Completely Leftie?

[anaxcrosswords]

For physical reasons I had to take up a leftie bass, but I wonder how many go sinister because they’re naturally left-handed. And if you’re not, did it surprise you to discover leftie playing was the way you had to go?

[leftybassman392]

Ah this one again. Ok then...

Lifelong leftie here. (Strictly speaking it's 'left-dominant'; very few people are completely left- or right-handed - plenty of websites you can search for the details - including this one! ). Always done it (along with everything else) that way as it just felt more natural (which means my left-dominance is quite strong).

While I'm here, if anybody pipes up with the old '[b][i]when you think about it, rightie is a better way for lefties to play[/i][/b]' argument, it's wrong I'm afraid. I could go to some length to explain why but I've done it too many times already on this and other forums; suffice it to say that if were true, then by the same logic playing leftie would also be a better way for right-dominant players to play. Good luck telling the 20,000 or so right-dominant members of BC that they're doing it wrong.

Edited August 13, 2015 by leftybassman392

[PaulWarning]

yep, there's been a few threads on this subject, I'm cack handed with most things, and learnt guitar that way, thought it was cool to be left handed (thanks Macca) if I was learning now, with the benefit of hind sight I'd try doing it right handed simply because it's a lot easier getting right handed guitars and basses.
Some people think it shouldn't matter which way you play, like 99.99999% of pianists, but would Macca and Hendrix have been as good if they'd learnt right handed?
In fact Hendrix could play right handed but not as well.

Edited August 13, 2015 by PaulWarning

[Subbeh]

The thing that puzzles me is the number of used left handed basses for sale that are reverse strung, it almost seems like a one in five ratio at times. Do some left handers
prefer to play this way or are right handed players the ones setting up lefty basses like this?

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Subbeh' timestamp='1439487476' post='2843340']
The thing that puzzles me is the number of used left handed basses for sale that are reverse strung, it almost seems like a one in five ratio at times. Do some left handers
prefer to play this way or are right handed players the ones setting up lefty basses like this?
[/quote]I think it's lefties who learn on a right handed bass just by flipping it then buy a left handed one but have got used to the bottom E being at the bottom

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1439486827' post='2843335']
...
In fact Hendrix could play right handed but not as well.
[/quote]
Story has it that he could also play with strings 'upside down' so to speak.

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1439489220' post='2843356']
Story has it that he could also play with strings 'upside down' so to speak.
[/quote]

That's how I remember it. He was once given an acoustic (12-string IIRC) during an interview by some journos who were either trying to catch him out or make him play a 'proper' guitar. There'll be something on youTube no doubt.

[timmo]

I am naturally right handed, but had to switch to the left. Sometimes it is good as there are not as many basses , so choosing one is slightly easier

[uncle psychosis]

I find the idea of "left handed" instruments a bit odd. You don't get left handed flutes, clarinets, cellos, pianos, etc (well, you get the odd one here and there as a novelty but they're exceedingly rare).

Not knocking left handers but genuinely not sure why basses and guitars are an exception.

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1439536267' post='2843580']
I find the idea of "left handed" instruments a bit odd. You don't get left handed flutes, clarinets, cellos, pianos, etc (well, you get the odd one here and there as a novelty but they're exceedingly rare).

Not knocking left handers but genuinely not sure why basses and guitars are an exception.
[/quote]

Que?

ETA: Classical instruments have been made pretty much the same way for hundreds of years. Makers of modern instruments have realised that (sometimes despite their best efforts) there are left-dominant people out there who want to play music on instruments built around their needs, i.e. there's a market for them. There's no great mystery - we've always been out there; it's just that in the past makers haven't felt inclined to take it seriously - some (I'm looking at you PRS ) still don't (yes I know they gave it a go thanks for mentioning it...): 'This is what we make - take it or leave it' has always been the general attitude, putting the onus on the would-be student to deal with it or get another hobby. Since there's no acoustic difference in a lefthanded instrument, it's down to a combination of market forces and a historical distrust of lefties that goes back pretty much to the dawn of civilisation. (I can provide extensive evidence to support this last point for the benefit of anybody suffering from insomnia... )

Oh, and while I'm here I rather suspect that owners of lefthanded pianos and such don't see them as novelties. Just sayin'...

