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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
 Posted - 12/11/2009 : 11:26:14 AM
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Any discussion of handedness and music has to deal with the fact that all classical musicians play their instruments in whatever the conventional position is--no lefties in the violin section. And that classical piano (or jazz, for that matter) makes considerable demands of both hands. As for the notion that the left hand doesn't work as hard on the fiddle, take a look at this performance of the Paganini Caprice No. 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amfCqFUMBkY
Nor does handedness seem to be absolute--while I am generally right-handed, there are a number of tasks for which I use the left, or either. And after more than 50 years of guitar playing, I can guarantee that my left hand does some stuff that still surprises me, given that it doesn't know how to write my name.
I know a fiddler who had to switch hands after an injury to his right shoulder prevented conventional playing--he completely relearned the instrument and regained his musical function just fine.
Our physiology and our neurological wiring are both pretty flexible.
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2009 : 2:14:15 PM
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Auntie Wanda is a fefty, but she gave away her left handed scissors a long time ago. She had learned right handed cutting, and the lefty scissors were too hard to learn to use. As for LH guitars, most makers offer their guitars in right or left versions. The economics of selling them keeps most dealers from stocking the LH guitars. That's the real problem, lower demand. How much inventory $ do you devote to a low sales potential product? Russell, be fair here. No one ever taught your left hand how to write your name. Your right hand had lessons and practice sessions.
Unko Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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cmdrpiffle
`Olu`olu
USA
553 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2009 : 08:41:04 AM
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I guess I'm just a mess. I am left handed. Play guitar right handed, shoot rifle left handed, pistol right handed, throw base ball and football left handed, and frisbee right handed. I'm also known to wear women's cross button'd shirts on occasion, but unless someone produces the pictures, I'll continue to deny it in most venues...
LOL uh wut? |
my Poodle is smarter than your honor student |
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LovinLK
Lokahi
USA
112 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2009 : 8:59:23 PM
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| Some left-handed players still play right handed, like Dennis. I think Keith Makuakane plays a left-handed guitar. I know Billy Ray Cyrus does. Some of them just restring the guitar with the strings in opposite order. Didn't know you could actually buy a left-handed instrument. |
Lovin' Lee is my favorite pasttime!!
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2009 : 02:24:44 AM
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Ken Makuakane even has that huge double neck guitar for left handed playing. Sounds ono, too. There was a thread some time back that discussed about whether or not there is a larger proportion of left-handed musicians in Hawai`i than in the normal population distribution. I personally think there is, that is of course without any empirical data to back it up. Just my personal observations, especially since I am a lefty, too.
Like Paul said, I learned to play musical instruments, etc., the right-handed way, because I was learning something new anyway. I play guitar, `ukulele right handed, I bowl right handed, I bat and throw baseball right handed. Seems like mostly what I do left-handed is write and eat. But the backwards lip on the frying pans and ladles and the right-handed butter spreaders aggravate me to distraction. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 12/23/2009 11:14:21 AM |
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hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2009 : 07:44:30 AM
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Lefthanded guitars that are tuned different are just wierd. I am sure that people who play them must know they belong to an unusual and wierd group of people. They may feel like they deserve equal treatment like any normal right handed person. They may even feel frustrated, and rightly so, not having an abundance of sheet music or books easily attainable. What rights do lefties have?
But what might happen if we give in to the demands of this left sided minority. Imagine if someone insisted on retuning the piano so the notes get higher from right to left. Would normal people be able to play it?
Naye, we must stop this craziness a quash the shift to the left. I look forward to a day when only right handers will be left. |
Stay Tuned... |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2009 : 08:56:23 AM
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| Eh, Wanda! I knew there was special about you. You're a southpaw like me! Sinister, gauche, etc. As I said above, I play right handed because I started getting serious with stringed instruments on the banjo. I know a lot of left handed musicians who play right handed: Bill Kieth (banjo & pedal steel), Rick Ruskin (fabulous finger picker), Bill Evans (the piano one)among them. |
keaka |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2182 Posts |
Posted - 12/24/2009 : 06:12:13 AM
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| Kenneth Makuakane plays lefthanded, but his instruments are strung righthanded. |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 12/24/2009 : 08:24:19 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by thumbstruck
Kenneth Makuakane plays lefthanded, but his instruments are strung righthanded.
Not all of 'em, though. When he was here in Seattle a couple years ago, the folks from Kanile`a were with him, and they showed us the newly-completed left-handed `ukulele they designed for him. |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 12/24/2009 : 09:38:20 AM
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| Here's my take on the issue. After a lot of thought, about 8% of the population is left handed (1 in 12, according to my sources), and if, say 3/4 of them play right handed, that would result in 2% of the guitars out there are left handed, which seems ok from what I see around - 2 left handed guitars out of 100 guitars. That could explain the mystery, imho. |
keaka |
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how come there are so few left handed guitars?
