Handedness in guitar playing

Playing Technique
#26

Don’t make me spit out my maple syrup!

Honestly, the whole thing gets weird.

The curve of the blade determines the handedness of the stick (concave surface faces forward). When you’re standing with the stick across your body and the blade on the ice, if the blade is to your right, it’s a “right handed” stick, and you’re shooting “right handed”. If the blade is to your left, it’s a left handed stick, and you’re shooting left handed. So in traditional terminology, right-handed corresponds to “right hand closest to the blade” and left handed corresponds to “left hand closest to the blade”.

Right-handed novices are often naturally drawn to shooting right-handed because it feels easier to generate power with the dominant hand close to the blade.

But many people argue that as players mature and need more finesse in their stickhandling, they will be better off with their dominant hand positioned closest to the top of the stick (furthest from the blade) rather than at the bottom. Meaning that if you are right-handed in life, it is widely argued that you should adopt the shooting setup that has traditionally been described as “left handed”.

In practice, NHL players (who are 90% right-handed), are roughly evenly split between people who "shoot left’ and people who “shoot right”.

The articles below get into the weeds of this even more:

And anecdotes from players:

#27

Kiko Loureiro is another example of a left-handed player who picks with his right, and there are several videos of him demonstrating some rather challenging picking and string skipping exercises.
This leads me to wonder whether players who pick with their non-dominant hand have to work extra hard to develop a certain level of skill, and are more aware of their own picking techniques because they need to compensate for the “non-dominance” of their picking hand.

#28

Ok that makes sense, I’m a righty that hockeys righty. Albeit not in a long while.

#29

Hi all

As a lefty playing righty, I thought I’d chip in. I apologize for the long post. I’ve spent a lot of time through the years considering why I would be able to learn some techniques quickly, and others only extremely slowly.

I remember that when I started playing, doing chords and strumming came to me very easily. I think I had the basics down within some months, initially only playing at school or on my friend’s guitar. I had (righty) friends who also had begun playing the guitar, and many of them were struggling playing things that I never felt I had to work at. It seemed very awkward for them, and I was at a loss as to why. Today I think I might have had a bit of a lefty advantage.

While I was most into rhythm guitar stuff for the first years I played, a shock came when I began gravitating towards lead playing. I could play simple (and slow) lead lines fine, but as soon as the lines became a bit more demanding in terms of speed (especially when there was string switching involved), I’d have problems playing them consistently. For a time, I played in a hard rock originals band and I would try and design workaround riffs that sounded technical like our heroes based on my limited picking skill. And it was simply beyond me how people like Paul Gilbert or Steve Lukather (both heroes of mine) could pick like they do.

I spent a lot of time researching picking technique, watching videos, interviewing my various teachers about it, etc. As I has been discussed here before, much of the advice I received was in the “speed will come with time and repetition” camp, and needless to say, my progress playing the same drills again and again, using the same motions that didn’t work, was extremely slow. I would go in circles between practicing speed picking (as it was known to me at the time), getting frustrated and focusing on other areas of practice, only to reconsider whether I had simply not given it enough effort the last time around and then returning to practicing picking again. It was very frustrating.

I still don’t have the speed I would like to, but the lessons I have learned from watching CtC through these last years have enabled me to progress faster in the limited time I have available now for practice. And while I wasn’t able to understand the relevant mechanics by just playing, the more technical explanations provided by CtC has helped me resolve a number of problems related to my picking. For example, it was a huge eye-opener for me that I would have to employ different picking approaches depending on the phrase I wanted to play.

Where I stand currently, I feel that the biggest challenge for me is what could be called compound movements, e.g. quick movements which involve multiple muscle groups at the same time. Licks where I can “lock it in” and go for it work the best. For example, I can play the Pop Tarts lick at around 180 BPM, but I can only play Eric Johnson-style pentatonic licks at around 160 BPM. I believe this is because of the more frequent string changes and the need to readjust the hand position accordingly with the EJ licks. My guess is that these compound movements are much more intuitive to righties because they basically practice them in all kinds of situations every day. I’ve tried developing some drills that specifically target these compound movements, and my experience is that they work quite well, though I don’t have any real data to show for it.

