DanvillRob Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Just now, fortyearspickn said: I think you should give it a serious shot. I hurt my rotator cuff a couple of years ago. Dog lives to play 'fetch' in backyard. So, I committed to learn how to throw lefty. Was ridiculous at first. A few times ball went in opposite direction, etc. I'd guess it took 3 or 4 months doing it for 10 - 15 minutes every day to get as accurate as my right arm/hand (which benefited rom the rest). Still, of course, not quite as strong and accurate as my right, but I'd guess the gap will close over the years. My wife is/was an Occupational Therapist and had mentioned over the years how some people have strokes disabling their 'strong' side and are helpless trying to do anything left handed. So - I try to do stuff Lefty when I can. Buttoning shirt, etc. I'm sure playing guitar or bass would be twice as easy as learning from scratch! G'Luck ! Jim, I don't see why a person couldn't learn to play as a lefty, it'll just take time and repetition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 14 minutes ago, DanvillRob said: Jim, I don't see why a person couldn't learn to play as a lefty, it'll just take time and repetition. I agree completely. Possibly I wasn't clear ! Again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 36 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said: I agree completely. Possibly I wasn't clear ! Again. You were clear...I was just agreein'! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 On 2/7/2022 at 9:55 AM, DanvillRob said: I used to play guitar behind my head! I could do that stuff too as a kid Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 No I never tried to play left handed and no need to. My left arm & hand are deaf & dumb plus the lefty has been almost cut off at 16 and never has worked the same since. I have half the strength in the left as the right. So I'll stick to whats right, Lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNJ Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 I'm right handed and play as such, but my daughter is a lefty and has a lefty SG. I tried it a few times, but every time I tried I was over-thinking (more likely not thinking enough) the placement of fingering chords with my right hand. That plus looking down at the fretboard upside down almost caused my brain to melt. Had to calm down with a few beers after such a harrowing experience. I applaud anyone who can play them lefty guitars! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 An update. Actually everything is moving along at a nice pace and I'm starting to get the feel of everything. I learned Crazy Train and Michelle so far and been using scale exercises. I purchased a wrist brace for my right wrist as the pain the next day was pretty bad after the first few days of playing left-handed, but the pain is slowly going away. Also my left peck is taking a little bit of a beating because it's not used to a guitar body leaning against it, and also my right leg is a bit soar. I'm also playing standing up as well as the tendons get a different work out. There is no adverse affect when I play my guitars right handed, which I was worried about. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 thanks for the update. Maybe you'll inspire me or someone else here to try the same 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Are you going to play Paul in a Beatles Trib band? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 20 hours ago, duane v said: An update. Actually everything is moving along at a nice pace and I'm starting to get the feel of everything. I learned Crazy Train and Michelle so far and been using scale exercises. I purchased a wrist brace for my right wrist as the pain the next day was pretty bad after the first few days of playing left-handed, but the pain is slowly going away. Also my left peck is taking a little bit of a beating because it's not used to a guitar body leaning against it, and also my right leg is a bit soar. I'm also playing standing up as well as the tendons get a different work out. There is no adverse affect when I play my guitars right handed, which I was worried about. I vaguely remember having those slight aches and pains when I started to learn to play righty, being a righty. Didn't have pecs, so that wasn't an issue, but I remember getting kinks in my 4th finger when I'd stretch it to the 5th fret. This is inspiring - I'm thinking of learning to play the harmonica lefty now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 7 hours ago, Larsongs said: Are you going to play Paul in a Beatles Trib band? Nope. I just acquired this great 20/40th Anniversary Hofner bass guitar and it's LH, so I saw it as an opportunity. Another thing is it will free up headstock space in my music room. I can't count how many time I nearly smacked the person to the left of me with my RH bass guitar headstocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitefang Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 You should either find a larger room or stand further apart from one another. Whitefang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Whitefang said: You should either find a larger room or stand further apart from one another. Whitefang uhhh.... The room is in my house so there is no changing that. And the dimensions of the room isn't changing so that means the proximity to the person on my left isn't changing. So do you have any LH practicing techniques I may find useful????? Gracias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 I was one of those kids that picked up my fork with my left hand and my mom took the fork and put it in my right. In the late 70's I acquired a left handed Hofner Bass and thought it would be cool to play it like Paul for a Beatles project I was trying out. I was able to make the transition but was still several months away from being fully competent when I got a R/handed Ibanez Axe Star and