Just wanted to check if I am the only left hander on the forum.
The funny thing is I play a guitar "normally" like right hander. It felt normal to play like that when I first picked up the guitar.
My cousin though who is also a left hander had to get used to it.

Left handed?
How do you play the guitar?

Me too. I'm left handed. When I first started I wanted to play lefty. I switched the strings around on my brothers right handed guitar and played for a while. It felt more natural. But then when I went to buy my first guitar, the salesman recommended I switch to right handed because of the lack of availability of left handed guitars. He said it wouldn't take long to get used to it especially since I had only been playing for a few weeks. So I bought a right handed guitar and never looked back. I wonder sometimes if I would be better at picking though if I had stuck with playing lefty. ...will never know I guess.

another lefty here man, i started to play as a right guitarist but then i saw in a concert a famous guitar player from my country playing as a lefty. From that moment i changed to the dark left side! the only regret i have is that the market is so limited to us

I can play chords if you give me a right guitar, just invert the chords, and then peolpe will say "oh he is so good that he can play the guitar the other way around"

I'm a lefty. I actually play with left handed guitars too it feels really natural. One funny thing is that when I record myself playing I always invert the image because it looks odd even to me! pretty funny really. I''ll upload a non inverted image and see if other people think it is strange too.

Strange this.
I write with my left hand, I throw with it.
But I use a scissor with my right hand, and playing guitar like a right hander felt normal from the start

I am right handed , but when I was young I fell out of a tree and broke my arm, the doctor did not rehab it and I can not bend it enough to get the chords, so I had to learn left handed( and yes it does suck being limited with guitar choice)

I'm left handed, but play right handed. I wish I started off playing left handed, because I would have progressed much faster. I was told that by playing right handed I would have a much larger selection of guitars to buy. While this is true, it is poor advice. The ultimate goal is to PLAY the instrument, not buy more of them. In another words, your reason for playing guitar isn't to make guitar companies richer. But with all the snazzy marketing we have nowadays, its hard not to think otherwise.

I don't want to make anyone richer, I just want to know what a high end model is like.( not a models high end)

If you have enough money, you can get any guitar left handed

If your left hand and play a right handed guitar, your actually using your smarter hand to do the more complex stuff. Teach your other hand how to pick and strum (the no brainer stuff) and your become a better / faster player than if you where the other way around. This is actually a good thing to try learn unless you want complex picking patterns / hybrid picking / etc. Most of right handed people's talent is wasted in the wrong area.

I've also seen a lefty guitarist playing a right handed guitar upside down playing heavy metal with the big E on the bottom without any trouble, I was shocked! He learnt to play that way since a kid and his dad only had right handed guitars. He doesn't restring or anything.

This post has been edited by Azzaboi: Feb 25 2012, 07:29 PM

Left handed, but play right handed. Actually about the only things I do with my left hand are write, cut (but use right-handed scissors) and fire a weapon. Everything else is right handed.

I have a good friend who's left handed and plays left handed he has an incredible collection of guitars, all custom made and he is not a pro player although he is technically proficient. Instead he is a famous photographer here in Romania.

I'm a lefty and I play right handed. Before I started, it would feel more natural for me to strum with my left hand if I played air guitar, but I switched sides when I knew I was getting a guitar soon and I felt natural again very quickly.

The fretting hands motions aren't more complex than the strumming hands. The strumming hand has to move in three dimensions, while the fretting hand has more linear motions. The fingers on the fretting hand really only have to move up and down in a perpendicular angle to the fingerboard, and up and down parallel to the fingerboard. Vibrato and bends are a linear motion, but require a bit more finesse than just simply fretting a note.

The strumming hand has to maintain rhythm and playing dynamics, which is a much more demanding task that requires fine motor skills. Proper alternate picking requires the pick to move in somewhat of an arc, which is a much more complex motion than the linear up and down of fretting. The wrist has to rotate perfectly, otherwise it will be sloppy. Once the tempo is sped up and multiple strings are involved, the motion can become chaotic for the unskilled hand.

Here is a simple exercise to demonstrate the difference in the motor skill required of each hand. With your dominant hand, tap your fingers on a table in sequence, beginning with your little finger, at about a tempo of 100bpm. Reverse it and begin with your index finger. Pretty simple right? Now do the same thing with your other hand. You'll find its really not that difficult, because most of the motion is your fingers contracting.

Now, with your dominant hand, write your name. Then try writing it with your other hand. you'll notice you won't be able to write your name not even close to the proficiency and precision that you can with your dominant hand. This is because it is a more demanding motor skill. Strumming is no different. More muscles are involved that require more coordination.

From my own personal experience, I wish I started off playing left handed, because it was more natural for me. My biggest problem has always been my strumming hand. I have never really had much trouble with my fretting hand. This is of course due my dominant hand being assigned the relatively easy task of fretting Nonetheless, I know that Michael Angelo Batio and Herman Li are naturally left handed. If they can rock out right handed then there is no reason why I can't

I'm right handed, and play the usual way, but sometimes I will transfer and try to play like that, just to remember how it was when I was starting.