On a final note, I am a bit worried about the use of certain lefties (such as Batio or Morse) as examples that left- or right-handedness doesn’t matter too much - I’m not saying that that is an idea that is promoted heavily here, but I’ve met it on occasion. First, I think that placing people into two categories (or three, if we include the ambidextrous) is quite limited. I would think it is a bit more fluid than that, and thus there is a chance that the “succesful lefties” are not totally comparable to the, let’s say, “less succesful lefties” (such as myself). Second, looking at both Batio and Morse, I get the idea that perhaps their respective and quite characteristic picking systems actually may work by circumventing the need for precise, free-flowing compound motions. For Batio, the bracing with his fingers stabilizes his elbow and wrist motions, and for Morse, his wide wrist motions reduce the need for precise elbow motions a bit, such as during string changes. But I’ll admit I’m stipulating here :slight_smile:

Anyways, thank you for taking up the topic! I look forward to following the discussion onwards.

Best regards,

Christian

#30

I seem to remember reading somewhere that orchestral string players are encouraged to play right-handed, presumably because it can get a bit cramped on stage if one of you is bowing in the other direction. But I’ve seen people playing left-handed at concerts so presumably it’s not a hard and fast rule.

And add Mark Knopfler to the list of lefty playing righty elite players. He’s mentioned it in interviews.

#31

I like the idea of the spectrum of lefties. And I hereby reserve that as a band name, similar to four non-blondes.

I am open to believing there is a practical reason to think about handedness, as far as teaching is concerned. Like, ok, you’re lefty so you may find XYZ easier and ABC harder. Or, it may take you 20% more time to learn XYZ but 20% less time to learn ABC. We really need more data. We’ll try to keep track of this down the line, maybe institute some type of questionnaire in the platform signup.

As with most things related to picking technique, controlling for variables matters. It it is difficult to attribute causation until you’ve weeded out all the other common problems. For example, as far as 2nps phrases go, there are lots of reasons why those would be slower, not the least of which is the finger reuse. Doing pentatonics fast is no joke, and most people are slower with those than than lines that have more notes per string.

From a picking perspective specifically, the type of joint motion you use for that is a factor. Players who are fastest with this are usually USX players who use Gypsy type techniques with a flexed wrist and supinated arm position. These are usually forearm or forearm wrist techniques. Doug Aldrich is a great example. There are exceptions, but if we’re shooting for mass, most of the great 2nps players I can think of are full-time USX motion players, downward pickslant, rest strokes, that kind of thing. If that’s not your technique, I wouldn’t read too much into that particular test as telling you much about your raw speed potential.

#32

I am fascinated by this topic. I’m a righty, and as I was learning to play guitar I struggled with fretting. It seemed to me it would be much easier if my stronger, more dexterous hand was on the fretboard and then I could just go up and down strumming with my other hand. Sometimes I’d flip the guitar and fret with my right hand and it seemed easier. If I had a lefty guitar I probably would have learned to play lefty. But I stuck it out and now I can fret okay.

I’ve asked a number of lefties if it felt awkward playing righty when they started, and most of them said yes, and they prefer playing lefty. So it seems like the “natural” way to do is is with the non-dominant hand on the fretboard.

That said, Rik Emmet is a lefty who plays righty, and encourages his lefty students to play righty because of the fretting issue I mentioned.

I wonder if some of us are sort of “goofyfoot” when it comes to the guitar? Maybe our dominant hand should be on the fretboard, unlike most people who prefer their non-dominant hand?

I’m goofyfoot when it comes to skateboarding too, if that means anything. Anyway, thanks for bringing this up. Like I say, I’m kind of fascinated by it.

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#33

Man, I can’t tell you how excited I am for a discussion like this!

The first time I picked up a guitar was when I was maybe five or six years old. My relatives who played the guitar were all right handed, and I didn’t have a guitar of my own until I was eight. Playing chords were incredibly easy, and had a preference for playing with legato. I never really had a problem with the way I played, or really noticed how it would be problematic until I started listening to a lot of heavy metal. I couldn’t really do much about the tension in my right arm whenever I would play fast unless I just tried to ignore it.

I didn’t make a serious attempt to improve my right hand until I discovered Al Di Meola. I was fascinated with the way he played. Not too long after I really got into John McLaughlin’s stuff and I decided that I wanted to get to the bottom of this picking business. Not only did I want to learn how to play fast, but I also wanted to find a way of playing that was, at the very least, relaxed and comfortable without being too strenuous.

All in all, it took me about three years of some serious work in the shed to actually see any significant results. It wasn’t easy. I quit trying numerous times after putting in hours of practice without getting anywhere. It was demoralizing. But I looked at every type of alternate picker and really drew from MAB, Steve Morse, and most recently Robert Fripp for my inspiration: “Music so wishes to be heard that it sometimes calls on unlikely characters to give it voice.” If they could do it, then surely I can as well.

