FortWayneMusic.com

Mildly retarded, bitter old fart with little talent, no patience and A.D.D.

Hmmm?

Any suggestions?

For your kind, there's instructional DVD's. . .


Actually. a lot of instructors in town are people your age who welcome an old fart who will actually practice what is taught them.

George Ogg is an excellent guitarist and teacher. He is a nice guy, who is also in our same general age bracket. (40's/50's) He can be reached at 260-396-2062.

Matt Tackett, teaching at Jam Crib. 422.1654 $15 per 1/2 hour lesson.

I have posted this on another forum and I will do the same here for more input



I am picking up the guitar after being a painfully mediocre sax player for a couple years. I mean I love playing a sax, but it's not a terribly 'social' instrument. People just don't happen to have a sax laying around the house. And if they did, I am sure as heck not gonna stick some random mouthpiece in my face, either.

I am a lefty with ZERO history with a guitar.

Of the Left handed players here, how many of you play left handed and how many play right?

When I pick up a guitar, it *feels* a little more natural holding it lefty, but in the grand scheme of things it may not be that big a deal learning and play righty.

The only other consideration is when we are with friends, if I was to pick up a right handed guitar I could play someone else's if I learn to play right handed.

I wondered that if you're left-hand dominate, wouldn't you *want* it to be the hand that requires more finesse with chord formation and note playing? That leaves your right hand to do the simpler(?) tasks of strumming/picking?

Or am I looking at this bass-ackwards?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Experience? Insight?

I really hate to invest in a lefty guitar at this stage of the game.

(Heck, I would sound better if I played it with my feet)

When did you know that playing lefty was going to be a better setup for you?

Did you have any experience with righty's and gave up on it to switch to lefty?

I get the feeling I should just stop by the local shop and talk to them. I would really hate to struggle learning righty if my natural inclination is to play lefty

The advantage is that I currently have access to a righty without any investment.

Maybe the shop will let me try a lefty to get a feel for it.

IS there an 'aptitude' test for Lefty's to see if the left hand is actually more fluid and dextrous?

At this stage in the game, its all so foreign to me anyway that I just want to make an solid decision.


I am still trying to figure out which end of the thing to blow into.



SIDE NOTE: I was at a coffee shop and watched a left-handed player pick up a righty guitar and play it left handed. It was odd to watch him strumming everything 'up'. He learned on his brothers righty guitar and by the time he needed a new guitar it was odd for him to play a traditional lefty.

Ollie, my son is a lefty and plays right handed guitar. He started taking lessons when he was 6 years old and is now 19. When he started out I insisted he played "righty" for the same reasons you stated, the dexterity needed for forming chords seemed more logical if done with his dominate left hand. Well, let me tell you he's a real bad ass of a player learning it that way. He also has extraordinary finger picking technique with his right hand.
His teacher plays right handed and right handed guitars are usually more handy to find around should you get the urge to play on the spur of the moment.

Makes me then wonder why, in the evolution of the Guitar, it did not develop in that the *right* handed players picked with their LEFT hand?

because guitar players aren't very smart.

adam atherton wrote:because guitar players aren't very smart.

Ha, you got that right.

This really isn't the same thing, but when I began playing drums I wanted to naturally lead with my left hand (open, not crossed), but play with the traditional drum setup. My drum teacher had never taught a student with that style before, but decided to go with it. Eventually I ended up teaching myself to lead with either hand, but that really doesn't pertain to guitar playing.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I would be more likely to go with what feels most natural to you. I write left handed, but when I pick up a guitar it feels natural to go right handed.

I'm a lefty who learned how to play right-handed and have been doing it that way for the past 14 years. Honestly, if you're just starting out learning, you might as well learn right-handed because at this point your hands really shouldn't know the difference at least not after a month or two. Also, for all the reasons you've already stated, it's just a good idea to learn to play right-handed.

Oliver's Army wrote:Makes me then wonder why, in the evolution of the Guitar, it did not develop in that the *right* handed players picked with their LEFT hand?

My guess is that it has a lot to do with how the brain works. The left brain (which controls the right hand) is normally dedicated to logical and analytical tasks. The right hand's task in playing the guitar is rather mathematical since it's keeping the rhythm and time.

Right brain tasks are more intuitive, random, and artistic, while while there is a great amount of coordination required to make chords and play leads, there is also a lot more expression there.

Of course, there are exceptions, but I think that learning any instrument is beneficial to getting the corpus callosum (the bridge between the brain hemispheres) exercise at requiring the two halves to communicate for a task.

I agree with G Fresh. Go righty!

G Fresh wrote:I'm a lefty who learned how to play right-handed and have been doing it that way for the past 14 years. Honestly, if you're just starting out learning, you might as well learn right-handed because at this point your hands really shouldn't know the difference at least not after a month or two. Also, for all the reasons you've already stated, it's just a good idea to learn to play right-handed.

Oliver's Army wrote:Mildly retarded, bitter old fart with little talent, no patience and A.D.D.

Hmmm?

Any suggestions?

+2. Uncle Cliff and I have been kicking around the idea.

Maybe a Old Fart's Guitar Pulling and class??

Oliver's Army wrote: I wondered that if you're left-hand dominate, wouldn't you *want* it to be the hand that requires more finesse with chord formation and note playing? That leaves your right hand to do the simpler(?) tasks of strumming/picking?

Or am I looking at this bass-ackwards?

I think the reason the right-hand is used to strum and pick by right-handed guitarists is that it requires greater precision as far as timing goes. I've wondered the same thing and that's all I can come up with.

As far as deciding which hand to use before picking a guitar - you can always turn it upside down.