Soon after my previous post Building a Foundation, Pt. II (seating position) student begin lessons. In my phone conversation with her father prior to the lesson he mentioned the fact that she was left-handed and wanted to know if this would be a problem. This reminded me of the handful of left-handed players I had taught over the years and how I approached teaching them.
Whenever I have taken on a new student who is left-handed with no prior playing experience my approach is always the same – have them play right handed. This is because two hands are needed to play the guitar and by playing right-handed there is the opportunity to play a multitude of guitars. To play the guitar both hands are employed regardless of which is dominant, and each will develop technical facility specific to the job it will be doing (picking, fingering, etc.). This being the case, it makes sense for a “lefty” to learn to play right-handed because the vast majority of guitars are built for right-handed players. Those who choose or have teachers choose to have them play lefty become limited in the instruments available to them. Whereas, in order to play lefty an instrument may need to be custom made, specially ordered, professionally set-up or just difficult to find.
In the past I have had experienced left-handed players as students and of course it makes no sense to try to “convert” them – that is the way they have learned. However, be aware that teaching lefties can be a bit tricky – especially if you are going to adjust chord diagrams or even tablature. Teaching materials are geared toward right-handed players so you will need to make a judgment call as to whether or not you will “flip” the materials for them. However, in the end you are teaching a student how to play the guitar – lefty or righty your approach is still the same.
Next month I’ll get back on track with what to cover in our first lesson in Building A Foundation, Pt. III.
