My-oh-my, you just have to do everything differently, don’t you? 🙂
If you are searching for “Left handed guitar lessons near me“, I have great news
If you are a “Lefty”, IT’S ACTUALLY *EASIER* to learn from a right handed guitar teacher or video guitar lesson. Here’s why: It’s more like looking in the mirror at yourself playing. For many right handed guitarists, as we are learning from another right-handed guitarist, we need to flip the horizontal image in your minds, BUT not you! If you are Lefty taking lessons from a Right Handed guitarist. IT-IS-WAY easier to learn, especially if you are new to playing guitar. Same goes for all the free lessons on this site. And now, on to the full lesson:
Traditionally speaking: Whichever hand you write with. Whichever hand you throw a ball with — IS the hand that you should be PICKING with. The other hand goes on the neck of the guitar. SO, if that’s you, and you are a lefty, continue reading….
A very few number of left-handed players over the years have flipped a traditional guitar upside down with the high E string on top and the low E on the bottom and learned it that way. YIKES! That would certainly look cool, but then you would miss the opportunity to utilize all the incredible free lessons (like these) on the net. I have read about several left-handed guitar guitarists that tried to learn on a right-handed guitar (strung for right-handed players!), and regretted it later. BIG-TIME. So, I highly recommend buying a left-handed guitar to learn and practice on.
Warning: If you try and restring a right-handed guitar to become a left-handed guitar, you run the risk of problems with the nut (the strip of metal or plastic the strings go through at the head of the guitar just before the tuning keys), or the bridge (that part where the strings anchor to your guitar, near your picking hand), which can cause MAJOR playing and tuning/intonation problems. So make certain you are playing a guitar that was designed for left-handed guitar players!!
SO DO IT RIGHT – BUY A LEFT-HANDED GUITAR
If I’m a left-handed player, how will that change “these” lessons?
It might make the Chord Diagrams more confusing at first, so consider learning your chords with Tablature (see below). Other than that, everything else should be similar.
TAB
Tablature will work exactly the same, because it’s only referring to fret numbers and string names which are the same on left or right-handed guitars. Which brings up a memory. I used to practice with a band in Hayward, California in a rehearsal studio. Right alongside of the studio was a custom guitar shop called “Left is Right Guitars”. The shop owner built and worked on hot-rodded and custom guitars that were all meant for “lefties”. That name stuck with me all these years and should be your motto as a guitarist. Left IS Right. You’ll see many reasons below to support that theory.
Agility + Ability
There is scientific evidence that left-handed people are better at sports because of their unique approach, as well as being fantastic problem solvers. If you put these two skills together you get someone with INCREDIBLE potential for mastering a musical instrument, such as guitar, because it takes agility and the ability to kick-butt on guitar.
HEY! You’re in good company!
Other notable left-handed players, who I guess you could say…”Did okay” for themselves are:
- Jimi Hendrix
- Tony Iommi
- Kurt Cobain
- Paul McCartney
- Dick Dale
- Elliot Easton – The Cars
- Al McKay – Earth Wind and Fire
- Albert King
- Your name goes here ____________
A Great Perspective
Right-handed guitarists have to flip everything horizontal in their mind when learning from others. But not left-handed students! As a left-handed player you have a great advantage when taking lessons one-on-one, either in person or through video, because you are looking at a mirror image of the guitar that you are holding in your hands. Pretty cool right? So relax, YOU ARE in good hands, and once you buy yourself a left-handed guitar, you should be able to learn easier than most.
Basic Chords
Here are a few chords in Tablature to get you started. Go through the rest of the lessons on this site and refer back to these as needed. It’s also probably a good idea for you to get used to looking at chord diagrams (even though you will need to flip them in your mind). The benefits of traditional chord diagrams are that they show you the correct fingers to use for the chords. However, once you have been playing a few weeks, it’s easy to figure this out for yourself. Just use the fingers that feel the “most comfortable” to play the chords.
For more information on reading tablature (TAB). See the basic TAB lesson or advanced TAB.
Open E Chord
----0---------------------------------------- ----0---------------------------------------- ----1---------------------------------------- ----2---------------------------------------- ----2---------------------------------------- ----0----------------------------------------
Open A Chord
-----0--------------------------------------- -----2--------------------------------------- -----2--------------------------------------- -----2--------------------------------------- -----0--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
Open G Chord
-----3--------------------------------------- -----0--------------------------------------- -----0--------------------------------------- -----0--------------------------------------- -----2--------------------------------------- -----3---------------------------------------
Open C Chord
-----0--------------------------------------- -----1--------------------------------------- -----0--------------------------------------- -----2--------------------------------------- -----3--------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
Open D Chord
-----2--------------------------------------- -----3--------------------------------------- -----2--------------------------------------- -----0--------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
Here is a Barre Chord. While it’s jumping ahead a bit. You can compare it to this lesson, to see how TAB and Chord Diagrams match-up.
NOTE: Numbers that are the same are to be “Barred“.
G Barre Chord
-----3--------------------------------------- -----3--------------------------------------- -----4--------------------------------------- -----5--------------------------------------- -----5--------------------------------------- -----3---------------------------------------
C Barre Chord
-----3--------------------------------------- -----5--------------------------------------- -----5--------------------------------------- -----5--------------------------------------- -----3--------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
MY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEFT-HANDED BEGINNER GUITARS
Anyone that knows me, knows I’m a HUGE Ibanez fan. So my recommendations always reflect this. Below are some options I would recommend to a beginning Left-Handed guitar student. An important note: I always suggest starting out with a decent quality guitar in at least the $300 range to start with. This is because: 1. Dirt Cheap guitars are hard on the fingers; and 2. If you change your mind later, it will still have some resale value. This is the same for younger or older students. AND it’s especially important when buying Left-Handed guitars because they are in less demand.
| Electric Recommendation ($) | Acoustic Recommendation ($) | Prestige Line ($$$) |
|---|---|---|
| This is a good starter guitar that has a nice Ibanez neck-feel to it. One of my first Ibanez guitars is almost exactly like it. And I still own it to this day! | This is a nice Ibanez starter acoustic. It has good tone for its price range, and a cool natural wood finish. | I’m listing this more expensive guitar here in the beginner recommendation, just for comparison. I LOVE Ibanez guitars, you get the picture 😉 |
A final note
Musicians are unique in this world. Guitarists are a subset of that. The fact that you are a left-handed guitarist makes you even more unique. Use it to your advantage.
-Tommy