Left Handed Guitar Instruction Information
How To Start–Hand Positioning And Holding The Guitar
The first time you sit down with your guitar, assuming you haven’t had any instruction on how to do it, you’ll need to understand how to hold it and have a basic understanding of hand positioning. Since the first chords you’ll be learning will be open chords, you’ll need to know how to hold the guitar with both your right and left hands as well has how to situate your fingers.
First of all, depending on whether you are right-handed or left-handed, you may want to hold the guitar one of two different ways. The standard way for right-handed players to hold the guitar is to use the right hand for strumming and the left hand for fingering and making chords. Many left-handed players play guitars this way as well, but some choose to purchase and use left-handed guitars that are designed so that one strums with the left hand and plays chords with the right. If you’re left-handed, you must make the decision as to whether you’d like to play with a left-handed or right-handed guitar.
No matter what type of guitar you have, you’ll need to know how to hold the guitar sitting down. Most players find it easiest to rest the guitar on the thigh aligned with the side of the body that strums the guitar. That is, if you play right-handed, rest the guitar on your right thigh. The guitar body should curve along the sides to rest comfortably there. Be sure the guitar doesn’t lean against your chest or belly, but is perpendicular to the thigh. You should have good posture when playing to avoid leaning back too far or over forward too much as doing so makes it harder to move your fingers into the appropriate positions for many progressions.
While the body of the guitar is supported by your thigh, the other end–the neck–is supported by your other hand. This is the hand that forms chords and moves up and down along the fingerboard. In the beginning, you will be learning open chords, and you should be sure that your fingers on this hand curve around the other strings until they are situated in the appropriate position on the fingerboard to play a chord correctly. That is, they don’t rest flat against other strings that they are not supposed to touch according to the chord fingering. This will create a dull, muted sound that results in only a few of the notes of a chord being played correctly. While this may cause some discomfort at first, it’s necessary to develop this positioning of the hand and fingers so that you can further develop as a guitarist. When playing these chords, the bottom of your palm should be pressing against the back of the neck to help your fingers close and press down upon the appropriate strings on the fingerboard. With practice, your ability to play chords with this positioning of the hand and fingers will improve greatly.
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Left Handed Guitar Instruction Question
Should I switch to playing guitar left-handed?
I am left-handed and I have been playing guitar off and on (more off than on) for 8 years. I took lessons for about 6 months and the teacher told me to play right-handed. I think he just didn’t want the trouble of teaching a lefty. I have been teaching myself via instruction booklets ever since. I’m on the second book of three instruction booklets, so I’m in the middle of the basic learning books.
I feel that I have been forced to convert to the right-handed world and I don’t want to do that. I’m proud to be left-handed and I want to embrace it. There were enough things that I am forced to do right handed in this world.
Do you think I should restring my right-handed guitar left-handed? When playing air guitar, I even go right for the left-handed position, lol.
Thanks for your input.
Well I’m a lefty normally but I play guitar right handed, Idk why that’s how it was given to me, I haven’t ever felt weird holding it that way it just works for me having it that way. But it you feel more comfortable having it lefty way then you should change it but if you have got this far with having it righty way then you should be used to it. Its not much difference which ever way you have it you just have to think when the book says left hand it means right etc.
x Dannii x
Guitar Tuner Help Needed?
Does anyone own the Play-on brand tuner? It is triangular, and has both a mic and vibration setting. It clips on to the guitar.
I bought one, and all it came with was battery replacement instructions.
Does anyone know what the numbers in the lower left hand side mean (normally somewhere between 440-444, if that helps), and the number right next to the letter in the bottom center mean?
I figured out that the number next to the letter means that’s the string it thinks you’re playing on.
That number corresponds to the Hertz rating of the sound.
When the tuner measures 440 Hz, then the string is in tune.
Above 440 means the string is too high; below 440 means it’s too low and needs to be tightened.
