This TRULY Stumped Me…Trying to Play Left Handed
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- In this episode we discuss handedness and see if I can play Back In Black left-handed.
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I never knew I was ambidextrous - my playing is awful left or right 🤣
Consistency is key
😆
That might technically be known as “adextrous”….
I think that's called ambisinistrous.
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
Biggest takeaway (even though it was borrowed from "smarter every day"):
"Knowledge does not equal understanding."
That seems to be so true for pretty much anything - but particularly true when trying to improve (or add) skill.
100%, you can know lots of things but it takes time to truly internalize it.
Knowing how something is done is not the same as being able to do it.
It saddens me to say this, but this is one of the most entertaining posts you ever uploaded. I love the interview with Joni Mitchel, the "what makes this song great" series, and obviously the videos where you guys shoot the breeze about guitars and all the jazz. But this is pure magic. Made me laugh so hard
Sounds like me 😆
Watching him try to play the lick at the end had me in tears. I've never laughed like that from a Rick Beato video before.
Don't forget about Ringo Starr being a lefty! He played a right handed drum kit. To me, one of the greatest drummers/drum sound out there. You really have to pay attention to what he does...it's amazing.
If I was teaching guitar to kids and couldn't explain properly what to do with their hands to help, I'd flip my guitar over to play left handed, and put myself right back there with them as a beginner. Helped a lot!
I find being a lefty makes it very easy to teach people because of the mirror effect, not other lefties of course but I've never run into that
@@sgtbigballs666 I read the first bit of that and really thought you were going to say you found being a lefty made it easy to play left-handed! 😂
@@sonovoxx haha, playing left handed is awful, always custom orders, can never really try an instrument before buying
As a guitar teacher it would probably be beneficial to learn how to play the guitar both ways. as for me I'm left handed and play right handed.
@@musicauthority7828 I hear you. I'm quite ambidextrous - write with left hand draw with right, play guitar right handed, drums left-handed but right footed (yay electronic kits!). Don't care which hand for knife, fork, spoon, cup, file, hacksaw, hammer etc. Quite handy at times!
This, to me, is one of the most entertaining videos Rick has ever done.
And, REAL educational.
Being a left-hander that learned right-handed, you're really on the right track with the thoughts on the pick. And it relies on *wrist* motion, not finger dexterity. I'm sure it's taken me far longer to learn this way and whenever I try to go lefty, there's just so much to *un*learn it's discouraging.
Keep in mind it's also generally a bit easier for lefties to adapt to doing things in a right-handed way than it is for righties to adapt to doing things in a left-handed way... mostly because they are more used to being in that position. Most right-handed folks don't even think about handedness very much (I would know, I am right-handed myself).
Same situation, though I can't know how it would have turned out if I had picked up a leftie guitar from the start - maybe I would have become be a sweep picking leftie god - but I don't feel limited playing right-handed, I just need to practice like everyone else.
I am left handed, i do every thing with my left hand exept playing the guitar. Im a classical guitarist so i never really played with a pick but i know that if i pick up one i instinctly but it in my left hand. Its so weird i even play air guitar left handed. But when i pickup a guitar i always hold it right handed. Its confusing
@@bobshenix I can’t focus on someone writing with their right hand! It hurts!
As a lefty the guitar has brought so much struggle to me.I didn’t know which hand I was gonna use when I started but my teacher told me that if i start playing right-handed I won’t progress as much I will with my left hand and he is right because I do everything with my left hand and left foot.Finding left guitars is so hard especially in smaller countries that don’t have many guitar stores.Not once I’ve been to a store where the workers have told me to give up on guitar because I’m a lefty.I never gave up and couple of months later I bought my first left electric guitar.Guitar is a huge part of my life and one advice from me is to NEVER GIVE UP AND DONT LISTEN TO SUCH IDIOTS!!
I agree, and I play left handed to. You can take any guitar and just put strings in opposite direction, it might be easier than buying left handed guitar.
@@zelenimonter4901 I have to find lefty parts and that will be even harder and I personally think that playing a righty guitar upside down is a bit strange
your teacher was so dumb lmao, my cousin is a lefty who plays righty and he’s perfectly good.
I'm a lefty you not alone
As a lefty, with a 5 year old son who's also a lefty, I love this. I also remember my mother giving me a book which contained a section about famous lefties. I was thrilled to see that 2 of the Beatles were amongst us. It made coping with living in a world built for right-handers just a little bit more tolerable.
If you find yourself in San Francisco, there is a store on Pier 39 called Lefty's just for you and your son. Want some actual decent quality scissors for the left hand? A can opener? A guitar? They got 'em.
Both Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Guy Berryman are left handed, but play (seamlessly and gorgeously) guitar and bass respectively right handed. For Chris, maybe it’s because he’s mainly a pianist as well. Anyway, for me being a right handed, this has always been an amazing thing to watch.
Rick, I'm 50 years old. Never had a clue that "cross dominance" was an actual term that describes me! Guitar, writing, painting; left, and throwing a ball, shooting a rifle; right! I just thought I was weird. The things you've taught me blows my mind. Not just music theory. Thank you Rick - you're a real gem.
Same boat here! I'm not ambidextrious, I didn't really know if there was a word for it. Someone once remarked that I did more "nurturing" tasks (eat, write, make music, stir ingredients while cooking) left-handed and other types of tasks (shooting, throwing, cutting ingredients for cooking, etc.) with my right. For whatever that's worth.
