Final instalment! Playing a right handed guitar left handed but still strung right handed.

sofasteve

Sorry for the long title! I've had a recent arm break and it's become apparent that I'll never regain sufficient supination (wrist rotation) to be able to play anything other than a cello.

I'm going to have to learn again but this time left handed. I'm tempted to learn as the thread title reads as this would mean I'm not constricted to playing left handed guitars only and can keep my current guitars.

Apart from the obvious problems such as the position of the controls, leads and strap pins are there any other obstacles I need to be aware of before I decide to make the change?

clarkefan

You'll need to get past playing patterns "upside down" to everything you've ever played before. As a lefty myself I occasionally do as you suggest and pick up a righty mate's guitar and, everything is upside down, it's weird.  But I think with perseverance you could get past it.

I never got a trem to work upside down.  Even when I bent the arm in the correct direction...

One other problem I suppose is having the output jack socket and controls under your arm. Hendrix seemed to manage it but they used to tear the shit out of my sleeves snagging on them

I'd get at least one lefty guitar personally.

monquixote

I think it's a bad Idea.

If you want to play a righty guitar I'd put a new nut and strap buttons on it like Hendrix. 

If you go this route then you can learn some Dick Dale who plays like this.

clarkefan

monquixote said:

I think it's a bad Idea.

If you want to play a righty guitar I'd put a new nut and strap buttons on it like Hendrix. 

If you go this route then you can learn some Dick Dale who plays like this.

Dale played a lefty guitar though.

more

 Elizabeth  Cotton had no problems  with it       http://youtube.com/watch?v=43-UUeCa6Jw

sofasteve

clarkefan said:

You'll need to get past playing patterns "upside down" to everything you've ever played before. As a lefty myself I occasionally do as you suggest and pick up a righty mate's guitar and, everything is upside down, it's weird.  But I think with perseverance you could get past it.

I never got a trem to work upside down.  Even when I bent the arm in the correct direction...

One other problem I suppose is having the output jack socket and controls under your arm. Hendrix seemed to manage it but they used to tear the shit out of my sleeves snagging on them

I'd get at least one lefty guitar personally.

Cheers for advice mate, I didn't even consider the trem situation. As I've always played right I don't think the the shapes will be upside down if that makes any sense?

Redlester

I think it’s fundamentally a question of how it feels to you and how your mimd works. 

There are of course players who play as you describe, but my understanding is that that perhaps they never knew any different. 

I think if you’ve played before, then conceptually having the guitar strung  low to high top to bottom makes more sense, with the nut adjusted accordingly. 

sofasteve

monquixote said:

I think it's a bad Idea.

If you want to play a righty guitar I'd put a new nut and strap buttons on it like Hendrix. 

If you go this route then you can learn some Dick Dale who plays like this.

Be as close to playing like Hendrix as I'll ever get! Ironically I was learning the E double harmonic on the day of my accident a la Dick Dale. 

EricTheWeary

Eric Gales and Otis Rush also left handers who played right handed tuning swapped over. Like Dick I think that's how they learned so they didn't have the obstacle of relearning. 
I'd be tempted to try to learn something new rather than trying to get your brain to reverse everything to start with. Maybe something on one string ( as mentioned above like a Dick Dale riff). 

sofasteve

EricTheWeary said:

Eric Gales and Otis Rush also left handers who played right handed tuning swapped over. Like Dick I think that's how they learned so they didn't have the obstacle of relearning. 
I'd be tempted to try to learn something new rather than trying to get your brain to reverse everything to start with. Maybe something on one string ( as mentioned above like a Dick Dale riff). 

That's my issue I think. I feel like I'm throwing away everything I've learnt since i was 15 years old. It's  very bitter pill to swallow.

sixwheeltyrrel

Sorry to hear about your predicament.

I would second the view that having the guitar strung up side down is only going to be a hindrance. If you're happy with mainstream guitars why not just buy a left handed one?  

I don't have any medical expertise but from what you describe it doesn't sound as if rigorous strumming/tremolo picking would be advisable? Perhaps you could venture into playing with a thumb pick or just fingers instead?

sofasteve

Redlester said:

I think it’s fundamentally a question of how it feels to you and how your mimd works. 

There are of course players who play as you describe, but my understanding is that that perhaps they never knew any different. 

I think if you’ve played before, then conceptually having the guitar strung  low to high top to bottom makes more sense, with the nut adjusted accordingly. 