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eMedia Guitar Method v5 $59.95 The latest version of the world’s best-selling beginning guitar CD-ROM! 165 comprehensive full-screen lessons cover everything from the basics to chord strumming, playing melodies, and fingerpicking. New interactive feedback on melodies and interactive quizzes help make learning tablature and music notation easy. Covers folk, blues, classical and rock styles, including a modern rock chapter with v… |
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Fender Presents: Getting Started on Electric Guitar — A Guide for Beginners $14.21 Over 3 hours long with 50 interactive guitar lessons on DVD. Covers tuning, essential chords and scales, music reference, practice tips, rhythm techniques, play-along tracks with a band, 3-D fretboard graphics, instrument care, and more. Includes 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and German. Hosted by Keith Wyatt of the Musicians Institute…. |
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Children’s Guitar Method 1 $13.30 Does your child want to learn to play the guitar? Children’s Guitar Method is a popular and creative method for teaching guitar to young children. From the beginning, this method integrates chord playing with note reading. The student begins with simplified single-finger chord forms and strums as accompaniment to numerous well-known songs. Note reading is then methodically and carefully introduced… |
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Learn To Play the Songs of John Denver- DVD#1 $19.93 John Denver was one of the most beloved figures in the history of American popular music. Pete Huttlinger was John’s lead guitarist from 1994 until his tragic death in 1997, accompanying him on world tours, Grammy-winning recordings and TV specials. On th… |
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Learn to Play Guitar Pack ( Windows/Macintosh ) $129.00 The eMedia Learn to Play Guitar Pack has everythin… |
Left Handed Guitar Instruction Videos
Guitar Warm Ups for Lefties : Single Tremolo Left Handed Guitar Picking
Agile AL-3100 CSB Wide Left Handed
It has never been easier to shop for Left Handed Guitar Instruction, so pick up Left Handed Guitar Instruction at bargain prices!
Left Handed Guitar Instruction Information
Learn Guitar Chords
It used to be that only if you lived in a big city could you find help for a lefty, but now with the internet, left handed guitar lessons and even instructors are much easier to find.
Before you take any lessons though, there are some steps that you need to take first. If you are left handed, but decide to play guitar right handed I can tell you right now that that will most likely result in disaster. You’ll feel awkward when you play and you’ll probably give up and play the tuba or something instead.
Hopefully, you’ve decided to go ahead and play left handed because it “feels” natural, but before you start your lessons, you’ll have to make even more decisions (nobody said this was going to be easy,) The decision you’re going to have to make is to decide which way you going to use to play left handed guitar.
The three ways are:
i. Play a right handed guitar upside down leaving the strings the same as for a right hander.
ii. Play a right handed guitar upside down, but reverse the strings so that the high E is on the bottom and low E is on the top.
iii Play a special built left hand guitar.
Each option has its pros and cons, but the third option is probably the best choice.
The biggest problem with the third option is that music stores rarely carry left handed guitars and if they do, they’re probably not very desirable. Enter the internet. Buying online can be scary because you can’t first touch what you are buying. You can look at the right handed model of the guitar you like, and then order its left handed counterpart. The quality should be the same, but just in case, make sure you get a money back guarantee.
Unfortunately. If you special order a left handed guitar from a music store, it will cost more than its right handed counterpart so you should try to buy it online so you can eliminate the middle man.
Play EXISTING riffs and patterns with speed and accuracy click here
Another way to deal with the cost issue, at least in the big city, is to look for a used musical instrument store. Selection will be limited, but at least you can try before you buy.
At last you’re ready for your left handed guitar lesson. If you chose option#1 above, then finding an in-person instructor will be very hard. If you choose option #1 and are willing to work online with someone, then try Ben Willis. He has several websites including lefthandedguitarplayer.blogspot.com. He will even email lessons to you.
If you have chosen either the second or third option, your left handed guitar lessons will actually be almost the same as right handed guitar lessons, in fact, once you figure out how to adapt tablature to your situation, your lessons will essentially be the same and you can use an instruction book that was written for right handed players.
For those that don’t know, tablature is a simplified way to see which strings have to be pushed where so that the student doesn’t have to learn to read sheet music.
By the way, if you do read music, that will make it much easier to learn to play left handed.
