Anyone here play guitar or know about guitar? Im lefthanded and confused....

I dont know if I should play a left handed guitar, or learn like a righty.   When I do air guitar (yes, i do air guitar.), I do it left handed.  I also play guitar hero left handed.   Some people say that lefties have an advantage because they fret with their strong hand.  Others say that the picking hand is more important. 

Can anyone help me?  I'm going to a music store tomorrow to see how a left handed guitar feels, but ive heard there is very little selection and they are expensive....

Ay caramba.

Hendrix was  left handed guitar player. Go for it!

I'm left handed too.

I'm left handed, but strangely I play right handedly.  I figure doing the fretwork is harder than strumming, so it makes sense to play that way.  Paul McCartney plays left handed as well.

 I'd suggest you try out both.  Even better, borrow two guitars, and restring one to be left handed.  Once you get a feel for things when you start learning the guitar, you'll quickly decide which is better for you.

There are 300+ left handed guitars on ebay right now.

Hi,

The guitar is a great instrument.  I've been playing and teaching for...many years.  I would suggest that you try guitars at the store (right and left) see how your fret work goes and actually try to strum and pick with your other hand.  One hand will definitely feel more comfortable falling on the fret board and your strumming hand and fingers of the other hand will have to be coordinated so you are able to adjust to style, tempo, dynamics. 

My daughter is a lefty and we set it up so she could play left handed.  I always have at least one left handed guitar ready for classes.

Enjoy:-)

Just try both out.  Go with whatever one feels the most natural. 

If right handed feels as natural as left handed, go with a lefty guitar.  They're cooler.

When I started playing there was nothing about it that felt natural. I would agree with those who say fretting is more difficult than picking, It might be advantageous to use the stronger hand on the guitar's neck.

Playing the guitar uses both hands, not just one... it's probably going to be equally difficult (or easy) to learn the standard way, and if you can play a standard guitar then you can share other people's instruments should the occasion ever arise. I'm left-handed and I learnt to play the regular right-handed guitar. I was never very good at it, but that wasn't because of my handedness - my coordination just plain sucks and my hands are too small! 

I've always bought guitars based on how they feel.  However, that was after playing for awhile.  I started out with a really cheap guitar(a piece of crap), and when I bought my new guitar - I knew what I wanted.  Good luck!

Am left handed, but play right. Easier all the way around to learn right-handed.

I went to the guitar store yesterday.  I tried out some left and right handed guitars.  I basically felt more comfortable doing everything with my left hand.   I felt more comfortable fretting on the right handed guitar and I felt more comfortable strumming on the left handed guitar.   So basically, Im still uncertain...

If you're left handed then you should go left... there is no difference between either.  A guitar is a guitar no matter how you hear the arguments. You'll feel more natural as a lefty being that you are left handed.

Also, anyone who gives you advice and they are guessing or didnt play guitar well  isnt the greatest person to listen to for advice.

good luck.. guitar is fun and can be a great expression for alot of things. Dont get discouraged either when you start out. No one gets it perfect...

My friend is left handed and she's never had trouble playing a guitar that wasn't a lefty guitar....

Depends on the person I suppose.

I'd go with a lefty then.  Or get a righty and flip it al a Jimi Hendrix.

For the record, one of my nephews is a south paw and I taught him how to play on a righty guitar.  It's no biggy really.  You can learn it either way.  I still stand by my opinion that lefty guitars are cooler.

Original Post by anarin:

If you're left handed then you should go left... there is no difference between either.  A guitar is a guitar no matter how you hear the arguments. You'll feel more natural as a lefty being that you are left handed.

Also, anyone who gives you advice and they are guessing or didnt play guitar well  isnt the greatest person to listen to for advice.

 

good luck.. guitar is fun and can be a great expression for alot of things. Dont get discouraged either when you start out. No one gets it perfect...

The majority of people are right handed which means the majority of guitar players the OP will encounter are right handed and their guitars are strung that way - therefore it makes sense -everything being equal, that the OP learn to play guitar right handed.

just sayin. :)

For me it was easier to take lessons because the teacher was right handed as well. Granted it was classical guitar, so both fretwork and picking were complex, but to each his or her own. :)

If you play guitar hero and play it left handed then I would get a left-handed guitar.  Especially if you have played guitar hero alot, that would indicate a preference imo.

I suck at guitar hero. I guess its too little like actually playing guitar, so my wires get crossed. :)

I'm also left-handed and I play the guitar. When I was first searching for one to buy, it felt more natural to hold the guitar as a left-handed person would do.

However, at the time, I had absolutely zero knowledge about guitars and was told that left-handed guitars were much more expensive (Had no clue that all you would need to do is re-string the guitar).

So, I ended up learning on a right-handed guitar. Now I'm at the point where it would seem really unnatural to hold it left-handed. So, it's very possible and doable to learn on a right-handed guitar as a left-handed person.

When you think about it, we lefties have been forced to learn how to do a lot of things with our right hands anyway - so what's one more thing?

thanks for the replies.  im still confused, but i appreciate all the input.