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Original poster

Left handed guitar

21 replies

Ifonlyoneday · 06/12/2016 00:52

I have twins that are about to start learning the guitar. For my right handed daughter I have found a cool purple sparkly guitar which she will love, but I can't seem to find any cool/colourful left handed guitars for my left handed. Any ideas where I can find one?

OP posts:
hellsbells99 · 06/12/2016 01:01

Hi op. We were told that it was better for DD to learn to play in the right handed way after we had already had the guitar restrung for left handed

Mistigri · 06/12/2016 01:07

Have you asked the teacher's advice? Inappropriate guitars can make learning more difficult. Frankly, colour shouldn't be a criterion, it's a musical instrument not a toy ..,

ReallyTired · 06/12/2016 01:16

Some of the cheap guitars of eBay are little more than toys. Ideally you need to go to a proper guitar shop where they will set up the instrument for you and make sure you have the right size. Ds had a Valencia as his first guitar.

ReallyTired · 06/12/2016 01:23

Ds has this guitar as he outgrew his first guitar.

www.bandland.co.uk/classical-guitars-c-31_111/tanglewood-discovery-dbt44-44-size-classical-guitar-natural-p-5159.html?gclid=CKOc692y3tACFUu3GwodIvIFnQ

You can get it in a range of sizes. I would also recommend getting an electric tuner.

ReallyTired · 06/12/2016 01:34

www.gear4music.com/Tanglewood/Discovery.html

Tanglewood guitars come in different colours, but you need to know what type of guitar to get. Generally beginners start of with nylon strings. Get advice before you buy.

dodobookends · 06/12/2016 14:03

Agree with others, and ask the teacher for advice on which instrument would be suitable.

My dh is a guitar teacher and he says that beginners don't know what to do with either hand, everything is new, and it is best for left-handers to learn on a right-handed guitar from the start.

After all, right- and left-handed people all learn piano the same way, and you don't have left-handed pianos.

Original poster
Ifonlyoneday · 06/12/2016 20:25

Thanks all. Appreciate this is not a toy. My daughters already do piano and the children that learn guitar at their music school have cool but proper guitars and I saw some in a music shop but all were right handed and I didn't have time to ask them for left handed options. Will wait till the school guitar lessons start in January and see what they say. Thanks for the tip on an electronic tuner will definitely do this.

Ps I had heard it may be better for lefties to learn right handed but whenever they pretend to play on the toy guitar she always does this left handed without any prompting, will see what the teacher suggests.

OP posts:
Wafflenose · 06/12/2016 21:08

This may be completely the wrong thing to do, but my left handed cousin did it... can't you just buy whatever guitar she wants, and just have it strung the other way round? Or is there more to it than that?

Heratnumber7 · 06/12/2016 21:11

Don't you just buy a normal guitar and change the strings round? I can't see what would be special/different in a left handed guitar. They are all the same.

Wafflenose · 06/12/2016 21:14

Having done a quick spot of reading... there CAN be more to it than that, with bridges, nuts and so on. But I can't imagine it would be a problem with a child's beginner guitar (says the woodwind teacher! Married to semi-serious guitarist)

MollyHuaCha · 06/12/2016 21:21

Most musical instruments are played with two hands. I am a leftie. When I first started to learn guitar in a group of 12, the teacher asked, 'Anyone left handed? Oh, just one... then today you can just watch, Molly. Afterwards I'll show you the alterations you'll need to make up your guitar'.

Well, rather than sit out for the whole lesson (cruel when I had been so looking forward to it), I just put the guitar the same way round as everyone else, joined in and just learned to play it in the right handed way. It was never a problem. 🎼

Original poster
Ifonlyoneday · 06/12/2016 21:28

I can see that happening Molly it's a group lesson but depends who she is with as 40% of her school class are left handed. No idea what was in the water round here for that many left handlers in one school year. Plus I am told it is much better to learn right handed as so many people have guitars lying round, but not many left handed Gupta or s round.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ifonlyoneday · 06/12/2016 21:29

Should say guitars around not Gupta or sound.

OP posts:
YokoUhOh · 06/12/2016 21:33

Being LH is an advantage with string instruments, as it's the LH which does the tricky fine motor stuff.

I've only ever seen one left handed violinist, for example (in an orchestra years ago).

OutwiththeOutCrowd · 06/12/2016 21:43

My DS is left handed but has always played a right handed guitar and never felt it was holding him back. On the other hand(Smile) I've read that Paul McCartney started to learn the right handed way, struggled with it and switched to playing left handed.

So I guess it's a very individual thing and it's probably best to try both guitar types out in a shop to see what feels ... right(Smile).

originalmavis · 06/12/2016 21:46

Bil gets his restrung upside dowb.

Mistigri · 07/12/2016 16:45

as far as I know, the only people who seem to play giotar left handed are rock or blues guitarists who started as adults (often self taught).

I think, but you should check with the teacher, that most teachers starting young children on classical guitars would recommend using a normal RH guitar. For a child who has no ingrained habits to lose I don't think it would make much or any difference - in fact if you think about it, it's odd that RH people play the guitar using their left hand in the position where the most strength and dexterity is required.

Mistigri · 07/12/2016 16:49

I certainly wouldn't restring a cheap guitar the wrong way up and I don't think any good teacher would would recommend that. Progress and having fun playing the guitar depends an awful lot on having the correct set-up.

originalmavis · 07/12/2016 16:49

I guess an adult lefty or professional musician will have their own style.

Supposedtobeworking1 · 08/12/2016 16:16

Not all guitars can be re-strung the other way round but it can be done relatively easily with acoustic guitars if the body of the guitar is symmetrical (could potentially be very uncomfortable to play otherwise and electric guitars will have the tremolo bar, plug sockets and buttons etc... in the wrong place although it never seemed to be a problem for Jimmy Hendrix!). My DB is a professional guitarist and university music lecturer and although left-handed has always played the instrument the right way around without any trouble at all. If possible it would be far better to start off playing in a right-handed way as if they do become really keen players it won't limit the type of guitar they play in future.

Mistigri · 08/12/2016 16:51

Minimum work required when restringing an acoustic would be to reverse the nut (the bit below the headstock where the strings pass through small slots) and the bridge, and to adjust the height of the strings above the fretboard by making the necessary adjustments to both bridge and nut.

Basically pointless on a cheap guitar because unless you can do it yourself, it would probably cost more than the guitar was worth.

Much better to start right handed and if that doesn't work switch to a genuine LH guitar later.

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