I love "ambidextrous"-oriented activites: drumming, harp playing, accordion playing (stradella and free bass), windsurfing, skiing, basketball (especially in the paint.. I sometimes play tennis with a two-handed forehand as well as backhand just for kicks), dance ...
Since spending nearly all my life holding a guitar, I'm very conscious of problems of un-balance and love to do things requiring more balance ..
When I grew up I tried playing guitar 10 different times. There was always a guitar lying around and it was always right-handed. Invariably, after a month or so of not making progress, I would quit.
When I decided to learn mandolin, I decided to ignore the "standard" advice and convert an A-style to lefty. I'm several years in with steady progress and daily practice. Upon reflecting on the actual struggles between playing left-handed and right-handed, there are two things I noticed:
- My left hand has a much better sense of rhythm than my right
- My left hand likes to lead and my right hand likes to follow
I should elaborate on my question. Aside from those folks who have, through accident or medical condition, had to switch handedness, are there any right-handed players who decided to switch because it felt right or for some other reason.
The most interesting case for me outside of music is Rafael Nadal, the Spanish tennis player, who was born with a tendency to do things right-handed, but was advised by his uncle (his coach) to learn to play left-handed. There is a distinct advantage to left-handedness in tennis. When I used to play I always had to think very differently when playing against a lefty.
Last edited by Jim Garber; Dec-13-2019 at 5:30pm.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
I’m a lefty who played fiddle the usual way for the usual reasons, but I am now exploring lefty mandolin due to multiple injuries. I’d be interested in pooling experience in a lefty forum or group. The group mentioned in the original post seems to be dormant — is that still the best place to start?
I'm a lefty and I've always played lefty. When I was a kid and wanted to learn guitar, my parents actually refused to send me to teachers who wanted to force me to play righty! I started playing mandolin 3 months ago, and when I decided to play, it never even occurred to me to play righty. I had no trouble finding lefty guitars, but I've found that lefty mandolins are rare and magical beasts. The unicorns of the instrument world.
I found the Stagg M20 lefty model for a reasonable price easily enough (on Amazon). Down the road i'd like to upgrade, though, and the few lefty mandos i see online are pretty steep. 😭
Playing lefty is more natural to me. I did break down and buy a lefty chord chart book, but otherwise there really aren't any other compromises that interfere with my playing or learning.
( this is my first post here on MC!)
Welcome to the cafe. Check out Jerry’s lefty guitars... https://www.jerrysleftyguitars.com
Good for your parents to not give in, at times I would like to try playing lefty but I figure I’m good enough playing righty and to switch now after all these years just doesn’t seem worthwhile.
Last edited by bigskygirl; Jan-22-2020 at 11:01pm.
Northfield F5M #268, AT02 #7
Hello...also a lefty...started with the Stagg you have. After a good setup it played ok...I was able to get an Eastman 505L from The Mandolin Store for less than a thousand and then lucked into a hardly used Collins MT Left hand. Both play great and investment not that bad. Good luck.
Hi bigskygirl, thanks for the link!
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