@@bradleycarroll156 Interesting. I'd say that that is a sign of being ambidextrous after all. Being ambi, doesn't only mean that you have no dominance at all, which I think is pretty rare, given the anatomy of the brain. In any case, as for me, I've always been a lefty, but later in life, I realized that when I have to learn or perform some manual skill under pressure, I can only do it with my left hand. But when I keep my cool and learn some skill that way, I usually do it better with the right hand, it's just a tad slower than with the other hand. Which makes sense, given that the right hemisphere (connected to the left side of body) corresponds with negative emotions, so also stress. Just goes to show for me, that maybe left handed people are just higher in neuroticism, hence they train their left hand/right hemisphere much more, which makes it the dominant one. I think I'll keep trying to be less neurotic to, at the least, get balanced brain functions. 😅
No, you we're right, you're just weird. Guns & guitars don't mix. Choose your master! You can't serve both music and killing.
@@edwardlagrossa1246 tell that to Ted Nugent..
I learned the term (cross dominent) that describes me today as well. All my life I've welded, brazed and soldered left-handed and done everything else right-handed. Attempting to weld, braze or solder right-handed is every bit as awkward as writing or throwing a ball left-handed.
I don't know anyone else who is this way. Nice to know I'm not alone! 😀
Now Rick has me thinking....maybe I could play guitar better left handed!!??
We lefty guitarists appreciate you finally giving us some love, Rick!!! Great video, and it amazes me every time I am in my local music shops or browsing online that in spite of lefties being such a significant part of the music buying population, there is still a decided lack of left handed guitars being manufactured and marketed. This feeds into another part of the issue: I know many, but not all, guitar instructors who still actively discourage natural lefties from learning to play with their innate dominant handedness. Lefties need love, too!
This is why I learned to play guitar right handed instead of left handed. I was told it would be a pain to find guitars etc…
Rondomusic sells inexpensive left handed guitars. I bought myself a Les Paul knockoff years ago and took it to a luthier and he told me that it was about as good quality as an epiphone is nowadays. So that tells me that my $350 purchase is about as good as an $800 purchase
@@EM-cz4rd you and I seem to be the exact opposite. If you're dominant hand is left-handed but you play right handed guitar, my dominant hand is right-handed and I play a left handed guitar. I am so right handed I could not play what the world calls a right handed guitar
@@bernardgonzalez9487 dang that's crazy. Thing is, about 2 years ago I badly dislocated my index finger on my fret hand and my range of motion never fully came back. I can play but it's not as easy anymore to play something like an C chord (standard tuning). Have a real hard time landing that finger accurately. Am or Em pretty good. I've thought about learning how to play left handed... we'll see
Another weird thing. I as in a store that had one left handed guitar. I raised a comment about the lack of choice, and said i guess you don't sell many. The guy said no, they go really quickly. (Errr.... Why don't you get more then?). It's not logical is it?
I just learned something new. I always just assumed I was left handed but apparently I'm cross dominant. I write left handed but play guitar right handed and used to do sports right handed. This video also explains why I can play guitar with my fingers but find using a pick really hard.
We've got a left handed guitar in our classroom. As teachers we pick it up once in a while just to remind us how hard it is to learn.
Over the years when I’ve found myself growing impatient with a beginning student I flip the guitar over and try to do the most simple things. As I often say to students “if you could immediately do this you would be a freak.”
I’ve played guitar for about 33 years now as a lefty. Years ago I tried getting a job as a guitar teacher at my areas biggest music store. Even though the owner knew me for years and despite the fact that I had won the cities best guitar contest at age 17, he denied me the job stating that it would be too hard for right handed people to learn from me. Lol I knew that was a ridiculous reason as I had always learned off of right handed teachers and preferred it because it looked like being in a mirror.
I'm a lefthanded player that has been teaching for 30 years. I've always felt that being left handed as a teacher has been an advantage, as it is a mirror image.
Right handed people can be incredibly stupid and prejudiced. But forgive them, they can't help it, they were born that way.
The Owner is a idiot...
The mirror thing is very true. As a lefty it's always been fairly easy to watch what was happening on the fretboard of my teacher. When I watch a lefty playing I get disorientated.
I saw a Beatles tribute act at The Cavern once, I think they were Argentinian. Anyway, their “Paul” was amazing, perfect copy of the real thing, playing Abbey Road in full on a lefty Hofner bass. Then at the very end he borrows “John”’s right handed acoustic and plays Her Majesty right handed! I was blown away, maybe he’s in the 1% like your brother.
Maybe so! It could also be that the bass was easier to play left handed? You only really use one finger at a time when fretting, and a couple fingers while plucking. While the guitar often requires all four of your fingers to play chords. Still pretty amazing though!
Paul does not play one finger lines sir... he plays bass much like a guitar
Probably learned bass lefty for fun 🤩
@@ethanchouinard4157 no the bass is not easier to play left-handed, the same coordination is required, and its not like Beatles bass lines are "easy". This guy was probably lucky and very very ambidextrous.
Now imagine that EVERYONE (your uncle who is your hero, your friends, every music shop you walk into, music teachers -except your mother) tells you to that you can't learn to play left handed. I have had music shops flat out refuse to flip a righty. It caused me to give up trying to learn at 15 and not try again until I was in my 40's. I also hate that there seem to be less and less quality instruments past entry level. My response to that issue is I purchase Fenders and Squiers and mod them to what I want.
When I wanted a good electric six-string, I got an Epi G400 Pro. It's a copy of a Gibson SG Standard. It's a quality build, and a good tech can give it a lightning setup. As money becomes available, it's possible to get nicer pickups and pots. By the time you've spent the price of an SG, you have a better guitar than an SG.
When I first started I automatically played right handed, even though I was left handed. To me, I have more dexterity in my left hand so it seems fair to fret with that hand and it does work but the issue for me is that I could easily trem pick with my left hand but I cannot fret with my right hand, I can type with it and play piano but just cannot fret (Also never been able to write right handed now that I think about it)
Next time someone refuses to flip a righty for you, tell them that Jimi Hendrix started on a flipped righty and played them for most of his career. It's criminal to ignore for anyone who serves a lefty guitarist-because can we really question that Hendrix is one of the most revered and legendary of them?
