Left Handed Guitar

Left Hand Guitar

Left hand guitar sounds common but you will not be able to find it in every music store because most of the store owners prefer to keep the standard right handed guitar which sell more compare to the left hand guitar that is being bought by selected players who are left handed. Initially, left hand guitar was not available in the music stores and guitarists who were left handed had no option but to go for a custom made left hand guitar that would suit their preferences and needs, but such customizations would often upset their pockets as custom made guitars are costly compare to the normal right handed guitars.

Also one of the other reasons is that most of the teaching lesson and music notes were designed and made as per the right hand guitar and changing them and re-writing them as per the intonations of left hand guitar was kind of a complex and frustrating things to do. However, many popular brands and guitar companies like Fender and Gibson came up with their new version of left hand guitar and gradually the craze for the left hand guitar was all over with many people even claiming that there are many advantages that left hand guitar has over the regular right hand guitar.

The construction of left hand guitar is exactly opposite to that of a right hand guitar. The thickest string of the guitar is reversed and the bridge and the nut have to be turned upside down to fit the strings correctly. Many claim that left hand guitar is really hard to play as everything in it is just the opposite of the normal right handed guitars. However, the left handed guitarists deny it saying that it is the dominant hand that decides how well the guitar can be played

Left Hand Guitar Playing

There are many great left handed guitarists; all it takes is some minor adjustments to your guitar and attitude in order to become a competent at left hand guitar playing. Firstly, never think that you should be right handed because of the way that most guitars are designed. You know if you are left handed and you can not change that.

Your right hand is the passive hand and your left hand is active. Paul McCartney is a famous left handed guitar player who tried playing with his right hand but failed. Other famous left handed guitar players include Kurt Cobain from Nirvana, Slim Whitman and of course, the great Jimi Hendrix. As you can see, being left handed is no handicap when it comes to guitar playing.

The “King Of The Surf Guitar” Dick Dale is one exception in that he learned to play on a regular right handed guitar so he made himself adjust to playing with his right hand as the active hand – he did not change the string order on the guitar as many others do. Once he was able to buy left handed guitars he still chose to play in the right hand position as he was used to that. Albert King and Bobby Womack are two other players who played in this style.

To make a right handed guitar into a left handed guitar, the strings need to be reversed so that the lowest string, the E string, needs to be on top as it is on a regular guitar. Also the nut and bridge – the parts that hold the strings on to the guitar – must also be adjusted for a left hander. There are slots on these parts so attach them to the strings, and they need to be turned upside down so that the strings are able to fit in the reverse order.

Many players have noticed that price difference between right and left handed players. You need to shop around to get a left handed guitar for a good price. There are now many more mid range models available for left handers. Gibson and Fender now make left handed guitars of all their top models.

Some books that will assist in your playing include Mel Bay Left-Handed Guitar Chords by William Bay and Guitar Case Guide to Left-Handed Chords by Rikky Rooksby.

Websites and forums can also assist in your left handed guitar playing as well as choosing a left handed guitar.