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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
 Posted - 06/19/2012 : 4:22:32 PM
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I was talking to Tiko Kaeo, a well-known and respected (revered) musician in the Seattle area. He plays ukulele, guitar and bass left-handed, but right-hand strung. Would any of you know of a ki ho'alu tuning that would lend itself to this circumstance? I know Bla Pahinui plays in a dropped D tuning left-handed right-hand strung. Any of you come accross anything else?
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garson
Lokahi
USA
112 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2012 : 5:36:18 PM
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| My guess is that whatever tuning you try having the strings upside down is going to require a radically different technique such as the one Bla uses. The thumb now takes care of melody and the alternating base is done with the finger(s). That would require totally rethinking how you play. |
Jim Garson |
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fred d
Akahai
USA
60 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2012 : 08:01:36 AM
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Hi I'm left handed and I play right handed (mandolin, guitar, lap steel, banjo, ect) when playing string instruments except steel the left hand does more movement on the frets and the rights just up and down. Being a lefty it is easyer to control my left hand. The excepting is the steel where the the left controls the bar and the right uses 3-4 fingers to pick at first I found this hard becouse I don't have the same control of the right hand. I thank it is all a matter of learning and practice movements. Just becouse it has strings the STEEL is a completly different instrument with a long learning courve. The most beautiful sound in the world . |
fred davis |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2012 : 2:30:43 PM
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| I told Tiko to watch Libba Cotton, who played left-handed right-hand strung. He was wondering which tunings would meet that situation. |
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sirduke58
`Olu`olu
USA
993 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 06:02:16 AM
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I'm a lefty who plays right handed. I converted in grade school on ukulele when I realized it was such a pain in the butt to have to always spend a little extra effort figuring out how to fret the chords. Lots of them were difficult & awkward grabs such as an E7 on uke.
I've heard about lefties restringing their guitars inverted so they would be able to play it as an orthodox player would. I think this would be way more practical & make playing much more efficient & more simple. The main drawback is that the lefty could only play that guitar & not borrow a righties kika.
I won't say it's impossible but it would be very difficult for a lefty to play ki ho'alu on a righty strung guitar. The alternating bass line would be easily accomplished having all your fingers at your disposal to execute it, however, using mostly the thumb to play the melody would be a bit more daunting. I'm thinking clearing the strings for fretting the open/close positions would be a little harder too.
In C6th Maunaloa tuning Ozzie & I came across a lot of people who failed miserably trying to learn "Ku'u Kika Kahiko" and the reason was that they used their fingers to pluck the 3rd string not knowing that it was part of the alternating bass pattern. This screwed them up big time timing wise............Same thing could happen with a lefty playing a righty strung guitar attempting slack key. But then again a lefty trains themselves to strum & pluck backwards from what an orthodox player does................I dunno, I'm glad I converted early. As a convert I can't strum, pluck or arpeggiate as fast as a natural righty but I usually out quick them on the fretboard LOL. |
Hoof Hearted?...Was it you Stu Pedaso? |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 07:35:41 AM
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We're called "leftovers" on the mainland, btw.
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keaka |
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Allen M Cary
Lokahi
USA
158 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2012 : 09:10:48 AM
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The problem with just stringing the guitar inverted is that the bridge compensation (that slight angle of the saddle) is backwards, and the guitar won't play in tune. Conversion to leftie isn't too complicated, but it does need to have the bridge and saddle altered so that the saddle angles away from the nut on the new bass side. Being a righty I got lucky when I lost a finger on the right hand, leaving all of them for fretting on the left hand, so I didn't have to learn to play leftie.
Allen |
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Left Handers, a query........