Amen man. They tried to flip me when I started and I just couldn’t do it. Buying guitars, getting parts, etc has always been a nightmare for me. Pre-internet it was damn near impossible. Now I generally don’t get to play it before hand but I can at least look.
Most of the time a setting from the shop's are bad . in dutch dictionary by the explanation for lefthanded say's sinister.... ? Yeah why , they made us !
I remember once asking my algebra teacher as he was writing on the board if he was sure that he wasn't actually left handed. He drew three little circles on the board about 3 feet apart and had me put my nose in one of them and a finger from each hand in the other two for the rest of the period. I guess that in today's world that would be considered wrong, but even in the moment I just thought to myself "yeah, I kinda had that coming".
The job of the class clown is difficult sometimes.
Any world really.
I had a middle school music teacher in the 80’s that did that to a friend. She also chucked a mouthpiece at my head… the good old days 😂
I would give my left arm to be ambidextrous…
That is unbelievable! Even with all his widespread knowledge about guitar playing, chords, notes and what not... Excellent example about what
"learning" really is, in context of physical movement. It's far beyond just "knowing". 👍
I do a few things left-handed just for the thrill of it, guitar isn't one. ;)
c'mon dude, we don't want to hear about that pfff
@@spudvader agreed. Save the bass talk for another channel
Lmao its crazy to see you commenting
It's funny because I read it imagining your voice.
You sew left-handed, too?! 😃
I’m cross dominant like your son. Back when I first started learning guitar, I could have done either, but we made a conscious decision to learn right handed just because it’s usually more convenient in most situations and there are more options for right-handed guitars
Yeah… I know kinda wish I did the same thing. At least walking into a guitar store would be what do I feel like testing today instead of I wonder if they have a lefty that I can try.
How long do you reckon it would take you to learn left-handed?
I'm a lefty, and I learned to play the guitar as the "normal" right handed position. In my opinion I think I have a advantage, my dominant hand have a lot to deal with, while my right hand only have to deal with playing 6 strings
Same here !
But every righty could play lefty and have the same advantage, they don't because it doesn't feel natural. I dread to think how many wonderful guitarists we never got to hear because they gave up because it was too hard
I was going to make a comment about this but since it's already here I'll give my reasoning on why as a leftie I taught myself right handed. If 90% of the world is right handed, that's theoretically 90% of guitars that may be anywhere at anytime that I could play
Me too. There are probably a heap of lefties who play right handed.
@@MNolanMillar Steve Morse, Gary Moor, Duane Allman, Preston Reed, Shawn Lane, Mark Knopfler, Herman Li, Nick Johnston, Joe Perry, Johnny Winter, Robert Fripp ....... looks like you were right 🙂
I am 99.9% lefty, but I play guitar the right way. When I started to learn, both hands had challenging tasks and I figured it was easier to finger chords with my dominant hand.
Being a pure lefty, i started playing right handed when i was 14. I was progressing pretty good at that time. But once i got into these lefty guitar legends and their music, i thought i would play better with a left handed guitar. So after 2 years, i switched to playing lefty. I'd say it's all about building muscle memory. Left or right handed, it does not matter at all. Once you practice the hell out of your instrument the discrepancy felt by playing either side disappears. But i gotta warn those beginners, finding a proper left handed guitar is damn hard so choose wisely. Options are pretty limited. You'll end up either with investing into low quality guitars or expensive custom made ones.
His point about having a left-handed teacher and it being easier
to learn is a brilliant point. I made little guitar necks to transcribe
scales on and would always make them as a mirror image. It seemed
to make much more sense to me than the typical way these things are
tabbed out in magazines for instance. I am also a lefty but play guitar
right-handed.
I have chronic pain issues in my arms and experts actually recommend to learn ambidextrous guitar. Always been a challenge but a fantastic brain workout for sure
If there is pain in both arms, don't see how ambidextrous playing would help. Have had nerve pain when squeezing with my fretting arm but just played thru the pain. Would have been far less painful to switch and fret with right hand but did not try it. Suspect it would have been a nightmare to learn. As far as brain workout there are enough challenges as it is with normal righty playing.
@@Better_Call_Raul there’s multiple causes for chronic pain…
I had no clue I was cross dominant. I can't believe I just learned that from this video.
Same here!!
Same here!
Me to 😂
Same, just alwasy assumed I was ambidextrous
It's amazing to hear and see Rick laughing while trying to play lefthanded. It's cognitive dissonance at its finest. The brain knows, but it doesn't understand, so it copes through laughter. Amazing stuff!
lol, as a teacher and right handed this is exactly what I do to center myself on approaching a novice student, and in my case… it’s like riding a bike with my hands crossed on the handle bars. Great stuff, Rick!😉😅👍
Glad I was not the only one to try that!
Cross dominant cat here (write right handed but play guitar left handed). I recently bought a lefty Gibson SG Faded (2004). I can’t believe how good it sounds!!
I write left handed, but play guitar right handed for some reason. I wasn't forced into it, it just came more naturally to me.
Your left hand is your good hand and you are now making the chords and playing the leads with your good hand. It makes perfect sense. Why some people do it backwards is what makes no sense.
Same. Prefer fretting with dominant hand.
Same here 😂
Same for me lefty play guitar right handed! By choice. Over 30 years!
Yep, same here. Was a choice when I was a kid, as when I 1st picked it up I naturally started left handed, but as it was more commonly done and easier to buy a guitar, went right. Does your pick hand ever feel like it's dragging though? As the dominant hand is on the fretboard?
I saw an interview where Terry Reid was talking to Hendrix about Jimi playing left handed, and Hendrix flipped the guitar around and played the same lines right handed, which obviously flabbergasted Mr. Reid.
We'd all like to see video of that.
Yeah, I've heard that story before. I'd like to see that.