went back to 6-string. It was fun for a while playing lefty, but there are so many more righty guitars out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBSinTo Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 I know that left-handed persons forced to perform tasks right-handed can suffer trauma, but in my experience, voluntarily playing golf and guitar right-handed did not. Was it because I chose to do so rather than being forced? Possibly. But having never done these things any other way, and being comfortable doing so, I don't see any advantage to trying to re-learn them left-handed. There are far better uses for my time. RBSinTo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 15 minutes ago, RBSinTo said: I know that left-handed persons forced to perform tasks right-handed can suffer trauma, but in my experience, voluntarily playing golf and guitar right-handed did not. Was it because I chose to do so rather than being forced? Possibly. But having never done these things any other way, and being comfortable doing so, I don't see any advantage to trying to re-learn them left-handed. There are far better uses for my time. RBSinTo Do you play Goalie lefty or righty ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBSinTo Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 37 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said: Do you play Goalie lefty or righty ? fyp., I play goal left-handed, which is to say I hold my stick in my left hand and catch the puck with my right. Similarly, I played baseball as a lefty. RBSinTo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Good on you! I can bat either way, but only catch righty (with my left hand). Archery - lefty. I bet there'd be a lot more 'Leftys' if parents and teachers didn't push righteousness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 On 2/22/2022 at 7:16 PM, Farnsbarns said: The guitar manager at GAK (who left and went to GuitarGuitar some years ago) was left handed but had learned to play a RH guitar upside down. That impressed me. (GAK and GuitarGuitar are big UK retailers, just by they way) I knew someone at Art College (I was 16 & just beginning to play) who did that. Yes, that impressed me too, especially as he had to fingerpick upside down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted February 28, 2022 Author Share Posted February 28, 2022 Update. After almost two weeks it's safe to say I will be a left handed bass player. Everything is going much faster than expected and that's probably due to me practicing a minimum of 3 hours every day. It's funny how this exercise is sparking some memories when I was first learning to play guitar as a little kid. A combination of learning songs and chromatic fingering exercises has really expedited the learning process and I think knowing how to read music is helping on the mental part. Another thing that helped early on was playing the bass like a standup bass. This helped keep my perspective on the fret board as it kept me looking to the left (as one one would when playing right handed) until I was able to associate the notation with every fret. Now I'm just waiting for the "second nature" aspect to become part of the whole process. Every once and a while I still pick up the bass and want to play it right handed. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 I have been tempted to get a lefty Strat and re-string it for right so the tremolo and controls will be like Jimi's, If you watch Jimi play I think there is an advantage to having everything right under your hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Actually I always play, Or do my fingers and chords left handed Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard65 Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 I am right handed and I lost part of my ring finger on my left hand while serving in the military. I decided that I would try left handed guitar so I purchased a cheap strat style guitar and set out on the struggle. It was difficult but after a few months of practicing every day I mentioned to my guitar player in our band I was thinking about giving up. That's when Luke asked me to play for him and he asked me to play the open D chord and I played it. I could do the cowboy chords but a little slower than I liked. Then Luke asked me to let him try and he had a hard time and he handed the guitar back to me and said you have come a long way don't give up now. I think a year later we lost our bass player in the band and I asked the guys if I could do bass and we gave it a shot. It was fun learning all the songs on bass but my first love was guitar. I will tell you I used how I held the pick playing right handed when learning left handed. I used to pick up a right handed guitar and play just to see how I held the pick and then mirror it left handed. I think the hardest part was my picking hand I wont lie it took a few years but I started trying when I was about 50 years old. Now all of my guitars and bass guitars are left handed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted April 20, 2022 Author Share Posted April 20, 2022 So I am now almost going on three months and I also purchased a left Fender Jazz Bass. Now that I am very comfortable with playing left handed with a pick, I have started using my fingers which is a bit more challenging. So I have made the decision to take Bass lessons at the Fret House. I also have my pal coming over to jam with me so that I can learn pocket awareness as a bass player rather than a guitar player.... two different worlds. He also likes electronic drums now. lol The Jimi Hendrix Room... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 It's cool that you stuck with this experiment. Aside from the coordination or dexterity challenges, do you find any differences in your creative ability while playing opposite handed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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