Ultimately, I think it is possible to be just as proficient as any right handed guitar player. You’ll have to put in more effort, and at first you might be more “rhythmically challenged,” but right hand technique is just something you have to practice. It’s the same deal with gaining the strength in your hands to play a barre chord. I like to think that being left handed allowed me to breeze through that stage. But I guess fast alternate picking is something right handed guitar players naturally don’t have to try so hard to perform, just as playing barre chords was natural for me at first.

I can’t help but also think that there’s got to be a good portion of right handed guitar players who just aren’t interested in this type of playing. The “Gilmour Effect” is definitely something that resonates with a lot of people. Also, I’m somewhat convinced that there are right handed guitar players who struggle to play at faster speeds and are trying just as hard.

But despite the obvious advantages, I have seen guitar players before who play a left handed guitar despite being right handed. And with that, I feel more inclined to play the way I always do. :grin:

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#34

I don’t think your tool analogy works here. By the time the guitar came around, and especially the guitar pick, there already was an established convention for ‘handedness’. The convention was established on older string instruments like Lutes. The Lute, and the other instruments in that family, are plucked.

This raises the question if the handedness convention came about because it was deemed easier to fret a chord with the weaker hand and pluck complex patterns with the fingers of the dominant hand. I don’t know much about Lute playing but I’m guessing it was used to accompany a singer or other lead instrument and thus the complex demands on the left hand–from lead playing–came later (or even on entirely different instruments) when handedness for stringed instruments was already ingrained in tradition.

#35

I am left handed and have played lefty guitars from the beginning.
The primary inconveniences have been the lack of instrument options and the inevitable disappointment when someone is playing their guitar, learns I’m a guitarist, and enthusiastically invites me to ‘play something’.

Also, Robert Fripp is another lefty who plays righty.

#36

Thank you for your response. I don’t disagree with your explanation, but I’m not sure why you feel it contradicts the tool analogy.

Handedness certainly evolved prior to the invention of the first stringed instruments, so the existence of a convention does not seem to eliminate the need for an explanation as to why the convention came out the way it did. Your explanation seems to be that ‘it was deemed easier’ to fret with the weaker hand, which I agree with, but is also the specific phenomenon we are trying to explain in this thread.

Why is it easier to hold down a chord than to fingerpick? That’s not obvious. It seems to take more strength over a longer period of time to hold the strings down than to pluck them. Changing chords with the left hand involves moving several fingers simultaneously to specific locations, which does not strike me as a less complex or strenuous act than plucking the strings. My argument is that this preference is the result of the fact that plucking the strings is a rhythmic striking motion, and holding down chords is a semi-static manipulative motion. Handedness appears in large part to be a preference for using the dominant hand when applying striking motions, even more so when the timing of these motions requires precision. Do you disagree with this specific statement?

Anecdotally, I have heard many stories (including on this forum) of left-handers who learned righty, and later switched to lefty and ultimately found it easier. I have never heard a story of a righty who later learned lefty and found it easier, even among the (admittedly few) players who became competent in both orientations. This is evidence (far from conclusive, I admit) that there’s more to the explanation than just convention. (Note that the existence of highly proficient lefties who play righty does not diminish this argument, as it relies on the comparison between the reported ease of learning each orientation, not the final competence level.)

I don’t want to sound like I think the matter is settled. I agree that I have offered nothing but a hypothesis. It’s just not clear to me that we actually disagree. Feel free to contradict me on this.

#37

No tool is involved in plucking the string with your fingers.

Yes, finger picking / plucking is not a ‘striking motion’.

Maybe I was not clear, but I was trying to say that no choice was made in playing the guitar this or what way. Instead tradition carried over from instruments in the Lute family. When the choice of handedness was made for that family of instruments I speculated that the right hand was chosen to do the plucking / finger picking (arpeggios mostly, I think?) because it requires a larger degree of fine-motor control and precision compared to holding down static chords. Thus it was easier to get started, for those that were right-handed, if they played this way.

Edit: wait, is the instrument itself the tool? And since one end has to be manipulated to make any sound, whereas the other end just alters the sound, that’s the ‘tool end’ and since we gravitate toward using tools with the dominant hand that’s why we picked that hand for that end? Guess I totally misunderstood you. Sorry about that!

#38

Yes, that’s what I meant. The fact that the pick is also a tool is an interesting wrinkle, but not the thrust of the analogy. Sorry I wasn’t more clear.

