Hello folks,

I've been thinking, why is it that the dominant hand is the one that does the least complex thing on the guitar? I know it feels natural for a right handed player to have the left hand on the fretboard but it just seems counter-intuitive even though I know it feels right.

Discuss please

I think the picking hand is actually doing more work overall. The fretting had just looks more complex but I dont think it is. Its mostly just keeping up with what the picking hand does.
Also, the other way round would be witchcraft

Cool topic! From my own experience as a guitar teacher I've noted that the main problem with students who want to play complex stuff is usually their picking hand. However this depends on each thing that you play. Some stuff requires more work from your left while others are more demanding for your right. As our picking hand manages intensities, I think that it's good to have the stronger hand doing it. Don't you think so?

This is what makes me think that the dominant hand shouldn't the do the strumming, It doesn't work though. I've restrung one of my guitars and tried to play the other way but it just didn't work out. I'm intrigued why the dominant hand has to just do down up down up and muting but the submissive hand has to traverse strings, bend strings, hammer on, pull off, do vibrato, etc etc
Interesting psychological process.


This post has been edited by Phil66: Jul 28 2017, 09:30 PM

the picking hand does more than strum though. Timing, dynamics. different types of picking, raking, muting , also traversing strings.

It's worth stringing a guitar that way and messing with it IMHO It helps to loosen up the brain a bit. The brain gets a bit too structured in it's approach sometimes and it's good to give it a way to be set free. This is such a way. Of course you don't have to restring, just for a workout, flip it over and try it upside down.

It's a really odd experience that will scramble your brain/fingers a bit. Try it now and then, it keeps the synapses from hardening

Great Drill idea!!


Todd

My opinion is...that at the top playing level it's actually no hand being more or less explored. When we start to add multifinger-tapping, hybrid picking, complex runs with string skipping....it's hard to say that any hand does the easier or harder job. But... I totally understand your thoughts - at some point of playing adventure we can notice this "hands un-eqality"

I have several friends who are pros and play right-handed instruments, while being left-handed overall. It all seems like it's all about practise, practise and practise once again. Anything else seems to sound like an excuse or something )))

I'm not looking for an excuse to why I'm not very good

I was just wondering why it seems natural to most people to have the none dominant hand on the fretboard. When you're starting out and playing camp fire open chord songs, the fretting hand is struggling much more than the strumming hand. I just wonder why people don't think, " man, I must be doing this the wrong way around!"

I know GMC member Rhida recently changed to a left hand guitar but I haven't heard from him in a while.

Interesting

I know what you mean but I think there's a good reason for it. While there is greater variety to the types of movement done by the fretting hand, the picking hand does smaller movements that require greater dexterity and precision. In particular, rapidly changing the direction of the movement of the hand between upward and downward while making small precise movements are things most people find are best done by the dominant hand

WHAT DARIUS SAID It really is about practice!

Todd

I'm not talking about getting good by practise . I'm talking about why, initially, when you pick up a guitar, that it feels so right to most people to have the dominant hand on the fretboard, even before you've started learning. Even kids picking up a tennis racquet and pretending to play guitar put the handle (effective fretboard) in their dominant hand.

It's more of a psychological question than a practise question I know it may not be answered here but I do find it interesting to discuss.

Hi Friend
Since Last year my musical journey has been a blast.
Everything has been great so far.
Now I know what finger memory means.
I've been quiet lately because I've been practicing with another site and one of my videos made more than 3k views on Facebook alone.
No offense but I don't agree with what Darius said.
In my case switching the hands has made all the difference in the world.
I have total control and independance of my fretting fingers. Last year I passed 2 RECS level 2 after just a few weeks of playing left-handed.
One of the lessons I made multiple tries when I was right-handed and never passed it.
My picking hand needed more work but I can now play 400 notes per minutes currently and easily no matter what scale or exercise I do.
With an extra push and shorter licks I can do 600 npm
I can do bends and pull-offs easily.
I am a true lefty and I am glad that I discovered that one year ago.
I am now in the intermediate range and my level has never been so high in my 26 years of playing.
And I don't practice much than before!
Keep on playing!

Pick up a pencil and draw a precise zigzag line with your right and left hands. Notice how you can do that better with your dominant hand? That's the kind of motion that requires your dominant hand and that's what you do with your picking hand.

.

This post has been edited by Phil66: Jul 30 2017, 02:59 PM

Great to hear from you Rhida, great to hear you are improving, how about putting some videos up Don't be a stranger mate




Here is a video of my non dominant hand trying to do something my dominant hand can do easily. With my dominant hand I can tap as smoothly going from pinky to index as I can from index to pinky. Just watch what my non dominant hand does.



For the record, I, like Rhida, was born left handed. Back in the olden days it was considered to be a sign of evil. My grandmother encouraged my mother to convert me to bring right handed.

This post has been edited by Phil66: Jul 30 2017, 03:00 PM

I think I get where you are going Basically the instinctually dominant grip, yes? For some folks, it's tricky. Some folks are ambidextrous or a bit more ambi than standard folks. These people have to make a choice, typically, on which way they will hold/play, e.g. right/left.

lefties often naturally want to play as a lefty, and righty folks often play as rigthies. You get some folks doing it other ways of course based on what feels natural. This is more about trusting your hands to find the right way for your to hold your guitar.

Where practice comes in to it, is that, with enough repetition, it really doesn't matter which way you play. If you put several years in to playing as a lefty, even if you already had several years as a righty, you can get very close, even with your non dominant hand. If you practice anything long enough, E.G. Pencil writing with your non dominant hand, you can get it to where it's workable.

I think what you are struggling with here, help me out if I'm not getting it, is that you are unsure which way you should really be holding your guitar. You mention being left handed, but don't you play as a "Righty"?. If so, this would probably feel a bit awkward and it may be worth trying it the other way to see if it feels more natural.

Typically, one way will feel more natural than the other. Which ever way feels the most natural, is what people usually go with. Seems simplified I know

I think Rhida may have misunderstood what Darius was saying about practice itself. But still, I'm glad Rhida figured out he was playing guitar backwards and is now able to make quicker progress. Some times, its the little things

I created this vid for you PHILL66:. It's a handy finger drill. Using both hands, start with the thumb, then work your way to pinky, then back to thumb. The trick is to strike both thumbs, both first fingers, etc. at the same time. This is a great way to work on your handy synch Also, as you can see in the vid, my hands are balanced. One isn't faster or more able than the other. If you try this drill and you notice your hands don't synch up, then add this drill to your daily routine.





This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jul 31 2017, 07:46 AM

Thanks Todd,,

I'm right handed but I was born left handed. Right handed feels more natural to me now because from day one, my mom encouraged me to be right handed.

I kick a ball with my left foot though

Cheers

This post has been edited by Phil66: Jul 31 2017, 01:50 PM

Happy to help You can always buy a leftie and or string a leftie? Just for kicks Steve Vai did something similar and eventually built that big heart shaped guitar that he plays using both hands to fret two separate necks facing right and left. MAB does much the same thing. I imagine you could probably do the same or flip the guitar over mid solo or something