Left handed players

[Beef Oven!]

Only having managed to play drums badly and guitar even worse, not knowing too much about being an instrumentalist, I often wondered why left handed guitarists didn't just use their 'better' hand with the plucking and their 'weaker' hand on the fretboard, as right-handers have to do.

What about cellists and brass etc left-handers? What do they do?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Only having managed to play drums badly and guitar even worse, not knowing too much about being an instrumentalist, I often wondered why left handed guitarists didn't just use their 'better' hand with the plucking and their 'weaker' hand on the fretboard, as right-handers have to do.

What about cellists and brass etc left-handers? What do they do?

Most brass players use the right hand to operate the valves, but it's different with the French horn.

Most beginner recorder players want to play with the right hand at the top, and it can take a while to convince them that both hands are equally important. The applies to many instruments, and it's probably better not to make too much of the left/right issue. One thing I do find annoying is the LH conductor who beats the opposite way round. There can be no justification for this.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

There is such a thing as a left-handed piano.

[Beef Oven!]

Most brass players use the right hand to operate the valves, but it's different with the French horn.

Most beginner recorder players want to play with the right hand at the top, and it can take a while to convince them that both hands are equally important. The applies to many instruments, and it's probably better not to make too much of the left/right issue. One thing I do find annoying is the LH conductor who beats the opposite way round. There can be no justification for this.

I hadn't thought about left handed conductors. I don't recall ever seeing a conductor beating time with their left hand. Although there is the possibility that I never picked up on it.

Your comment on recorder playing is interesting. I always found it most comfortable to have the left hand on the top when playing the instrument at school. And even today, if I pick up a whistle or some such instrument, it feels alien to have my right hand on top, even though I'm right handed.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The issue of left-handed conductors should not be a problem. For a right handed person, it's no more difficult to conduct down-right-left-up as is it to do it the normal way: down-left-right-up, so being left-handed need not confuse the players.

Here's a link on the left-handed piano.

http://lefthandedpiano.com/

[Beef Oven!]

Surely left handed piano players just 'got on with it'. Can a LHP ever catch on?

[teamsaint]

I have never fully understood why right handed batsmen face the way they do, given that they are taught to lead with the left hand, and use the right mainly for control.

[Beef Oven!]

I have never fully understood why right handed batsmen face the way they do, given that they are taught to lead with the left hand, and use the right mainly for control.

Sounds dangerous.

[ahinton]

I have never fully understood why right handed batsmen face the way they do, given that they are taught to lead with the left hand, and use the right mainly for control.

Careful, now! This could be in danger of turning into a political thread of the kind that's frowned upon in these 'ere parts!...

[Nick Armstrong]

I hadn't thought about left handed conductors. I don't recall ever seeing a conductor beating time with their left hand.

Think about it when listening to those Bournemouth, Helsinki and COE Sibelius cycles: Paavo Berglund was a southpaw








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Runnicles too...

[MrGongGong]

I think there is quite a lot of research into this area as the playing of musical instruments is a very discreet skill that is fairly easily studied

http://pom.sagepub.com/content/22/2/148.short

This seems to be quite widely cited

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8373577

and so on

http://musicweb.hmtm-hannover.de/kopiez/Kopiez-Jabusch-etal(2012)NoDisadvantageHandedness.pdf

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have never fully understood why right handed batsmen face the way they do, given that they are taught to lead with the left hand, and use the right mainly for control.

On the contrary, I think you have understood it better than most. There are batsmen who are right handed, but prefer to bat left-handed. It's very confusing when the same players bowl right-handed.

[Hornspieler]

Most brass players use the right hand to operate the valves, but it's different with the French horn.

Can also apply to some versions of the bass tuba, depending whether fitted with pistons or rotary valves.

Most beginner recorder players want to play with the right hand at the top, and it can take a while to convince them that both hands are equally important. The applies to many instruments, and it's probably better not to make too much of the left/right issue.

The CBSO had a left handed second trombonist (affectionately known as "Nanki Poo") and a left handed viola player. I recently noticed a left handed cellist in one of the German orchestras featured on Sky Arts2.

One thing I do find annoying is the LH conductor who beats the opposite way round. There can be no justification for this.

Well we certainly never had a problem following Paavo Berglund's stick technique (and he could also play the fiddle left or right-handed; whichever way it was strung!)

'morning all,

HS

As a further thought:

I'd much prefer to follow a left-handed conductor's baton than a right-handed cocktail stick and left-handed fluttering fingers.

Remind you of anybody?

[MrGongGong]

Illustrious company

[Beef Oven!]

Think about it when listening to those Bournemouth, Helsinki and COE Sibelius cycles: Paavo Berglund was a southpaw








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Runnicles too...

Blimey, Berglund!

I do remember reading many years ago that it was the state dictat in Albania that children had to be brought up right handed, to the point that being left handed was virtually illegal!

P.S. The seller claims the Berglund Sibelius COE was lost in the post and has refunded me