This is a list of notable musicians who play their instruments left-handed. (This does not include left-handed people who play right-handed, such as Noel Gallagher, Duane Allman, Steve Morse, Billy Corgan, Dave Hill, Mark Knopfler, Gary Moore, Barry Gibb, and Paul Simon.)
Guitarists and bassists
Left-handed people play guitar or electric bass in one of the following four ways: (1) play a right-handed guitar or bass right-handed, (2) play a true left-handed guitar or bass, (3) play a right-handed guitar or bass that has been altered to play left-handed, or (4) turn a right-handed guitar or bass upside down, pick with the left hand, but leave the strings as they were â€" which makes them reversed from the normal order. (The fingering is the same for methods 2 and 3.) Any style of picking with the left hand (flatpicking or fingerstyle guitar) is considered playing left-handed.
Left-handed with normal stringing
Guitarists in this category pick with their left hand and have the strings in the conventional order for a left-handed player (i.e. the low string on the top side of the neck). They either have true left-handed guitars or have right-handed guitars altered so the strings are correct for a left-handed player. Some guitarists in this category (e.g. Paul McCartney) play both genuine left-handed instruments and right-handed instruments altered for left-handed playing.
Changing the strings on a right-handed guitar involves several things. The nut of the guitar has to be changed to accommodate the string widths. The bridge needs to be changed to make the lower strings longer than the top strings for correct intonation. On almost all acoustic guitars the bracing is non-symmetrical. On electric guitars altered this way, the controls will be backwards.
Notable players
Left-handed with strings backwards
These are players who play left-handed, but with the strings as on an unaltered right-handed guitar, thus the strings are backwards for a left-handed player (e.g. Bob Geldof). Some players in this category (e.g. Dick Dale and Albert King) had custom instruments that were basically a left-handed guitar with the strings as on a right-handed guitar, since they had learned to play that way.
Notable players
Unclassified left-handed players
Bass guitarists
Drummers
A drum kit for a left handed person is set up so that percussion instruments drummers would normally play with their right hand (ride cymbal, floor tom, etc.) are played with the left hand. The bass drum and hi-hat configurations are also set up so that the drummer plays the bass drum with their left foot, and operate the hi-hat with their right foot. Some drummers however have been known to play right-handed kit, but play leading with their left hand (e.g. playing open-handed on the hi-hat). This list does not include drummers who are naturally left-handed but play drums purely right-handed such as Ringo Starr, Stewart Copeland, Dave Lombardo, Travis Barker and Chris Adler.
Notes
- Christopher Guanlao of Silversun Pickups is left-handed but plays a right-handed set primarily in "open style" (opposite to cross handed) and has his ride cymbal to his left.
- Josh Eppard of Terrible Things and Coheed and Cambria also drums open-handed (left-handed on a right-handed kit) but writes right-handed.
- Joey Waronker of Beck, R.E.M. and Walt Mink is notable as left-handed drummer since the middle 1990s, but in the early of his career (as a drummer of Walt Mink) is notable as right-handed drummer.
- Gorden Campbell is left-handed but plays a right-handed set primarily in "open style" (opposite to cross handed) and has his ride cymbal to his left.
Violinists
The violin can be learned in either hand, and most left-handed players hold the violin under their left chins, the same as right-handed players. This allows all violinists to sit together in an orchestra.
- Richard Barth
- Paavo Berglund (A well known Finnish left-handed conductor who also played violin, often joining orchestra players for chamber music just for fun. Due to the value of his violin collection he did not want to change his instruments and had trained himself to play left handed on violins with a normal set-up.)
- Charlie Chaplin
- Ornette Coleman
- Rudolf Kolisch
- Ashley MacIsaac
Ukulele
- Paul McCartney
- Tiny Tim
- Ian Whitcomb
Trumpet
- Sharkey Bonano
- Freddie 'Posey' Jenkins
- Wingy Manone
- Paul McCartney
- Hikari Ichihara (plays right-handed)
Trombone
- Slide Hampton
Banjo
- Elizabeth Cotten
- Cheick Hamala Diabate
Mandolin
- Cheyenne Kimball
- Paul McCartney
Bansuri
- Hariprasad Chaurasia, right-handed, started his career playing right-handed, switched to left-handed playing
References
Bibliography
- Cross, Charles (2005), Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix, Hyperion, ISBNÂ 0-87930-662-9Â
- Babiuk, Andy (2001), Beatles Gear, Backbeat Books, ISBNÂ 978-0-7868-8841-2Â
- Ferguson, Jim, ed. (1979), The Guitar Player Book, GPI Publications, ISBNÂ 0-394-17169-1Â
- Ruggere, Steve (1980). "Left-Handed Guitar: A Look at the Players, Problems, & Products". Guitar Player. 14 (5 (May 1980)): 48â€"50.Â
- Stetin, Troy (2001), Left-Handed Guitar: The Complete Method, Hal Leonard, ISBNÂ 978-0-7935-8788-9Â
- Engel, John (2006), Uncommon Sound: The Left-Handed Guitar Players Who Changed Music, Left Field Ventures, ISBNÂ 2-9600614-0-3, archived from the original on 2007-02-08Â
External links
- Left-handed guitarists and drummers
- Famous Left Handed Guitarists and Bassists
