Why Lefties Should Play Left Handed Guitar (but not always)

When it comes to lefties and left handed guitars, there can be a lot of questions. Today, as a left handed guitar player of over 25 years, I’m going to answer those questions, dispel some myths, and even give a few reasons why playing left handed is better than playing right handed.

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⏰Time Stamps
0:00 Intro
1:05 Famous Lefty Guitar Players
2:13 Myth 1: Learning Left Handed is Harder
4:41 Myth 2 : Left Handed Guitars are Hard to Find
8:06 Myth 3: Left Handed Guitars Cost More
9:36 Myth 4 : Just Restring a Right Handed Guitar Upside Down
12:52 Benefits of Playing Left Handed Guitar
13:27 I've Saved $1,000s Playing Left Handed
14:55 More Good News!
15:43 Should I Learn to Play Guitar Left Handed?
17:04 Do Not Make This Mistake!
17:33 Left Handed Tests
19:54 How to Tell if a Guitar is Left Handed

[rowinfun]

5:33 that black strat was my first guitar.

[jeffpaul]

Great video! I am a lefty that plays a lefthanded bass. I tried to play righthanded and it never felt right. I thought about learning to play a RH bass upside down with the strings inverted (like Albert King), I finally just went out and bought a lefthanded bass (a new 2018 Squier 70s VM in 2018, as a 57 year old newbie bass player...) and I have never looked back. BTW, I do everything lefthanded except golf, throw a frisbee, and shoot pool. I like the suggestion to put on one of your favorite songs and play air guitar to it. That, to me, makes the most sense as to what is natural. Sweetwater is my Go To for musical gear, including my first bass, amps, tuners, etc. and I have had good luck with Reverb in finding older LH basses (like my favorite: a 2017 Fender American Professional P bass). I also agree that playing LH instruments, you can avoid G.A.S. (Gear Aquisition Syndrome) easier than a RH player.

[MrRobertRumbustiere]

You forgot the option that some of us take which is to play a right-handed guitar in the left-handed position but it is not restrung for left-handedness (early Hendrix).

[Thebigkeoghowski]

Nice video.
I've been playing guitar left-handed since 2009.
I have to agree with the learning guitar from a righty thing, with the necks being a mirror image. But I've been in situations where there were a few students in a lesson, and the chairs had to be arranged in a certain way so that other people wouldn't be bumping elbows with me or hitting headstocks.
Also, my first guitar teacher found it hard to write "left-handed chord diagrams" for me (luckily, I had already learned most of the basic chords from a DVD that came with my guitar.) Also whenever i had a new instructor, I'd have to tell them about the guitar being left-handed or they'd say things like "you're playing it upside down"
You're right in mentioning that us lefties aren't tempted by certain guitars because, well, we can't have them as they don't make them in left-handed models.
I play drums right-handed as well. 😃

[rowinfun]

2:54 they make left handed chord books

[allendean]

Im a lefty player, and love it. But my good friend, Michael Spencer, former bass player for Flotsam and Jetsum, and current bass player for Trauma is a lefty who plays bass right handed. He constantly gives me a hard time for not learning righty!! But i love the look, i love the thrill of sight unseen guitar buying, and custom ordering. My newest guitar is a 2021 lefty Mod shop Stratocaster hardtail HSS, with roasters maple neck, locking tuners and a custom color. Love that thing!
Also, i do a lot of trading, which is great fun, because lefties care a lot for their guitars, and many ive met also love trading…. I recently traded a Korean Mustaine Dean Angel of Deth for a Les Paul Tribute with Phat Cat P-90’s. Great trade- we both love our new guitars!

[DustyNonya]

I actually ran into a used lefty SG and a Jackson in my guitar center the other day. I can see why some complain about not being able to walk into a store and choose from 250 guitars like righties do...but my Gibson acoustic was way easier to get logistically than the 90's Samick I started with. Its never been easier to find a good instrument if you do your homework and don't "need" it in some rare Pokemon color.

[tyrotrainer]

An option with acoustics is to buy a RH dreadnought-type and have a LH bridge/saddle/nut fitted. I'm not a guitar tech/luthier but I looked into this maybe 10 years ago and researched the tech drawings/construction for quite a few different makes of dreadnought and non-dreadnought. IMO a dreadnought should be able to be re-strung without any problem; their bracing is totally non-biased for either hand orientation. Cut-away acoustics are braced for one side only and cannot (or, should not?) be swapped over. At that time I was already mid-50s and a very mediocre player, and after much dithering I stuck with my cheapish Yamaha lefty.

[tanvirahammed]

Does any Right hand person can play left hand...???

[hanktsui]

Great video!

I have a question: I’m a left-handed guitarist with two guitars – a Gibson SG and a Fender Stratocaster. I’ve noticed that the volume knobs on each work in opposite directions, and it feels like Gibson just used the right-handed potentiometers rather than adapting them for a left-handed guitar.

Is that actually the case? Does Gibson offer left-handed potentiometers for replacement?

[richardpalmer]

If you just want to strum chords then playing righty if you're left handed is fine. But if you want to progress to guitar solos, fast/intricate licks & riffs and of course, shredding then you'll shorten the learning curve considerably by taking advantage of your natural handedness. Which means if you're a lefty get a left handed guitar.

[exhalete]

If I write left handed, this should means I should try left handed guitar first?

[Gil]

I write left, throw right, so I'm thinking of learning leftty, then maybe riighty.

[noeditbookreviews]

I think the orientation of having that fat string on the bottom makes the most sense anyway. The chord diagrams, too. If I look at the fret board, it looks exactly as on the diagram. Everything left for me. 👍 This was s interesting. I was trying to find a left hand emoji and almost all of them are the right hand. Not the thumbs up though. How fitting.

[Amenhir]

I'm left handed but I do a lot of things right handed. I recently bought a new left handed guitar and then discovered I actually play better right handed. I get the advantage of being able to form complex chords far easier. My right hand is going to adapt and I don't believe I would even notice any disadvantage. When I did the clap test both of my hands are moving together. There isn't one dominant hand.

[shanewalton]

One exception: ESp has a 150 buck upcharge for a custom shop lefty.

[Pa_Maxi]

i am left handed but started playing guitar right handed because it felt sort of better but i have to say that i am weird, i throw things with right, i play soccer with my right foot and all around my right hand is dominant except for writing for some weird reason

[alangreenway]

I’m Left handed, but I think the classification isn’t entirely correct. As a guitar and piano player I find I have the same dexterity in the fingers on both hands. The real issue is coordination of the arm and eye. Trying to catch a ball with my right hand is ten times as hard as my left hand, because I have trouble moving my arm to the right place. When it comes to playing the guitar, my right arm is anchored to the neck that allows my right fingers to fret. This allows my more dominant arm to strum or pick in time with accuracy. If I was strumming with my right arm I would have real trouble.

[haydenkay-sv]

Left-handed here I remember getting guitar lessons trying to get me to play a left-handed guitar picked up right-handed and played everything he had been teaching me on a left-handed so I'm left-handed but can only play right-handed don't understand why just is

[cornellwoosley]

What about us guys that play upside down and string our electric lefty guitar as a right.lol i play acoustic upside down and have my electric guitars redone as a right hand string guitar.