Edited August 14, 2015 by leftybassman392

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1439540059' post='2843614']


Que?
[/quote]

You don't get left handed violins.

You do get left handed guitars.

That confuses me.

[RichyJ]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1439540261' post='2843620']
You don't get left handed violins.

You do get left handed guitars.

That confuses me.
[/quote]

Yea I don't get left handed screwdrivers and stuff neither. I'm a lefty, you learn to adapt. (I play right handed instruments).

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1439540261' post='2843620']
You don't get left handed violins.

You do get left handed guitars.

That confuses me.
[/quote]

You seem to have commented before I added the, um, additional material to the post. If having read it you are still confused, get back to me and I'll point you towards some relevant material. I would add though that many aspects of the everyday experience of lefties is a complete mystery to most righties. You have to be prepared to step outside your comfort zone to have any hope of getting some sort of grasp on the phenomenon. As a start, you may want to try something simple and everyday, but do it lefthanded instead of righthanded. Here's a few suggestions:

Using a corkscrew;
Sharpening a pencil;
Adjusting the rotary controls on your amp;
Using a screwdriver;
Using a pair of scissors...

None of these are difficult tasks - that's not the point.

Edited August 14, 2015 by leftybassman392

[charic]

Lefthanded pianos confuse me and I see little point as there shouldn't be a dominant hand in playing piano, either lefthand or right could be playing the complex part. It also messes with my head that the lowest notes are to the right

[BigRedX]

I'm partially left-handed. I'm very left-eyed which tends to affect some handed things.

I can remember the first time I picked up a guitar, my natural inclination was to hold the neck in my right hand. However it was obvious from the design of the guitar that this was the "wrong" way round. When I actually learnt to play I learnt "right-handed". Also I was learning folk guitar finger picking, so both hands were involved in complex unfamiliar actions. I was completely rubbish for the first 9 months, and then all of a sudden it clicked and I went from being able to barely string 2 simple chords together to being able to play recognisable songs. Whether this would have happened any quicker had I learnt "left handed" I don't know.

In the end I'm grateful that I learnt "right handed" simply because there is a far larger selection of instruments available to me this way. I certainly wouldn't have been able to indulge my love of the weirder side of guitar and bass designs if I had been limited to "left-handed" instruments.

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1439542430' post='2843650']
Lefthanded pianos confuse me and I see little point as there shouldn't be a dominant hand in playing piano, either lefthand or right could be playing the complex part.
[/quote]

See above.




















No, really.

[Dan Dare]

I think stringed instruments are different from pianos, wind instruments and so on. One hand is responsible for rhythm/timing on stringed instrurnents. That makes it important that the dominant hand wields the bow or pick. So lefties need lefty basses/guitars. Try leading a rhythm with your "wrong" hand. It's tricky.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1439543415' post='2843668']
... Try leading a rhythm with your "wrong" hand. It's tricky.
[/quote]
Ringo did it.

[ben4343]

(Context: I am right handed)

I have to admit that, although people should of course be able to play whatever they choose to play, I personally find it a little peculiar that instruments are 'directional'. Learning a completely new instrument (I'm talking guitar to tuba, rather than guitar to banjo) or indeed a completely new sport (perhaps tennis to golf, rather than tennis to badminton), or indeed your very first instrument/sport, in my experience often requires development of a completely new skill set that doesn't pull too hard from previous skills.

For example, were I to learn the piano now, even though I know traditionally bass is left and treble is right, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if my piano was reversed. Indeed, because my fretting hand is my left, perhaps my relatively increased (perception, rather than fact...) dexterity from fretting could be an advantage...? If you handed me a tuba, I couldn't even tell you if it was a right or left handed version, and I am confident that I would be equally uncomfortable with either possibility initially, so what would it matter? Or, is my ignorance showing here, and actually I would learn to play a right handed tuba faster than a left handed one, due to how my brain is wired?

