-style plucking and 'other than basic strumming' picking techniques ... not that it can't be done, but I question from actual playing experience if it can ever be done to the same level of proficiency that can be accomplished by simply playing a properly orientated instrument

and given current market trends where high quality lefty instruments are increasingly available, the old addage of playing righty for instrument availability is no longer an immovable rule

all the best,

R

 

[Superlizard]

"Lefty rage" is what I call it when a liberal politician, uh, let's not go there. :blob7:

"Lefty rage" is also what a left-handed person feels when they walk into a guitar store and
see the same boring gloss black paint job on the only cheap-ass left-handed guitar in the store.

 

[Superlizard]

Both hands are used equally (arguable the non-dominant hand more), so what does it matter if he learns "backwards?"

They are used equally, but remember one hand leads (pick hand) and the other follows.

 

[AprioriMark]

funny that everybody is quick to say that a lefty should learn to play righty. I've always wondered ... what if all the rightys were forced to learn to play lefty instead? I'm sure it would definitely be a  :sign13: for many, many players

as a righty who builds a -significant- percentage of my inventory in a lefty configuration, I found it essential to learn to play lefty so I know from playing experience when I have the crafting and set-up dialed in just right perfect  :glasses9: in learning to play lefty I've come to understand that your dominant hand is definitely more skilled at the intricate nuances of plucking in time and across strings, while your other hand has the luxury of simply 'following along' and pressing strings 'somewhere' in between the frets in various configurations. chording and melody playing are easier for the non-dominant hand to gain adequate muscle memory function to play proficiently, but it's quite difficult to bring the non-dominant hand up to skill with the intricate details required for finger-style plucking and 'other than basic strumming' picking techniques ... not that it can't be done, but I question from actual playing experience if it can ever be done to the same level of proficiency that can be accomplished by simply playing a properly orientated instrument

and given current market trends where high quality lefty instruments are increasingly available, the old addage of playing righty for instrument availability is no longer an immovable rule

all the best,

R

This is what I'm wondering about exactly.  I do have to wonder if your experience isn't colored by being a righty primarily.  For what it's worth, I learned to play bass lefty too at one point, so I'm not entirely in the dark.  I just don't want to stunt my son's learning potential and musical experience either way, and I would like to leave him guitars that he could play.  Please believe that this is not my motivation.  I just want him to learn (if he wants) in a way that's best for him, and I don't want to feed what I've always considered a money-making option that had little or no bearing on what's best for the player.  Keep the experiences and opinions coming, please!

-Mark

 

[AprioriMark]

Both hands are used equally (arguable the non-dominant hand more), so what does it matter if he learns "backwards?"

They are used equally, but remember one hand leads (pick hand) and the other follows.

Is that really true?  I'm not sure my brain works like that while playing guitar, but maybe it does and I'm not seeing it like that.

-Mark

 

[Superlizard]

As a lefty, chord fingering diagrams (grid with the dots) have to be interpreted backwards.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

money making option

not sure what you mean here - are you referring to a lefty instrument as a money making option? not every company charges extra for lefty instruments, and those that do should be boycotted IMO

all the best,

R

 

[AprioriMark]

money making option

not sure what you mean here - are you referring to a lefty instrument as a money making option? not every company charges extra for lefty instruments, and those that do should be boycotted IMO

all the best,

R

I'm sorry, I really did mean "in the past," when big companies charged extra for lefty instruments.

-Mark

 

[Superlizard]

As a lefty, nobody touches your guitars.

 

[AprioriMark]

As a lefty, chord fingering diagrams (grid with the dots) have to be interpreted backwards.

If you were in my shoes, would you teach him right or left handed, knowing what you know now?

-Mark