Had a friend like that in Florida who said (Heard it somewhere else) that a lefty who learns to play righty, usually have more dexterity if they flip and play lefty
@@freesk8 The interview I saw was at least 10 years ago, so unfortunately I don't have any idea what TV show it was in, and the interview did not show Hendrix playing right handed. It was just Terry Reid describing his having met Hendrix early on in England when Hendrix was "discovered".
Do it Rick. Spend the next 12 months learning lefthanded guitar.
I have been teaching myself to throw a ball, play table tennis, and write left handed for about 12 months. I am now almost as good at table tennis, and my writing is improving, but throwing the ball for dog is proving to be the hardest.
50+ years ago, I played right handed. Then, in an impetuous moment, I bought a WEM Rapier 33 (Strat lookie-like). Arrived home to find it was left handed. Tried to Dona Hendrix vice-versa. Didn’t work! Started playing left handed and now, all my guitars are lefties. Still waiting - after one year - for my lefty GLPC ‘57 reissue with Bixby to arrive in the UK. Latest from Gibson is that it should be here at end of May 2022!
I watched your recent vid where you said that Mr. Fripp ( a near neighbour of mine), is left handed and taught himself to play right handed. Amazing.
I have just watched the first few mins of this vid and I can def say I’m cross dominant. Cheers.
I often try to play the guitar left handed to remind me how difficult it is just to press the strings down correctly and get a clear sound. It helps me empathize with my students - especially in the beginning.
Good move !!
I'm a lefty. When I first picked up a guitar on my very first lesson, my teacher said, "just do what feels natural". So, I held it lefty and 25 years later I still do. That's all fine. The kicker, of course, is that there's hardly any lefty guitars out there to choose from. I've never walked into a guitar store with the ability to just pick any guitar on display and try it out. That sucks. Yes, there are some great lefty guitars out there, and I'm fortunate to have some of my own. But having a just a fraction of a fraction to pick from compared to right handed folk is a lifelong bummer. On the flip side, nobody ever asks to borrow my guitar, or if I'm somewhere that has a right handed guitar, I'm not asked to "hey, play something" (that's just me... I can see how this could be a downside to some lefty players) . Anyway, great video Rick!
Come on let's give Ringo some love here too he is a left handed drummer on a right handed kit.
Also another thing righties may not realize is that us lefties are always at a disadvantage when it comes to spontaneous jam sessions or parties/hangouts when the only available guitar is a righty. This has led me (and perhaps some of us) to learn to play a righty upside down and know chords upside down. So you can say we know more than ONE way to play the guitar😎
same here, greetings from argentina!
Same with me on the bass
Some of us just learn guitar right handed and reduce picking with more legato and sweeping
@@TheLucidDreamer12 some yes, but not all lefties can do that.
As a lefty, this is one of the many handicaps I encountered...Frustrating
Many lefties play righty: Easier to learn from righties without "translating" to left; legato styles & fingerpickers don't require great pick-holding coordination.
Also because it's hard for some people to get hold of left-handed guitars.
I actually found learning from righties easy, because it's a mirror image
@@MrTomDangerous I think that's a huge motivator for players who use right handed guitar flipped rather than trying to find a reverse strung lefty guitar.
Pretty sure that's why Hendrix did it because true lefty guitars were scarce.
Yeah I'm a lefty and I play a right handed guitar, and what you said is true
I use a computer mouse with either hand now after a bout of RSI, same with wet shaving. But as a 'righty' I find I can throw a ball much more intuitively with my left arm. All said, musicians have to do plenty of complex work with both hands equally for most part.
Consider this: If your left handed and picked up the violin, but practiced it on your right hand, it'd be the same level as if you were right handed. Im right handed so I naturally picked up guitar picking with my right hand, but if I did a left handed guitar, it's be the same, bc of the practice on that certain hand.
Oh btw my name is Dylan too so that's cool!
Loved your video. It reminds me of one of my favorite guitar stories: Danny Gatton toured with the rockabilly artist Robert Gordon in the late 70s/early 80s. He realized pretty quickly that his sound was too polished for RGs style. So he restrung his guitars and learned to play the set left-handed to get a more raw feel. I think I read about this in Guitar Player Magazine in the mid- to late-80s. I love this example of dedication to craft-sometimes playing technically ‘better’ is not what serves the music. Keep up the good work!
As a lefty bassist who plays Basses that are strung traditionally, I love this video! ❤️
Playing an upside down Bass is a super pain in the Butt, I’ve managed over the decades to be able to play an upside down bass about 65% as well as a normally strung lefty. 😅
I hear you! I play a traditionally-strung upright bass left handed. I just stand on the other side. AND, I can play anyone's bass.
This was EXCELENT haha! Definitely helps remind me that patience is a virtue. Dare you to give us a 6 month update of this riff!!! 5 mins a day???
I second that!
two people who you left out was Ritchie Valens who learn to play guitar right handed though he was left handed. And Ringo Starr who learned to play right handed drums though being left handed.
”The first chord is this”
*immediately starts fumbling with the pick*
loved this Rick! i'm a lefty and play a right-handed guitar upside down. taught myself on an Eko ranger 12 string. tough to play on that, but i learned chord shapes. i can't play lefty strung guitars. nice to see a legend struggle a bit. haha :P xx
I’m a Lefty beginner, I appreciate you covering the Lefty Minority of Guitar players.
awesome to see King’s X up there with “some of the biggest bands of all time”
They should be. I saw them play in a club years ago. I was blown away because they sounded just like the record, all the vocals were there. Top rate musicians they are.
hell yeah - most underrated band of all time
Also you brought back memories. I once knew a very good guitar player that was left-handed and he would string his guitar up normally but yet he could play a right handed strung guitar too and play chords upside down with no problem. Even play leads. It totally was unbelievable to see and hear. He was also very strange. He claims he was abducted by aliens and he honestly believed that. Now it has me wondering
Ha! Good stuff!
