Left Handed Guitar Playing

Living in a world that is primarily built for right handed people, places left handed individuals in quite a spot. Door knobs are placed on the right side of the door which makes it easy to use for a right handed person, but for most left handed people, it is on the wrong side. Locks open when a key is turned clockwise, which is easy for a right handed person. Most of the things built in this world, are designed, taking into account the fact that 85-87% of the people are right handed. The same holds true in the world of music too, as most people learning left handed guitar playing, find it very difficult to obtain left handed guitars.

Most musical instruments are made for right handed people. For a right handed guitarist there are different types of guitars to choose from. A left handed person wanting to learn to play guitar, not only finds it difficult to buy a left handed guitar, but also to locate a guitar teacher who teaches left handed guitar lessons. Many of the teachers flatly refuse to teach a left handed pupil and those who teach, insist that the pupil use the right hand instead. Does that mean that left handers are always going to be at a disadvantage? Paul McCartney, a well-known guitarist and perhaps, one of the most important members of 'the Beatles' is a lefty, and so is the legendary solo guitarist and performer, Jimi Hendrix. Both of them, mastered the art of playing the left handed guitars.

Many left handers are ambidextrous and can adjust and learn to play right handed guitars, using the right hand. Using a simple 'clapping' test, it easy to identify, which hand a child will most prefer to use to play the guitar. While clapping, if a child holds his right hand steady, and claps with his left, then it is beneficial to let him play a left handed guitar. If the child uses both hands to clap, even though he is left handed, he can learn to play a right handed guitar. Making this distinction is important, as there are very few manufacturers who make left handed guitars. If your child is left handed, then a left handed guitar is a necessity for him. A thumb rule, is to observe how a child holds the guitar. If the guitar is held in the style of a left handed guitarist, then buy him a left handed guitar. It is also possible to convert a right handed guitar, to a guitar that can be played using the left hand.

There are four ways in which a left handed aspiring guitarist, can play a guitar. The guitarist can play a right handed guitar with the right hand or can use the left hand to pick the strings of the right handed guitar, held upside down. The guitar player can use either a left handed guitar or a right handed guitar, modified to be played, using the left hand.

The correct order of strings for a left handed player, is to have the 'low E' string on the top. Guitarists, such as, Paul McCarteny play left handed guitars with the strings placed in the correct order'. Guitarists using this style, either use a genuine left handed guitar, or a right handed altered guitar, that has the low strings on the top. Guitarists such as, Bob Geldof use the left hand to pick the strings of the guitar, which has the 'low E' string at the bottom.

Guitarists take the help of musical notations or guitar tablature, also called 'guitar tabs', in which strings and frets of guitars, are represented in the form of a table. Guitar tabs help guitarists play all kinds of music on the guitar. Left handed guitar tabs help in learning chords and melodies, using the left handed guitar.

Nowadays, there is lot of support given to left handed guitar playing. Many guitarists, feel that teaching left handed children to play the guitar using their prominent hand, will help them realize their talent. There are many sources that offer lessons, for left handed guitar playing, among them the Internet is most preferred. Some websites also provide free online guitar lessons, for left handed individuals. These lessons are also available in the form of CD's and DVD's. However, being taught by a teacher is the right way of learning to play a right handed or left handed guitar.