Guitars come in right-handed and left-handed varieties. But, most people, when they pick up a guitar, don’t immediately show a strong tendency for either right-handed or left-handed playing. That’s because playing the guitar is complex, and it is not clear which hand plays the dominant role until you’ve spent some time practicing.
Today, we’ll review a few indicators to help you choose the right guitar (and hand) for you!
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Tuesday, October 18th
If you are right-hand dominant, it’s probably safe to assume that the right-handed guitar suits you. However, left-handed or ambidextrous learners need to think about it a bit.
If you’re left-hand dominant, get a left-handed guitar; if you are not sure, many people are ambidextrous or a mixture of left-handed and right-handed.
A simple test
Holding the right-handed guitar, try a few things:
- Play a simple scale to see if it’s comfortable
- Play some simple chords to see how those feel
- Now, block the strings with your fret hand, and try to scratch out some rhythms on the strings
Once you’ve performed this test, get a left-handed guitar or flip the guitar over and do it again. Do this several times. Does the left-handed guitar seem to be coming more quickly, or does the right-handed guitar?
Do not be intimidated by other people’s suggestions; this is a very personal decision. Most of them know better than to try to influence this decision, but some of them, well-meaning as they may be, may try to take control of the decision or influence your choice. Take your time!
This article is a re-post, with minor modifications, of “Should You Play Left-Handed or Right-Handed?” published on hubguitar.com
