This right handed thing got me thinking?

[mentalextra]

First off I'm a right handed player and a right handed person. Would I be right in thinking that the fretting hand is the 'busier hand' and that it would make more sense for a right handed person to play left handed guitar/bass if you see what I mean? Or am i talking crap?

[JapanAxe]

The two hands are equally busy. Most notes require input from fingers on each hand.

In a right-handed person, the left hand holds something on which the right hand performs an action; the left hand finger holds down a string, the right hand finger plucks (or slaps) it.

That said, there are some notable left-handed players who play right-handed, e.g. Mark Knopfler.

[JuliusGroove]

Something I always considered but I suppose its just more dexterity is required in the left hand (For just general playing..) The right hand for me has always been a question of stamina as its drawing on the arm muscles aswell I imagine. Good thought though, somebody at my Uni recently just learnt to play left-handed so he could be a more authentic Paul Mccartney in his Beatles Tribute Band.. Commitment!

[Marc S]

Hi there,

I started a thread last year, along the same lines
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216819-the-only-lefty-in-the-village/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url]

I'm left handed, and always played the right handed way around
I always thought that it felt more natural to me to play this way
Other (right handed) musicians who were learning around the same time as me
thought I had progressed quickly, and had good control over my left hand

I have since discovered several other lefties, who play right handed guitars
and they all say the same thing;
that the left hand is the one which requires more precise control
and therefore the natural one for using to pick out notes
These guys also say that yes, both hands are busy,
but the right hand is essentially just tapping out the rhythm...

I'm not sure I totally agree with that,
as it depends on how you play,
and I'd argue that just as much accuracy is required of both hands

Still, it is an interesting thought
The basic consensus of my thread (above) was that although we label people as Left or Right handed
The reality isn't as black & white as that....
There are indeed degrees of right or left handedness
Some things will feel better or more natural either way

A right handed pal of mine plays golf with left handed clubs
and I can't use left handed scissors for instance, even though I'm a lefty

Some lefties play right handed instruments because it feels more natural
but others because of the limited availability and higher price of lefty instruments
and I fall into the first category

Thanks for posting this interesting point
and it's nice to hear right handed peoples point of view on this

Cheers
Marc

EDIT: If you are talking crap - I beat you to it!
BTW. I'm often to be heard talking cr@p lol

Edited February 17, 2014 by Marc S

[chrismuzz]

Someone once told me the guitar was originally intended to be fretted with the right hand for this reason. Don't know how true that is.

Interestingly I saw a band the other week where the bass player was playing a right handed bass in a left handed fashion... It hadn't even been restrung, the E string was on the bottom rather than the top!!

[xroads]

I play right handed instruments (guitar, bass) as a lefty - I agree with the notion that the fretting hand is much easier to control that way.
However: do not underestimated the role of the right hand! It basically makes all the timing and dynamics of your playing. I struggle a lot with keeping good timing or plucking complex rhythms on the right hand, which my right-handed fellows do in a natural way.

[Gazza 2905]

[quote name='xroads' timestamp='1398586363' post='2435417']
Do not underestimated the role of the right hand! It basically makes all the timing and dynamics of your playing.
[/quote]

This!

Although I agree, it might seem at first sight that the left hand has the 'harder job', all your attack, timing, rhythm, dynamics, control and so on, comes from the right hand.
Meanwhile, your left hand [i]'just'[/i] has to fret the right note!

[Myke]

I was thinking about this the other day. My left hand is can play some pretty complex things, moving quickly between different shapes etc. but when you get me writing with my left hand, I'm reduced to a childish scribble!

I once tried to play a left handed bass. My right hand was all over the shop but the left was a little bit more controlled.

[FinnDave]

I'm right handed and play a right handed bass, and am sure that my right hand has to do more work than my left does.

[Gazza 2905]

Well, it certainly feels instinctively correct when we righties pick up a right-handed bass.

So perhaps the way we think about the roles of the two hands is not wholly correct?