If you are having trouble figuring out the mechanics of a left handed chord, go to Chordfind.com for instructions.
Finally, if you can’t find an instructor and you really want to play, don’t give up. A lot of guitarists are self taught. I was self taught because I didn’t have the money for lessons, but I had a desire to play. Being self-taught will end up taking you longer to be proficient, but you’ll have a better ear because you are forced to figure out certain songs on your own.
Play EXISTING riffs and patterns with speed and accuracy click here
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Left Handed Guitar Instruction Question
Should I switch to playing guitar left-handed?
I am left-handed and I have been playing guitar off and on (more off than on) for 8 years. I took lessons for about 6 months and the teacher told me to play right-handed. I think he just didn’t want the trouble of teaching a lefty. I have been teaching myself via instruction booklets ever since. I’m on the second book of three instruction booklets, so I’m in the middle of the basic learning books.
I feel that I have been forced to convert to the right-handed world and I don’t want to do that. I’m proud to be left-handed and I want to embrace it. There were enough things that I am forced to do right handed in this world.
Do you think I should restring my right-handed guitar left-handed? When playing air guitar, I even go right for the left-handed position, lol.
Thanks for your input.
Well I’m a lefty normally but I play guitar right handed, Idk why that’s how it was given to me, I haven’t ever felt weird holding it that way it just works for me having it that way. But it you feel more comfortable having it lefty way then you should change it but if you have got this far with having it righty way then you should be used to it. Its not much difference which ever way you have it you just have to think when the book says left hand it means right etc.
x Dannii x
Guitar Tuner Help Needed?
Does anyone own the Play-on brand tuner? It is triangular, and has both a mic and vibration setting. It clips on to the guitar.
I bought one, and all it came with was battery replacement instructions.
Does anyone know what the numbers in the lower left hand side mean (normally somewhere between 440-444, if that helps), and the number right next to the letter in the bottom center mean?
I figured out that the number next to the letter means that’s the string it thinks you’re playing on.
That number corresponds to the Hertz rating of the sound.
When the tuner measures 440 Hz, then the string is in tune.
Above 440 means the string is too high; below 440 means it’s too low and needs to be tightened.
|
|
eMedia Guitar Method v5 $59.95 The latest version of the world’s best-selling beginning guitar CD-ROM! 165 comprehensive full-screen lessons cover everything from the basics to chord strumming, playing melodies, and fingerpicking. New interactive feedback on melodies and interactive quizzes help make learning tablature and music notation easy. Covers folk, blues, classical and rock styles, including a modern rock chapter with v… |
|
|
Fender Presents: Getting Started on Electric Guitar — A Guide for Beginners $14.21 Over 3 hours long with 50 interactive guitar lessons on DVD. Covers tuning, essential chords and scales, music reference, practice tips, rhythm techniques, play-along tracks with a band, 3-D fretboard graphics, instrument care, and more. Includes 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and German. Hosted by Keith Wyatt of the Musicians Institute…. |
|
|
Children’s Guitar Method 1 $13.30 Does your child want to learn to play the guitar? Children’s Guitar Method is a popular and creative method for teaching guitar to young children. From the beginning, this method integrates chord playing with note reading. The student begins with simplified single-finger chord forms and strums as accompaniment to numerous well-known songs. Note reading is then methodically and carefully introduced… |
|
|
Learn To Play the Songs of John Denver- DVD#1 $19.93 John Denver was one of the most beloved figures in the history of American popular music. Pete Huttlinger was John’s lead guitarist from 1994 until his tragic death in 1997, accompanying him on world tours, Grammy-winning recordings and TV specials. On th… |
|
|
Learn to Play Guitar Pack ( Windows/Macintosh ) $129.00 The eMedia Learn to Play Guitar Pack has everythin… |
Left Handed Guitar Instruction Videos
Guitar Warm Ups for Lefties : Single Tremolo Left Handed Guitar Picking
Agile AL-3100 CSB Wide Left Handed
It has never been easier to shop for Left Handed Guitar Instruction, so pick up Left Handed Guitar Instruction at bargain prices!
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