Comments on: Other instruments

By: bassmedia.net

bassmedia.net — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:47:03 +0000

hi,
i have played bass guitar for 20 years and guitar for the last few.
I started on right hand guitar, mainly as i didn’t know the difference and left handed guitars have always looked odd to me!
Over the years i thought about swopping to a left handed, but like you the time put in as a right hander would be wasted.
The advantage on guitar though, especially electric is the dominant hand is on the fingerboard, especially for solo lines. (i think that is why Jimi Hendirx went left, he was right handed….i think!)
Keyboard players can do basslines very easily.
Now, with all the info. on the internet, we can see what us lefties are naturally good at…..the choosen few!

By: neville

neville — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:10:55 +0000

As Claire described, I had the misfortune to play in an orchestra as a right-handed violinist on the right hand side of the music stand with a left-handed violinist on my left.while at first it was quite amusing, it became clear after some near misses between tip of bow and eyes(mine usually)that we were incompatible and my partner was moved to the rear of the section where he played quite happily, and safely, on his own!

By: brittney

brittney — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:59:22 +0000

Yeah I am the same way…I first tried playing the guitar on “guitar hero” left handed but it was to confusing…Playing it right handed just came more natural….The same was with playing an actual guitar…I dont know many left handed people who can play right handed besides me, so it was nice to see there are others…. I also cant use left handed scissors! I tried, all it does is bend the paper lol it wont cut…So I just use right handed…..

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:10:28 +0000

It seems that at least on here there are a lot of left handed percussionists, I totally avoid playing on anyone elses instruments as I have mine set up left handed and in exactly the right places for me, also it makes a difference how mine are set up as I am short, my right foot has no hope of being able to keep up the constant beat on the bass so my own set up is essential. I even managed this in the very “left handed is unacceptable” world of the 1950s.
Yes I’m told I look odd when playing and on the odd occasions when I have been expected to play a concert bass drum as in a band contest, I have said no sorry when I play it I cant see the conductor so I take my own and use it like a kettle drum and sitting down, there are ways around everything. I think leftys learn very quickly to “think outside the box”.
Some one has said on this forum being left handed will either make you excell or fail miserably, I failed miserably on the piano and my hand writing is really the worst, the piano failure was due to not being able to get my right hand to work correctly, but my hand writing failure is totally due to the school teachers I had who would not let me even hold my pen for a moment in my left hand, so because my grip in my right hand was poor the pencil or pen went everywhere by the time they finally gave up it was to late for me to learn to write with my left hand either I was so far behind it was impossible. Thank God for the typewriter and now the computer! And excell yes in anything to do with being creative, art ,design, sewing I learnt to think outside the square very early for even sewing machines are right handed.
Logn live the lefty percussionists

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:25:23 +0000

I’m a lefty but I learned to play guitar, bass, and drums right-handed. I eventually switched the set up lefty(using my right hand for hi-hat/ride only). I never had any trouble learning any instrument (either way). I was first taught guitar by my right-handed father (He made sure I was comfortable with it first though). I have recently found that I can play lefty as well– whitch (among other things) leads me to believe that I may be ambidextrious instead (although my preferrence for most things {writing, eating, manipulating objects} is to use my left hand. I’ll keep up my lefty guitar, but I have eleven years experience playing righty….so I’m not going to give THAT up.

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:15:44 +0000

Hi,
I love music and had no problems learning the recorders nor the clarinet. I used to play one of those little electric organs you could get in the 70′s with chord buttons on the left and keys for the right hand, with my hands crossed over, until my Dad insisted I taught myself to play the ‘right’ way round. However when I came to learn the piano I was fine except for the over-loud bass, but when a piece got difficult and I had to really concentrate, then without any conscious thought, my left hand would play the treble clef and my right hand the bass clef – woops. I really struggled doing drum rolls on the timpani- until I started the roll with my left and hand not my right. For some reason I could not cope with playing the harp at all. Singing is non-handed but I do not seem to be able to pitch accurately and realiably. Any other lefties have problems with singing in tune reliably? Liz

By: Dave Conley

Dave Conley — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:50:14 +0000

I have really enjoyed learning that there are a lot more left-handers that are drummers in the world. I learned to play right-handed with the traditional grip used for sticks but now I try to used a matched grip whenever possible. I haven’t played for awhile but miss it alot and hope to go back to being a stickman very soon. I was very lucky growing us as eventhough my mother wanted to change me into a righty, God Bless my first grade teacher Mrs. Caldwell who flatly told her NO! In regards to an earlier post concerning having to use the leadliner’s kit in a concert setting… This is very true. I have several friends in the sound system/concert stage business and a lot of the time the kit is theirs, set to the demands of the main act. Also, as mentioned, time constraints also are sometimes prohibitive. Now, 52, I am so used to being left-handed in a righty world, a lot of times it would now be more diffifult to do certain tasks as a true left-hander. But, if I had a child who was a lefty, I would encourage them to be a lefty to the max. If their teachers were not open to their particular needs, I’d be sure and protest until they were. In my area in Eastern KY, a school system outlawed peanut butter because one student… yes one student out of hundreds was allergic to peanut butter. LEFTIES ROCK!

By: RORY MAC LEOD

RORY MAC LEOD — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:38:32 +0000

Hi,

As a leftie drummer(and dentist) of MANY MANY years, I am aware of some of the following drummers being lefties and playing that way…wearing the hi hat on the right..

Ian Paice(Deep Purple) Phil Collins(Genesis)Dom Howard(Muse) are all lefties. The band GOSSIP have a female drummer-sincere aplologies,I don’t know her name,is also left handed! Pete Riley a well known drum tutor on Rhythm magazine is a leftie! Even better is the fact, that his video lessons are shown as a leftie, thus for once its our right handed majority who have to work out what is going on…”now you know how it feels!”

By: Jade

Jade — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:51:38 +0000

When trying to play right handed, i get mixed up, and so i prefer playing left handed. Also because my left hand is stronger than my right hand, and therefore i find it easier to keep up the hi hat beat with my left hand.
I am only thirteen, but have been told i have a talent and not to throw it away, haha!
Since i started learning how to play the drums, i’m forever watching music videos, and when i go to concerts to see which famous drummers i have seen are left handed. So far? None.
Does anyone know any famous left handed drummers?

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:29:24 +0000

11/29/09

I, too, am a left handed drummer. I play a right handed set up drum kit while using my left hand for both the ride and hi-hat cymbals. My right hand plays the snare and toms. I am happy to find more left handed drummers opinions about drum kit playing.

Ken