Left handed 12 year old wants to learn guitar

[EastwoodMike]

My son is Left handed. He plays right handed. On advice of a trained guitar teacher who specialised in classical and Jazz. This was about 10 years ago so my son would have been about 6 at the time.

now I am not left handed. I had no bias in the outcome, but the teacher stated three reasons out the gate-
1: He is young enough to find both orientations equally complex so it really does not matter at his age. He will develop the fine motor skills at equal rates. I don’t know how much truth there was to this observation but in soccer he passes right foot and strike left foot. Go figure.
2: fretting and expression out of the fingering is harder. I have no idea if this was true or not, maybe it came from his expertise from classical instruments. Certainly vibrato is a gentle nuance. Either way his fusion skills and chord melody demonstrate no impediment using his dominant hand on this aspect.
3: Finding high quality instruments will be easier and cheaper in the long run. Possibly/probably. Where I live there are not nearly as many archtops or guitars in general compared to the US. New or second hand.

OP your son is 12 so I do not know if his “handedness” is baked in too hard yet? Perhaps other southpaws can chip in with what age they started and if that made a difference in their experience?

emike

[Mulgrew Miller]

My experience as a right handed person is I do not like doing things cross dominantly because it makes me feel weird and I'm not as good at them anyway. I know this because I have tried. Left handed people are wired differently than right handed people but I still wouldn't recommend choosing to play right handed by default if the person is left handed. I would suggest just left handed unless they think it would be more comfortable right handed.

[Dennis D]

So, I thought about posing this question to the internet : )..... I asked what surgeons do if they're left handed, and what if any are the issues they face ?.... the responses were more than interesting.....Maybe do your own search and see what you think of the replies.... Yes some at times mention the standard right-handed tools / medical instruments and the lack of left-handed ones.... But one said worst case, in surgery, he stands where he needs to stand to do his work....
One of the better responses I found was that more geniuses are lefties, so there's that...: )....And another mentioned lefties are already more likely to be ambidextrous, e.g. performing surgical tasks w/ one hand, and writing with the other hand.
One went on to say a lefty would usually have an easier time learning the coordination phase of guitar playing because he's already coordinated the hemispheres with his handwriting task...

So for me, I'd still be in the ' start him right-handed ' camp, and see if he can do it that way, because down the road it'll always make locating instruments much easier and cheaper too....



Sorry this quote is a little long.......









Jake Godfrey






Studied at Concordia University, MontrealAuthor has 104 answers and 2.8M answer views5y




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What are the chances of becoming a good surgeon when I am left-handed (although good with my right hand) and my right hand cannot supinate totally?


Jimi Hendrix was left handed. What are the chances he would become a good guitar player?
That being said, despite his creative virtuosity, Jimi was quite a sloppy player as far as technique is concerned.
Here’s the thing. Left-handers tend more towards ambidexterity than right handers. On average, left-handers are far more competent with their right hand than right-handers are with their left.
The biological strategies of these two populations (purely right-handers versus ambidextrous left- and right-handers) is a matter of whether all our eggs are in one basket or divided more or less equally between two baskets.
The purely right-handed population, having all their eggs in one basket, do have better manual dexterity. After all, the term ‘dexterity’ is derived from the Latin word for ‘right’. In general, left-handers need to work harder to gain proficiency in a task than right-handers.
I can tell you from experience as a musician, whenever I play with a left-handed guitarist/bassist, even ones gigging at a professional level, they rarely have the chops of even a casual right-handed player. I have developed an eye for the particular strategies they employ to compensate for their shoulder girdle not being strongly torqued for a proper grip on the instrument (internal rotation/pronation of dominant arm/hand for strumming/picking and external rotation/supination of non-dominant arm/hand for holding the neck/fretting—and this lack of torque probably explains your inability to strongly supinate your right hand like a right-hander supinates their left). Of course some players, like Jimi, put so much time into their instrument that the lack of torque in their grip ceases to be a hinderance, and actually becomes part of the grace and ease in their playing. They don’t have to wrestle with their instrument. It hangs off them and they touch it lightly.
As well, the right-handed conformation and the introduction of a strong torque into the system of upright mechanics under gravity has its own negative effects. The muscular tension resists proper circulation and limits the intensity of arousal of which we are capable. Under this torque, people tire quicker on their feet than more ambidextrous people who stand balanced more or less upon their joints. Finally, in the brain, the ambidextrous person will achieve a better cross-talk of the hemispheres and will generally arrive at better decisions than a merely dextrous person who relies heavily on the left hemisphere and its particular left-wing style without giving proper right-wing opposition in the though process that is the body politik. There is a reason why the left-handers are overrepresented among geniuses, innovators, great artists and great leaders.
So, speaking from the most general position, left-handers are more balanced individuals and tend to be sharper thinkers on their feet. Your ability to concentrate fully in on one thing is slightly compromised, but your general situational awareness will be higher. As a surgeon, this tradeoff has its pros and cons. Your ability with the scalpel will be comparable to your ability with the pen. How is your handwriting? How is your handwriting compared to most right-handers? You might have to work extra hard to get your level of focus up, and practicing your handwriting is probably one of the best ways given the similarities between pen and scalpel in terms of small precise movements (at which right-handers excel). However, your increased general awareness will probably make you an overall better doctor. Consider most surgical mistakes don’t come from a slip of the hand, but from an oversight in the bigger picture. Here, your particular skill set might give you the upper hand over other doctors in the operating theatre. Just don’t neglect your practice of fine motor skills.