Hell yea. I'm finding out more and more people play like I do, with the high E on top, left handed. I just recently flipped a lefty Rhoads with a floating trem. Switched the saddles and had a custom milled reversed nut on the head. So far it's been solid
Very cool video, brings back fond memories of a '64 Gibson SG Special Lefty
I bought
at Main Street Music in Santa Ana for $200 in 1979. Sold it in 2009.
It really is fascinating that our "off hand" does all the amazing fret work.
As a bonus, this video was released on October 5, a birthday I share with Larry Fine.
I’m similar to your son! I write with my right hand, play instruments with my left since childhood. I also cut my food and open things with my left hand. I’m left-footed as well, but I shoot and throw with my right.
We can’t forget Clapton when we’re talking lefties! One of my old coworkers was also a lefty that played righty. He actually liked how it placed his dominant hand on the fretboard, and is convinced that guitar makers have the orientation all backwards
yes! absolutely this! i've wondered that very same thing for years. as a lefty who plays right handed guitars, i've always thought i had an "advantage" because i was using my left hand for the fine motor work.
Also - Gary Moore and Mark Knopfler, both lefties playing right-handed way
@@nalkassar and Herman Li too
This is the first time I hear of Eric Clapton being left-handed... Does he comment on this anywhere?
@@progmeup Wanna bet on that?
EDIT: I do stand corrected! I can’t find anything about him being lefty now! But in trying to find it I did find just how many great guitar players actually are lefty that I never even knew about
when I started playing guitar, I played on a right handed guitar strung right handed... I think it took me a couple weeks to be able to play tabs from guitar world magazine, and after maybe another week or two I could play chords, but the structure was backwards. When I was in college a friend of mine gave me his old left handed Alvarez acoustic and after probably a couple of days I had learned to play all the chords the way they were supposed to be played, at least the ones I already knew, so I was able to learn stairway to heaven and tears from heaven and a few other songs I really loved listening to. I don't consider myself any kind of musical genius or anything like that, but I guess there was the drive to learn it and boy did it come quickly
"...I'm playing my son Dylans left handed Gibson SG"
you have a very cool dad Dylan!
The loveliest guitar video ever! Btw, after 45 years of electric with pick, I am a kind of switching to Flamenco guitar, where is the saying "guitar is played with left hand", despite that right hand is extremely difficult!!
I think the most difficult point to lean guitar is to "sync" the timing of both hands. And after years to try Paco De Lucia tunes, I am recently coming to the theory that "a right handed guitar beginner should start in left handed way (and vice versa)", My reason in short is, fretting hand should act sooner and picking hand follows, Just like you throw a ball by right hand and catch it by the left. What do you think?
Haha yeah it's a great idea! I'm left handed and play righty for the last 15 years. My right hand still struggles to keep up but yeah a lot of the expression comes from the fretting hand and it's a lot easier to learn to fret with your dominant hand. But ahhhh I would say if you pick with your non dominant hand it's a good idea to include exercising for picking dexterity and strength. I have a right forearm injury from childhood too so that makes it harder for me to move a pick up and down and hold it properly so I mostly fingerpick. never tried flamenco though and that's a cool saying! Must be great to still be learning new things after 45 years:)
Have you seen The Gypsy Kings? I seem to remember them having 6 guitarists - 3 lefties and 3 right handed back in the last century.
@@markmiwurdz202 Well that's only 5 guitars too many.
When I used to pick up a friends guitar, I would always play it left handed; So it was upside down. When I finally got my first guitar, it was a right handed guitar. My mom was going to get it restrung for me, but since I never put it down, and by the time we found time to take it in, I was acclimated to playing it with my right. Now, If I try and play it left, it's just like you demonstrated; I don't know how I ever did it before. 🤷♂️
I've always felt that being cross dominant and a drummer most of my life has been a huge advantage. I write left handed learned on a right handed kit I can play a kit either way but prefer a traditional kit. I play open handed left hand on the hats. I feel I have more freedom and efficiency this way but still can play right hand right foot lead. Super interesting thank you so much rick you are best keep on keeping on.
My son AJ is a pro drummer and plays open-position (basically a lefty playing a right-handed kit). Some of the best drummers on the planet play open-position - Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips, Carter Beauford, etc.
Seeing a clip of someone using 2 hands and 2 feet to play an instrument and having a voice over saying "Phil Collins is playing the drums left handed" really made me chuckle - like how obvious does it have to be that these notions of handedness are flawed. The emperor is running around butt naked when someone is using all 4 limbs in a complex coordination, and yet someone is talking as though he can only use 1 of his arms.
That cross-dominant phenomenon is real! My son is left-handed. Took me forever to teach him how to throw and catch a baseball. It just wasn't working. Had the left-handed glove and everything. Then he tried throwing with his right hand. Perfect! When it came to batting be preferred to bat left-handed, though he could bat nearly as well right-handed. He always played guitar right-handed. We ultimately learned to try things left-handed and then try it right-handed and see which felt the best.
Something rather few people know is that Mark Knopfler is actually left handed, but plays right handed guitars. At an interview a while ago, he acknowledged that it has affected his way of playing.
Also Robert Fripp, of King Crimson fame, Eduardo Scandurra, from brazilian rock band Ira!, and me, from, uh, Rick's comment section.
Tbh I'd really like to see a more scientific take on the whole left-handed instrument thing. All the discussions I see on the matter are mostly based on personal anecdotes, and those can go either way. Some people will say the dominant hand should be the fretting one, since it's the one that requires finer, more complex movements, while others will say it should be the picking hand, usually raising the same writing argument Rick did.
I just find the matter to be a constant source of anxiety. Did I set myself up for failure picking a right handed instrument? Would I be a better player had I chosen to learn lefty? Or are lefty instruments just a ploy by big-guitar to extract more money out of poor left-handed players?