‘a larger degree of fine-motor control and precision’ is probably a better way of expressing what I was trying to get at with the ‘cutting or striking motion’ business. Fine-motor control is more necessary in precise and forceful motion than in precise and forceful semi-static gripping. I probably made it more complicated than it had to be.

#39

This is mostly true, primarily because section players sit close together and lefty players would poke their neighbors with the bow and visually throw off the ‘playing in unison’ effect. Of course, the viol family are essentially symmetrical so it wouldn’t be hard to flip the strings/nut/bridge and play lefty from a mechanical pov. I suspect there must be self-taught players who have done just that.

#41

I just learned recently (I can’t remember where I saw it, maybe here?) that violins, etc. are internally asymmetric, mechanically. There is a post under the treble side of the bridge the extends between the top and back surfaces of the instrument that prevents the treble side from moving up and down. Under the bass side is a bar that runs along the length of the instrument that spreads the motion from the bridge to a larger are of the top on that side.

local da alma

Unlike a guitar, the bridge does not vibrate up and down, it pivots around the treble bridge foot. Here’s a good article:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Music/violin.html

Maybe you could move the chin rest and play lefty without reversing the strings, like Eric Gales and Albert King. There may be an argument against that, too. I don’t know.

#42

Do you mean to say you push Mongo…

I’ll have to report you :wink:

#43

I’m a little late to this discussion, but as a left handed guitarist I think I have to add my perspective.

While there are certainly lefties who are able to adapt to playing right handed it is certainly not the case that all can make this adjustment. In my case I found it totally impossible. Sure I can make chord shapes with my left hand, but my right hand simply doesn’t coordinate. I can’t even strum! And believe me I have tried. I don’t know the biomechanics, but if you think about it, all the control is in the picking hand, especially when playing at speed. Pick attack, slanting, strumming, damping, tremolo picking, palm muting etc. It’s obvious that the range of movements carried out by the picking hand are far more diverse than that of the fretting hand, which is essentially limited to pressing the strings on and off the fretboard with various amounts of pressure. Why then would anyone ham string themselves by choosing to fret with their dominant hand?

IMHO the only consideration for beginners should be ‘what feels most natural?’ Play a bit of air guitar, or a tennis racket. Whichever way feels right is the way you should play. The choice of guitars being limited for lefties should not even be a consideration. These days it’s not much of an issue, because the choice of quality, reasonably priced lefty guitars has grown dramatically. Unlike when I started and ended up with the inevitable flipped black Strat. Frankly guitar store assistants who tell lefties to learn right handed should be fired on the spot. It is entirely stupid advice that boils my blood. If I had been made to learn right handed I would have given up right at the start, instead of the 36 years of joy and fulfilment I’ve had from playing the guitar the way nature intended.

So, rant over, I have a theory to explain why some people can learn the opposite way to their natural inclination. We always tend to think you’re left handed or right handed, like two sides of a coin. The odd ambidextrous player can land their coin on it’s edge. It’s my believe though that we shouldn’t be looking at handedness as an either/or thing, but more of a line or spectrum, with people like me 100% on the left of the scale, and full righties at the other end of the scale. Centre is fully ambidextrous. Somewhere to the left of that centre line are the Michael Angelo Batios and Gary Moores of this world. Close enough to ambidextrous that they could learn either way. A little further to the left I would put people like Mark Knopfler - if you watch his picking hand closely it becomes very obvious it’s not a natural movement for him, even after decades of playing. All of this of course applies to right hand players on the opposite side of that centre line.

It may be controversial to say, but I do think there is a degree of active discrimination against left hand players. A certain maker of high end guitars springs to mind, who has been vocal in his disdain for us. I often wonder what would happen if they adopted the same attitude to other minorities - ‘oh I’m sorry we don’t keep Jewish guitars’, or ‘Ah you’re disabled, that’s going to hold you back. You should just learn the ‘normal’ way’. ad infinitum.

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#44

Something interesting as well, there have been numerous examples cited of lefty guitarists who play righty. Are there any players who are right handed that play left handed?? Barring ambidextrous freaks like MAB.

#45

I would imagine that from a business point of view, left handed guitars don’t make them that much money. I think that this is an excuse that holds less water as time goes on, given todays modern and efficient production techniques like cnc etc.

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#46

You’re both right. CNC etc. means makers have fewer excuses.

Plus the “minority X does not spend enough money on Y” has been a cover all sorts of prejudice over the years. Fortunately that’s getting harder to maintain in these days of instant social media feedback. :grinning:

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