Long story short, if we have to learn a completely new skill set, then I think we can train our other hand just as well as our favoured hand? Or is this simply not true? (I'm happy to be corrected). Rafa Nadal is right handed but tactically plays left handed...

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1439540261' post='2843620']
You don't get left handed violins.

You do get left handed guitars.

That confuses me.
[color=#ff0000]I think the reason there are very few (if any) left handed violins is because of the likelihood of someone losing an eye if there were any left handed violinists in an orchestra[/color]
[/quote]
[quote name='ben4343' timestamp='1439544148' post='2843677']
(Context: I am right handed)



Long story short, if we have to learn a completely new skill set, then I think we can train our other hand just as well as our favoured hand? Or is this simply not true? (I'm happy to be corrected). Rafa Nadal is right handed but tactically plays left handed...
[/quote]I take your point, I decided to learn the rudiments of drumming right handed because I couldn't be bothered to change the kit round, but would I be a better drummer if I learnt my 'natural' way, I haven't got a clue, but Macca is on record as saying he couldn't play guitar until he turned it round, so there maybe people out there who've given up playing because they couldn't master it the 'unnatural way' of doing it

Edited August 14, 2015 by PaulWarning

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1439545576' post='2843696']
...there maybe people out there who've given up playing because they couldn't master it the 'unnatural way' of doing it
[/quote]

Not much doubt about that I'd say. I was for many years a member of the RGT, and on one occasion had a pretty heated 'debate' with a colleague through the pages of our professional journal - his position was 'everything's new when you start so may as well just go right handed', and I couldn't get him to see that there might be a different way of looking at it. I viewed it as a lazy and inconsiderate attitude (which as you might expect didn't go down well...). Maybe it did some good to have it aired and perhaps some tutors might be more likely to give it it's due consideration as a result; one lives in hope.

[Bobthedog]

Left handed and play racket sports (tennis etc) left handed. I play bat / club sports (golf / cricket etc) right handed.
Electric bass right handed but upright would be played left handed.
I learnt drums and trumpet right handed (probably due to scarcity of instruments rather than anything else).
I am mildy left eye dominant but can shoot a rifle from either shoulder with no loss of accuracy. A shot gun has to shot left handed.
I can only throw off my left shoulder but can catch with either hand. I can fish off either side.
I can only write left handed but can use power tools / screwdrivers etc with either hand.

In general I am confused.

My father was right handed but played cricket and golf left handed.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Bobthedog

[Silvia Bluejay]

It's very possible that humans would be 50% right-dominant and 50% left-dominant if the latter hadn't been discriminated against, usually on religious grounds. Left-handed = witch, or slave ot the Devil, etc. In less enlightened times many of them would have been shunned by potential sexual partners and therefore prevented from reproducing.
I still have at least two Roman Catholic friends who are genuinely rather horrified at the thought of anyone doing anything predominantly with their left hand. When challenged as to why, the answer is usually 'It just looks wrong, and... yeugh...'.

As a lefty who was mistakenly taught to write righty, but luckily allowed to learn to do everything else in the way I found more natural, I'm sad to see so many left-handed people who regret not learning to play bass righty just because there's more choice of righty instruments. Don't they understand that it's the size of the market that dictates how many models of a certain type are produced? The more lefties succumb to pressure to learn righty, the worse it is for those of us who have the balls to go against the grain.
And - praise be to Sir Paul and Jimi - without them putting lefties on the musical map, we might not have a single lefty model in any modern instrument.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1439540261' post='2843620']
You don't get left handed violins.

You do get left handed guitars.

That confuses me.
[/quote]
How do you feel about left handed pianos?

[charic]

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1439543258' post='2843666']
See above.

No, really.
[/quote]

Can't spot what you're referring too