@@briank326 I would certainly like to see some scientific findings, but I believe that they would be rather a collection of anecdotes as well. It is hard to contact a scientific research without actually having evidence from enough people trying to perform both ways - hands. And since this would cost precious time from well established players, it means extracting conclusions from unknown players, that would prove the actual fact that we tend to disregard or not pay enough attention: the "wiring" and "rewiring" of the brain is one thing, but it is the actual combination of determination, talent, willingness, priorities, drive, luck and success that makes the style of the players we know and admire so well known and recognizable. I guess most players have their own unique tone and way of playing, but we wouldn't pay attention enough or recognize without repeated plays. Now would they have the same style if they played as nature dictated them? Also has this "rewiring" helped them develop other skills as well, like songwriting? Maybe after all the rewiring is successful only to few people and it is not something special for the bulk of left handed players, playing right handed. But yes, it is fascinating to think of it!
“I can’t even put the strap on” …when you know you’re trying something new 😜
... that's what SHE said OOHHH bada BING
I didn't even know you could get a left handed Strap-On.
@@SecretAgentPaul haha
"cross dominant" strap on? hmmn
I guess when you are essentially a master, you've got to do something to challenge yourself. It's like a regular footed skateboarder learning to truly skate goofy footed and not just switch stance for a trick. I'm quite certain if Rick put in 8 hours a day playing left handed he'd be better than most playing naturally in 6 months.
I'm a leftie. Started to play in '72 and around 1980 started to teach. When a leftie wanted to play righthanded it always went wrong. What went wrong? The rhythm. Always the rhythm. So I think the 'good' hand must be the rhythm-hand.
A long time ago two young friends came to take lessons with me, both lefties. One of them wanted to play righthanded, more choice when you want to buy a guitar. After a year he couldn't keep up with the other who played (still plays) lefthanded. The problem was again the rhythm-hand. After almost two years he stopped playing. 'But he still can buy righthanded guitars....' 😊
Greetings from holland.
I was dying laughing along with Rick when he started that riff. Rick is such a cool guy.
I'm right-handed, right-footed (kicking, single leg jumps), and left eye dominant. I used to not be able to do anything left-handed (except carry stuff), but I have taught myself to throw left-handed.
I realized in high school, when I began conducting our choruses, that the non dominant hand (the left, in my case) will mirror whatever the dominant hand does if it's not given a task of its own to perform (like cuing, or giving the bass section the finger). When I was in college, I started messing with the throwing motion, with both arms at the same time, in front of a mirror. If I threw with just my left arm by itself, I'd get the classic "throws like a girl" results, but if I threw with both arms together, my left would copy my right exactly (even the peculiar little loop at the top). Using two tennis balls, I'd practice throwing both balls together. Long story shorter than it could've been, I can now throw left-handed.
Although, I've not done much with it, the same effect occurs when writing with both hands as long as the non dominant hand is writing backwards.
When I first took up guitar in 9th grade. I had the opposite experience to yours. I instinctively held it "left handed", but I think it's because I couldn't imagine doing anything complicated with my left hand, like forming chords.
Interesting subject. Liked the way you handled it.
I’m left handed but started playing guitar right handed for a couple of years. I also played clarinet and trombone. I never did find out if they’re left or right handed versions. I just used what they gave me in school. Couldn’t find or afford a lefty guitar at that time back in the early 1970’s. Being the Beatles nut that I was I had to switch. It was a pain switching strings on a right hand guitar but somehow I got it to work. Later I did get a left handed guitar and a Hofner violin bass. (I had to have one.) When I play baseball I bat right handed, throw left, write left and kick with my left foot. Out of my family of five only my brother and myself are left. My teacher tried to make me right handed. My mom found out and told her to knock it off. I’m also a writer and artist so I’m wired for creativity.
I'm left handed and when I started learning bass I wanted to get a left handed one, but our local music store was a dick and told me he wouldn't order one and to just learn right handed, so that's the way I ended up learning. I consider it kind of a boon though, cause I don't have to worry about instrument variety, I can just pick up whatever and play. Might explain why I can't use a pick for crap though.
There is a point where I top out on the complexity of rhythms that I can play right handed.
This is great!
1, about the 2/7 in your family - there is a significant genetic component (as far as I understand it), so if your parents had that/those genetic traits it is a larger probability that you guys would be left-handed.
2, absolutely hilarious to see your intellectual meltdown when everything "is wrong" - almost worried you'd fall out of the chair...
I am the only lefty of a family of 9 (oldest). My wife is the only lefty of a family of 6 (oldest). Our two daughters are both LH. When they were little we deliberately put writing utensils, crayons, forks, spoons and cups directly in front at the top of the plate or paper and let them choose which hand.
My grandkids are RH. I knew it would stop somewhere ...
You left out the funniest part of Destin's video. After that 8 months, he actually forgot how to ride a normal bike! It's a fascinating must-watch video.
As a lefty, I've found playing a left-handed guitar was a nightmare. Since the fine motor skill and dexterity is in my left hand, it feels so much more natural to do the hard work - fretting - with the left.
With me it is the other way round. All my rhythm seems to be in the left hand. :D
That makes sense actually.
My friend is a left and learned to play right handed so he coule use the guitars they had ok his house and it worked just fine. It's all a matter of habit.
My lefty coworker agrees. He’s convinced the industry’s got it all backwards
I've heard that Mark Knopfler does the same thing, lefty playing right handed. This could be incorrect, but it feels like it kind of fits ... he's not using a pick, does tricky stuff with both hands.
By that measure, all righties should play left-handed, no?
Great video. I'm right-handed....do everything with my right hand....except play guitar. I play lefty. The only reason for that is when I was in college, the only guitar I had access to in the dorms was from a guy downstairs from me who played lefty. That's how he taught me.