Iv'e always thought that guitar tabs are upside down so maybe that's another reason I'm looking at this option.

rocktron

Interesting historical reference:-

Albert King, the famous blues player, was left-handed and he played a 1959 right handed Gibson Flying V upside down with the high E string on top. He lost this guitar in gambling.

King's first Flying V guitar is now owned by Steven Seagal after undergoing serious repairs when it was found lying under water during flooding in Memphis.

https://www.vintageguitar.com/3813/albert-kings-flying-vs/.

Gibson gave King a 1960's Flying V, but this was also a right-handed standard model and was also played upside down with the high E string on top.

King had a left-handed Flying V custom built for him by independent luthier Dan Erlewine, but he couldn't change his playing style and this guitar was played with the high E string on top.   

sofasteve

Sorry to hear about your predicament.

I would second the view that having the guitar strung up side down is only going to be a hindrance. If you're happy with mainstream guitars why not just buy a left handed one?  

I don't have any medical expertise but from what you describe it doesn't sound as if rigorous strumming/tremolo picking would be advisable? Perhaps you could venture into playing with a thumb pick or just fingers

Thanks Six, My main thing is I want to be able to play a "normal" guitar and am thinking I'm limiting my options if I learn left handed strung. I'm three months into this thing now so need to start using my left arm, elbow, wrist and fingers again so this will probably help me return to "normal". 

scrumhalf

Would it be possible to play it on your lap a la Jeff Healey? 

sofasteve

scrumhalf said:

Would it be possible to play it on your lap a la Jeff Healey? 

Left or right handed and how strung?

scrumhalf

sofasteve said:

scrumhalf said:

Would it be possible to play it on your lap a la Jeff Healey? 

Left or right handed and how strung?

Up to you. It's just a thought as the guitar and hands are in very different positions. 

sofasteve

scrumhalf said:

sofasteve said:

scrumhalf said:

Would it be possible to play it on your lap a la Jeff Healey? 

Left or right handed and how strung?

Up to you. It's just a thought as the guitar and hands are in very different positions. 

I play thumb over the top so may be a problem there mate.

Funkfingers

The transformation from left- to right-handedness is a simple mirroring. 

Flipping a guitar of either handedness to play it the other way around is not.

For a while, I had a left-handed Squier Silver Series Stratocaster that I would occasionally approach as if it were a right-handed guitar, strung upside down.

Immediately, a lot of muscle memory moves do not work. Double stops are fine but the fingering of many popular chord shapes needs rethinking. Without regular practice, most players will flounder like a beginner. 

I have a slight unfair advantage in the sense that the bass register of a Chapman Stick is laid out upside down. Fattest/lowest string nearest the floor. 

•

Another aspect of handedness is that some people have an aptitude for rhythmic strumming in one arm but not the other.

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If chording is going to present problems, consider adopting an instrument that usually only sounds one note at a time. e.g. Bass guitar.

sofasteve

Funkfingers said:

The transformation from left- to right-handedness is a simple mirroring. 

Flipping a guitar of either handedness to play it the other way around is not.

For a while, I had a left-handed Squier Silver Series Stratocaster that I would occasionally approach as if it were a right-handed guitar, strung upside down.

Immediately, a lot of muscle memory moves do not work. Double stops are fine but the fingering of many popular chord shapes needs rethinking. Without regular practice, most players will flounder like a beginner. 

I have a slight unfair advantage in the sense that the bass register of a Chapman Stick is laid out upside down. Fattest/lowest string nearest the floor. 

•

Another aspect of handedness is that some people have an aptitude for rhythmic strumming in one arm but not the other.

•

If chording is going to present problems, consider adopting an instrument that usually only sounds one note at a time. e.g. Bass guitar.

The bass option may be one I'll look if whatever choice I take if it doesn't work out.

Are some chords impossible to play upside down strung then?

thermionic

Gruff Rhys plays a right-handed guitar flipped over with the strings in their original positions. It makes trying to figure out his songs very difficult, and in some cases, practically impossible to replicate. For instance, fingerpicking stuff is done with his fingers on the bass strings and the thumb playing melodies on the higher strings!

The funny thing is that Gruff isn’t even left-handed, it’s just that he learned by picking up his brother’s guitar, a right-handed guitar flipped over. His brother lent me his guitar at a rock workshop thing when I was a youngster and it was strung the normal way, I’m guessing he re-strung it that way as he brought it there specifically to lend to someone who might need it (like me, after my mate stepped on my lead, ripping the jack socket off my £25 Satellite!)