Guitar

My father plays the guitar left-handed because no one taught him growing up. Its weird seeing the chords upside-down but its pretty cool. He can play any guitar because of it. It was helpful because he ended up being a pastor and leading Praise and Worship.

If youre gonna start learning, I would consider starting with a right-handed guitar. Either play it right handed (might as well since youre still in the learning phase) or play it left-handed with the chords upside down (unorthodox but if you can make it work it can save you a lot of hassle in the long run - plust its pretty cool ).

And the best way to learn to play, is to learn as many songs as you can. Once you know the 7 major and minor chords and got the barre chords down, you can pretty much play anything.

BTW, Im left-handed and I learned to play right-handed .

 

I think there's something to the learning right handed. I mean, it's all foreign to you anyway so what's the difference. They don't make left handed saxes, flutes, trumpets, trombones, pianos, etc. And come to think of it, I've never seen an orchestral string player reverse string their instrument and play it from the left side instead of the right.

 

Actually I'm a lefty and I learned to play guitar right handed. I used to naturally hold it left handed. I'm not that good of a player and sometimes I wonder if I should have learned left handed. I have a hard time picking the correct strings sometimes. I think I would have more fine control left handed.

 

I recommend this one since it can be played lefty and righty..

 

Good for you, deciding to learn an instrument after age 30. Never too young to learn.

I would just learn to play right-handed, since you’re starting from scratch and you don’t have any old habits to break.

I taught myself back in high school when my band members would leave their gear at my house. I’m not bad, but the one thing that I can NOT grasp to this day is soloing and improvisation. I don’t know how you “learn” to do that.

 

Weird, I couldn't play rhythm to save my life. But I can solo just fine.

 

That's the same problem I have. Not sure if you had the same problem, but every time I'd try to learn improv in jazz classes in HS they'd respond, "Oh, you're just the drummer... you don't need to know that". Bastards. Then in college they were too advanced for someone to pick up easily.

As for guitar, I've been wanting to learn for a while, but every time I find a book it's WAY too basic on the music theory (I have a damn degree in it people) so I end up getting pissed off. Just show me basic info dammit.

 

There is no reason to learn right handed. Plenty of left handed guitars out there.

I highly highly advise you to get an electric to start out on (its easier, cheaper for same quality, and more sturdy)

Also get a decent one, there is a huge difference in ease to play from a 150 to a 250-300 git.

 

Just went through this with my 10 yr old left handed son.

It is better probably to learn right handed simply for ease of learning and future purchases. But my son really felt more comfortable starting out left handed so that is how I am teaching him.

You can buy a right handed guitar and play it left handed but you will need to check the head nut and the bridge before you re-string it. I suggest changing these out to make sure you have the proper string alignment with the neck.

Find someone who plays and ask them to show you the basics.

I really like the baby Martin's sound for the money. For about $300+ you can get this Martin that sounds great (even though it is pretty fragile- doesn't hold up to alot of rough treatment)

here is a link http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Martin-LXME-Little-Martin-AcousticElectric-Guitar?sku=515881

 

The above would be the type of guitar to not buy. You would have to play it right handed (to change it to left handed would require a bridge modification and a new nut) plus it is a "baby martin" you could do alot better with less money towards a yamaha or a Takamine.

 

1)Chord charts will make sense, you don't have to reverse them. They do make left handed chord charts, but the ones I've seen are pretty basic. They're not as thorough and complete as they could be.

2)If and when you upgrade and/or get an electric, you can actually go to the store and try out guitars. The vast majority (if not all) will be set up for righties.

3)If you're somewhere and somebody has a guitar you want to jam on, you can pick it up and play no problem.

I really don't see an advantage to learning to play lefty. Right now, you're equally uncoordinated with both hands when it comes to guitar technique. You don't know how to finger chords with either hand and you don't know how to pick properly with either hand either. You have to start from scratch so it really doesn't matter which hand you learn from. It shouldn't be any easier to learn left handed than it is to learn right handed.

Each hand has an important role and each needs to learn unfamiliar things. All band and orchestral instruments are setup to be played one way and nobody gives a thought about a lefty or righty having an advantage because there is none. If you start to play a clarinet or saxophone, each hand is "r****ded" and need to be taught what to do. Everybody who plays those instruments is capable of developing the same good technique regardless of handedness. I got my degree in music and in college I was surrounded by 500+ musicians on a daily basis. On multiple occasions I'd notice somebody doing something and it would dawn on me that they were left handed. I would never have know by watching them play their instrument because it simply doesn't matter.

If I play piano, I feel like I have more facility in my right hand because, more often than not, it's playing the melody while the left hand is mostly voicing chords. On guitar, I feel like my left had has more facility because I'm using all my fingers and moving the hand around and changing shapes, etc while the right is just picking strings. It's not that one hand has more facility or is capable of having more facility than the other, it's just that each hand learned the appropriate technique for that hand.

Somewhere along the line, they started making left handed guitars and people think if you're a lefty you have to play it in the opposite direction. And while you can learn that way, learning righty gives you a few more advantages, especially in the selection of your instrument.

 

Sorry, but this just inst true. You have more fine control with one hand than the other unless you are completely ambidextrous. There is a reason why you write, draw with one hand instead of the other.

Think of it this way: Lefties strum their most important instrument with their left hand...

 

You're going to like that Ibanez.

Good choice.

I've given most of my guitars to my kids (have 4 boys)

 

Yeah, you learn that way. You can look at somebody like Billy Wagner who's right handed and learned to throw a baseball left handed when he broke his right arm. I know a guy who had his right arm severed at the elbow at age 16. He had to learn to do everything with his left hand. Now you can look at his writing and you can't tell he was initially a righty. Technique is just a matter of repetition. I have no doubt that if I had tried to learn guitar lefty, I could have and I'd sound exactly the same. I know quite a few left handed guitar, upright bass, and orchestral string players who play righty and it doesn't affect them at all.

 

Well, I'll say this. Depending on which way you decided to play, you're going to have an initial advantage in one area and a weakness in the other. If you start righty, you'll be better at fingering and fretting but weak at picking/strumming. If you start lefty, you'll be better at picking/strumming but weak at fingering/fretting. This is always the case with beginning orchestral string players. The lefties are better at fingering while the righties are better at bowing. Eventually, with practice, you shore up your weak areas and both hand operate like their supposed. Your dominant hand will give you an initial advantage in one area but it will even out over time.

 

Lefties were once forced to everything right handed. It was oppressive.

You really don't know how it affects them. Just because they are good one way it doesn't mean they would be better another way.

I also throw a baseball and do other things right handed. I learned how to bat right handed. While I was ok at it, there was some mechanics that I was doing wrong. I was basically doing a left handed back swing. I wasn't using my right arm at all for power. Actually I really wasn't using my right arm at all expect to help hold the bat until I swung it.

I kind of regret learning guitar right handed.