I have MS which has affected the strength in my left hand and has left me unable to play anything but cowboy chords.
A while back I bought a left handed PRS, what I found most challenging was picking, the pick just doesn’t feel ‘right’ in my left hand. Your video has got me thinking that I used to be able to write semi legibly with my left hand, and I wonder if practicing writing lefty would help with picking lefty.
just keep practicing picking and strumming. IttTakes long enough to learn new things, don't make it last longer or over complicate things by doing soemthing differeent to what you are aiming for.
I hope you can continue to get enjoyment from playing no matter how much you have to make adjustments.
As a lefty that always played righty guitar I can vouch picking is a major struggle... and the reason I tend to not use a pick unless the music contains arpeggios and the such that are almost impossible to play clean without a pick... and I can only play them if it utilizes a specific pattern. Otherwise it's cheat city.
As far as doing anything else righty I am unable. Can't even write my name.
Nice to see Rick playing at my level
When I was originally learning how to play guitar years ago and seeing what I thought was zero progres, my instructor advised me to flip the guitar over every once in a while to get a sense of where I was when I first started. I found that very helpful. I still sometimes do that just for fun. As Rick demonstrated it is incredibly frustrating and like him I came to the conclusion that my brain couldn't process it. In fact it was almost painful to hold it like that in a weird way. And yes I'm sure it's exacty how a beginner feels.
David Eagleman's book "Wired" if phenomenal explaining this subject.
I write left-handed and I play instruments right-handed. Maybe this is why no one can stand to hear me play, and no one can read my hand writing, including me.
Underrated comment 👏
@@qgde3rty8uiojh90 haha... same here
Playing opposite dominant hand is much easier because the strong more coordinated hand does the hard fret work.
Back in the 90s I attended a guitar clinic with Steve Morse, who is actually left handed, but he plays guitar right handed. He said that it makes more sense for him to do it that way because his right hand is weaker, and only needs to move the pick back and forth, while his left hand is dominant and stronger and needs to do more work while playing scales and arpeggios, and suggested in the clinic that it would make more sense for right handed people to play what we call left handed guitars. It was so interesting!
I am a lefty for most things: throwing, writing, etc. - My dominant hand. Therefore, I play guitar as a righty, because it makes total sense to me to have my dominant hand be on the neck. I can play a 'lefty' guitar a bit more easily than you, @RickBeato , but it's still a bit difficult.
This edition is a great exercise in understanding how our minds are wired to our bodies!
I think a lot of people when they start think the fret hand is the hard part that needs the dominant hand. But no doubt now you're realising all your feel, rhythm, timing and overall ability comes from the strumming/picking hand. Fretting the notes is the easy part.
There is a book called drawing on the right side of the brain that teaches shifting between right and left brain thinking, an interesting study for a musician. I am always confused as a right handed guitarist when I play piano that my left hand is useless 🤷🏻♂️
Fascinating!!! I'm a true left-hander - throwing a frisbee is the only exception I've ever noticed - but I play right-handed guitar and bass. This happened out of necessity, because I only had access to right-handed instruments. Ear and innate musical abilities aside, I've always wondered how playing on the "wrong" side impacted/affected my playing. I've done the same experiment and CANNOT play even the most basic parts.
Hi Rick, enjoy your channel! However, I'd argue about people being "naturally" cross domonant or ambidextrous. I am a leftie and so is my wife (and so is my cat - quite common apparently).
I play guitar and used to play drums right handed - because it never occurred to me, back in the '60s that there was a choice. Further , I HAD to become cross-dominant as I was beaten by the teachers in my first school for using my left hand. There fore I had to learn to be ambidextrous, but I'm still left handed, its just that I learned how to live in a right handed world.
Actually, I don't really go with your assumption that writing and using a pick are the same skills, and as, arguably, the more complex skills in playing guitar might be said the fretting - (I'm a flat picker and a finger-picker) I feel that I benefit from having my real dominant (left) hand on the fretboard - despite having a slightly deformed left shoulder from a cycling accident.
So, I'd say that depending on many circumstances, we lefties have to adapt to a right handed world. My totally left handed wife never learnt to play guitar ... neither did the cat!
I've found that left handed people tend to be a bit more partially ambidextrous, in large part because they spend their lives adapting to a default right handed world.
Your cat probably never picked it up because they're frustrated trying to learn on your right handed guitar
all left handed people are stronger with their off hand than right handed people. I don't do anything right handed much other than kick a ball (right footed?), but some mundane every day actions I do right handed, like tightening triclamps and unscrewing lids and jars
As a lefty this is satisfying to watch
There is an example of wind instruments that are right and left handed: rotary-valve trumpets come left or right.
I've been playing trumpet for 50 years, and about two years ago I seriously picked up learning and playing the French horn, switching from using my right hand for the valves on my trumpet to my left hand for the valves on the horn. Like the weird bike, it was like learning how to play a mirror image of what I've done for the previous 50 years. And on top of that, learning how to control the tone and pitch with a completely different mouthpiece. Lots of fun!
I really liked this video!
Everything I’ve ever done has been left handed, but I learned guitar right handed, it was the only guitar I had and I didn’t even think that there was a different guitar for left handed people
check out Elliot Easton of the Cars. Evidently he learned guitar right handed but was coaxed to switch hands by his manager so the band would look better balanced on stage. So he did, taking just a short time to get as good using either hand. AMAZING!
Most of my family is what we consider "cross-dominant" defined for me as one's master eye being opposite one's dominant hand. For example, I'm righthanded and left eyed, so I shoot photographs with my left eye to the viewfinder. To determine your master or dominant eye, extend an arm, form a circle with your index finger and thumb, and while sighting on an object slowly bring your hand back to your face while keeping the object centered. That sighting circle should naturally come to surround your dominant eye.
