Left handed guitar

[TwooTwitt]

Hi

Does a left handed child need a left handed guitar?

DS, age 10, wishes to learn guitar. And is left handed. Does he need a left handed guitar or does it not really matter?

Thank you!

No need, the left hand does a lot of the work so it's an advantage. I'm left handed and was told by my first teacher going down the LH route just makes everything harder, you are very limited what guitars you can buy, you can't read the chord charts or tab easily. Hope he enjoys it!

I am not musical but work for a music service. Some teachers suggest sticking to right handed guitars, partly because of the reasoning given above, some teachers prefer to see what the child is comfortable with. Acoustic guitars can be restrung for lefties, if needed.

No need. My DH is left handed and he has a normal guitar.

As a left hander, I think he should have a go right handed first and see how he gets on. If he's slow to learn then try left handed before he gives up.

It's simpler (if not always easier) to fit in with the RH world, but I struggled to learn to knit for years until someone taught me left handed and I was away - it does make reading some patterns tricky though and I should imagine interpreting chord shapes might be similar.

My son is left handed and is a similar age to yours. I asked his music teacher and he said he didn’t need a left handed guitar, he’s managed fine.