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[Mulgrew Miller]

It isn't hard to find lefty guitars, that isn't a viable point. Unless you're somehow a guitar collector.. before you start playing guitar.

Some lefties who play guitar cross dominant find it comfortable. Because their dominant hand is controlling the fretting, and they develop their weak hand to get good at picking, which requires more precision than fretting. The right hand is naturally more predisposed to precision and the left hand more predisposed to spatial awareness regardless of handedness. That's why there are more righties. So that could be why lefties can take to playing righty more commonly.

However some lefties who play guitar righty still don't find it comfortable. It's not the right advice to tell a beginner left handed guitar player to take up guitar right handed by default. Because it might be more difficult for them when they could just play left handed.. Unless they noticeably take to playing righty more easily.

[emanresu]

When playing drums (RH), the left hand has to hit the snare. To get the beat to groove well, the left hand hast to perform perfectly, in your control. Meaning that the hit hast to land exactly how hard, where and when you want it.
That also means that this musical expression is in the left hand at this moment.
Being a right handed person, I have 0 issues with that. Feels completely comfortable. That kinda says that even for a total "righty", the left hand can do things well when really needed.

Btw. As a side note, we also got dominant ears. Hm, the ears are not the same even when workin equally, properly. I guess, not dominant but their connection to the brains are different. It becomes quite obvious when listening to someone speak with only one ear. One of them will struggle more to understand - takes some effort, the other needs none.

[Mulgrew Miller]

^ It's the same thing on piano. You use your weak hand to independently play. Developing your weak hand is different from doing things cross dominantly which develops and changes your handedness and can be tough on people's system.

[pamosmusic]

I’ve always been a little skeptical that hand dominance matters that much for guitar.

I think it’s interesting that the dominant hand picks which is less flashy but also maybe harder to nail down than the fretting hand. But if someone had told me before I started that the dominant hand should fret, I think that would also have made perfect sense.

[Mulgrew Miller]

^ I investigated the nature of handedness and why most people are right handed. Apparently the left side of the brain which controls the right side of the body controls more precision. While the right side of the brain is more spatial awareness. Which is exactly analogous to guitar. You need more precision to pick and control your rhythms with your right hand while feeling around with your left hand.

[pamosmusic]

^ I investigated the nature of handedness and why most people are right handed. Apparently the left side of the brain which controls the right side of the body controls more precision. While the right side of the brain is more spatial awareness. Which is exactly analogous to guitar. You need more precision to pick and control your rhythms with your right hand while feeling around with your left hand.

Science

Assuming this maps onto guitar the way you suggest, wouldn’t that actually support using the left hand for fretting and right for picking regardless of which hand was dominant?

[Mulgrew Miller]

Yeah, like I said, that could be why lefties can take to playing guitar cross dominantly more commonly. However, your natural handedness still comes into play, where it's going to be harder to pick with your weak hand regardless.

[Peter C]

Show me a switched lefty with this kind of badass rhythm going on. (I'd be intrigued to see).

[Litterick]

^ I investigated the nature of handedness and why most people are right handed. Apparently the left side of the brain which controls the right side of the body controls more precision. While the right side of the brain is more spatial awareness. Which is exactly analogous to guitar. You need more precision to pick and control your rhythms with your right hand while feeling around with your left hand.

Emma Karlsson: Being left-handed doesn't mean you are right-brained — so what does it mean?

[Mulgrew Miller]

^ That's fascinating. I had a feeling the brain lateralization wasn't simply reversed for left handers.

[emanresu]

I always feel uncomfortable when my team's player is gonna kick a penalty but is left-footed.
Do I have right-sided empathy?

[RJVB]

I always feel uncomfortable when my team's player is gonna kick a penalty but is left-footed.
Do I have right-sided empathy?

I hesitate between "who cares about football/soccer anyway" and "only if you feel for the goalkeeper of the opposite team"

[benhatchins]

Since your nephew is just starting out on his guitar journey, it’s a great idea to let him explore both orientations before committing to one. Encourage him to strum a few basic patterns with both right-handed and left-handed setups to see what feels more natural for him. If he leans toward playing right-handed, it might also be convenient for him to use your guitars during lessons, which could save some money and make things easier. At the same time, don’t overwhelm him with too many other things or pressures—learning an instrument should be fun and exciting. When my son started learning guitar, I even hired ukwritings.com/assignment-service services to help him manage his schoolwork so he could focus more on his new passion. It’s all about creating the right balance and making sure he enjoys the process

[Gitfiddler]

I have a 'troubled' nephew who is new to music and has a small keyboard. He is thinking about playing guitar (not necessarily jazz). I pulled out some of my stuff for him today - Les Paul and tube amp, flat top acoustic. I've offered to give him some lessons. He is left handed (I am right handed) and I don't know whether he should have a left handed guitar. My brother is left handed but has been playing guitar right handed since he started in the 60s. What do you folks think is best for a beginner? Thanks.

I wanted a guitar ever since I was 11 or 12 years old. I'm left handed, but never gave it a thought when my dad gave me a brand new, but extremely cheap 'right-handed' acoustic guitar. Man, I was so happy to have my own guitar, nothing else mattered. I was determined to learn how to play 'that' guitar. After more than 60 years of playing (and still learning!), I never looked for a 'lefty' guitar.

Let your nephew play around with a right handed guitar and see how he likes it. He just might fall in love with it just as I did, and never even think about a left handed model. OTOH he might flip it upside down (i.e. blues master Eric Gales), or play it backwards (i.e. Jimmie Hendrix) or switch the strings. Who knows?