Jeremy
im left handed and im getting a guitar very soon and i don't know which to get. ive played on a friends guitar and lefty just feels so natural and better. i flips sides to see if that would be better but i didn't give it too much of a try cuz it didn't feel right. all the guitars ive seen are for righty and lefty costs too much. if i get a right handed guitar would i be able to learn to play it right handed
Answer
In the long run, you'll be doing yourself a favor by learning on a normal (right handed) guitar. I realize that there are people who feel that because they are left handed, there must be a need to get a left handed guitar. It simply isn't true. The fact is that playing guitar requires you to use both of your hands equally. No matter which hand you favor, the other one is going to feel clumsy for a while. When you're first learning to play, it's the left hand that's doing all the intricate fingering....that should actually give a lefty an advantage.
You might have noticed that there are no left handed pianos. No left handed flutes, saxes, or any other band instrument. Yet left handed people can and do excel at all these instruments. Guitar is no different, except that it is more likely to be self-taught. A self learner is more likely to make assumptions about the need to learn lefty.
As you have correctly noted, left handed guitars are harder to come by, and selection is limited. If you learn lefty, you'll never be able to try or play other guitars. All your instructional material will be backwards. There are a lot of disadvantages to playing lefty...and in my opinion, it's just unnecessary to learn that way. I don't know if there has ever been a poll, but I suspect that the vast majority of left handed people play normal guitars.....the few that don't are the vocal and visible ones. One of the best guitarists I know plays right handed. I've been playing with this guy for over 20 years and just found out he's left handed.
BTW, right handed guitars can be flipped over but unless you restring them your strumming will be strange...with the bass strings on the bottom. Restringing involves a little more than simply putting the strings on backwards....the slots in the nut have to be resized, and the intonation at the bridge has to be reset (almost impossible on an acoustic)
Bottom line is that there are a lot of good reasons to at least try to learn right handed. It can be done, and it is done all the time by left handed people. It's going to feel strange at first...but it does for everybody, left or right handed. At least give right hand guitars a fair try. Your life will be much easier if you do. Best of luck
In the long run, you'll be doing yourself a favor by learning on a normal (right handed) guitar. I realize that there are people who feel that because they are left handed, there must be a need to get a left handed guitar. It simply isn't true. The fact is that playing guitar requires you to use both of your hands equally. No matter which hand you favor, the other one is going to feel clumsy for a while. When you're first learning to play, it's the left hand that's doing all the intricate fingering....that should actually give a lefty an advantage.
You might have noticed that there are no left handed pianos. No left handed flutes, saxes, or any other band instrument. Yet left handed people can and do excel at all these instruments. Guitar is no different, except that it is more likely to be self-taught. A self learner is more likely to make assumptions about the need to learn lefty.
As you have correctly noted, left handed guitars are harder to come by, and selection is limited. If you learn lefty, you'll never be able to try or play other guitars. All your instructional material will be backwards. There are a lot of disadvantages to playing lefty...and in my opinion, it's just unnecessary to learn that way. I don't know if there has ever been a poll, but I suspect that the vast majority of left handed people play normal guitars.....the few that don't are the vocal and visible ones. One of the best guitarists I know plays right handed. I've been playing with this guy for over 20 years and just found out he's left handed.
BTW, right handed guitars can be flipped over but unless you restring them your strumming will be strange...with the bass strings on the bottom. Restringing involves a little more than simply putting the strings on backwards....the slots in the nut have to be resized, and the intonation at the bridge has to be reset (almost impossible on an acoustic)
Bottom line is that there are a lot of good reasons to at least try to learn right handed. It can be done, and it is done all the time by left handed people. It's going to feel strange at first...but it does for everybody, left or right handed. At least give right hand guitars a fair try. Your life will be much easier if you do. Best of luck
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