In high school, while my right arm was in a plaster cast for two months, I was able to develop a fairly decent pen hand with my left. So I shoot long guns left-handed, while Dad shot right-handed while his dominant hand was his left. Both my kids are left-eyed and right-handed, too. I have heard that the guitar was originally invented by a lefty, but the dominance of righties led to dominance of that technique, and chording with the non-dominant hand to a reversed instrument for lefties.
When I was about 13 years old I bought a guitar, so my neighbor tried to teach me how to play right-handed (even though I'm a lefty). He was also left-handed, but had learned to play righty. He told me, "If I can do it, then so can you." I believed him - for awhile - though I just could not get the picking down. "House Of The Rising Sun" was the only song that I ever learned (strumming only). I finally realized that I was destined to be a left-handed drummer. I still have that guitar 50 years later, as a reminder that, Hey, I AM 100% LEFT-HANDED, and proud of it. Stop trying to change me!
Let's get this out of the way. Yes it's insanely difficult. I had an arm in a cast. I know the pain...
Here is the thing : you give yourself 8 months to learn left handed?
I say after 8 months, you are way ahead than where you were 8 months after starting guitar altogether.
It's like an old pro learning a new instrument vs a complete newbie starting the same. Something else is there, not everything is new. Groove, musical instinct, knowledge, having experience of playing with other musicians, etc.
Band side project idea: everyone get opposite handed instruments, switch roles and start over again.
As a lefty, having learned on and played a standard righty for the past 35 years, I feel like “lefty guitars” are largely a gimmick. The reality is, a player is actually crippling themselves by choosing a left-handed guitar you are massively limiting your choices when shopping for an instrument, and then you get charged more for it. Also, isn't it advantageous to have your stronger dominant hand on the fretboard if you are left-handed?
I'm a lefty too. But I only had a right handed guitar, so I started learning that way. But then I realized something - when I played the piano (my primary instrument) which hand did I lead with, which hand played more intricate and ever changing patterns? The right hand, of course. So, I decided to apply that to the guitar and turn it into a lefty (by rearranging strings). And you know what? To me, it makes much more sense now to use my right hand which connects to the left part of my brain, the logical part, for fretting ever changing and intricate patterns on a guitar. I'd also point out, that I've learned to use a computer mouse with my right hand, after using it with my dominant left hand for 10 years, and started to practice writing with the right hand (despite using left hand for 20 years). I have a theory about it. For precise movements that rely on your thoughtful/learned/deliberate movements, the right hand is always better, even if its physically weaker and less nimble, because it connects directly to the left brains. And the left hand (which connects to the intuitive part) is naturally better for automatic, repeated and fast movements. And after all, you want to train both of your hands, eyes and legs anyway - doesn't matter which part of your body seems more able from the get go.
No, otherwise all right handed players would fret with their right hand.
This argument never fails to appear in any lefty guitar video.
@@davidlericainYes! This is how I always explain it to people, why is the right handed orientation standard if there's no benefit to using your dominant hand to pick. These days I feel like the variety argument is pretty weak as well, big companies cnc all their stuff and the options are pretty good considering the percentage of lefty players there are.
I've had to order custom instruments my whole life, hope you don't want to try them out before you buy them, I play fingerstyle exclusively so that is with my left hand :)
Me too. I do everything left handed, except for guitar and golf.
I am glad someone is talking about this. I am a left handed drummer; as a young person I always difficulty with drum teachers until I met this one drummer who sat me down and said let me hear you play. I started playing and he said stop. He said " you are left handed and they are teaching you right handed you are playing against your natural rhythm ". The studio I hang out at the Drum set is of course set up righty, I been developing as a left handed guitarist with my strings on a right handed guitar flipped upside down on the guitar and restrung so that the low E is on top and the high E is on the bottom. I am happy that someone sees what a lefty person goes through in a righty world. I have difficulty keeping the strap on.
The real problem is strumming! After having played for thirty years as a left-handed person on a right-handed guitar, following the advice of a right-handed teacher who thought it would be helpful to finger chords (he was correct) I discovered that the real obstacle of holding the pick with your "wrong" hand ist that you cannot develop true rhythm with the strumming hand. So any basic type of campfire accompaniment becomes difficult and Richie Hayes is unreacheable. Fingerpicking and single-notes are ok, but strumming is where the difficulty lies.
This is awesome. I think every right handed person should attempt to play left handed. Cause that's how it feels for a lefty to play right.
Rick and Destin collab video must happen!!!
You mentioned that paul on the list of famous lefties, but ringo also is on that list! He was left handed playing a right handed kit.
I really thought you were going to mention in the part about how a lot of the biggest bands had lefties in them and showed Phil Collins drumming that Ringo Starr is left-handed but drummed on a right-handed kit.
Cross-dominant Lefty playing a right handed guitar here. I've been playing for 6 years and noodling on and off for another 9 or so. I had no trouble learning guitar and actually learned quite a bit faster than my righty peers, but I didn't realise until I was 5 or so years in that even though I'm left handed, my right hand was more flexible and it was easier to flow between each finger while my left would require a lot more effort to move evenly and consistently between ring and pinky fingers. Not sure why, not even sure if it's a lefty problem. I just learned to deal with it. Bit late to swap now.
As a lefty though my legato feels really natural and easy but my alternate picking is horrible. I think in the end it what's you know musically, not how fast you can shred that'll make you a better guitarist, so choose whatever is comfortable and natural.
..... Yup ........ Shows you why it is so hard for those who never held a guitar ......... but are so darn sure that it's easy, man ..........
As a lefty, (snd we're extremely badly catered for when it comes to guitars) whenever someone says 'well, why don't you just get the guitar you want and learn to play right-handed?', I shall show them this video
I read that Robert Fripp was left handed but played right handed guitar his whole career and is amazing btw. My cousin does the same thing