Left Handed Guitarist Playing a right handed guitar

Greetings and Welcome to the Chordie Forum!

  Well it would be helpful to know which hand were you fretting with while playing this "right handed" instrument?  If your left hand was your strumming hand, and you have only been playing at it for a couple of months.... I would think it would be a good time to get yourself a "left handed" guitar!  Now I know there are folks out there that can easily hit chords "off-handed" and upside down, Hendrix and all.... but there are some chords out there that are tough enough without complicating it further.

  The up side of this is that you have already demonstrated the interest in playing, and if having taught yourself the chords you know upside down, this time next year, you might be opening your own "world tour"!

  Keep making music, it just gets better.  Welcome again to Chordie and don't be a stranger, there is plenty of good advise available here among the community, and resources to help you along on your musical journey.

Take Care;
Doug

Just keep on doing what feels best and most comfortable to you. Music is an art form, therefore there are no rules. Many musicians have gotten filthy, stinkin' rich from playing righty guitars lefty style. ( ie., Seal, Air Supply, Albert King(blues guru), and many others). Bottom line is this; if it feels natural to you, keep doin' what you're doin'. The primary issue is are you or aren't you makin' music? Keep paintin' that canvas, color on and paint the tunes...............

I'm similar, started playing in October, am left handed but play on a right handed acoustic.   It actually feels quite natural to me to have my stronger hand doing all the complicated stuff with chords on the neck.   My dad is left handed and plays left handed.  Probably why he has only ever learned 16 chords in 40 years.    Music wise its waaaay better to play right handed so you don't have to reverse every piece of music before playing it. 

I'm a lefty and I play a right handed guitar. My nephew is also a lefty and he plays a left handed guitar. He has actually played both right and left but prefers the left because picking is a lot easier for him. I find that picking, or flat picking, is the hardest thing to do in guitar playing and I would imagine that it would be easier with my dominant hand. If it wasn't, why would right handed guitars be strung to be picked with the right and and vice-versa on left handed guitars? I've been playing too long to change now, but I would definitely consider getting a left handed guitar if I was just starting out.

By the way, welcome to Chordie!

I'm also left handed and play right handed...  When I first started learning, I decided to do it that way so that I wouldn't always need my own guitar and could play whatever guitar was laying around.  I have found strumming and picking to be a greater challenge to get right, but the fretboard has probably been easier so I guess it balances out.  And eventually my right hand started behaving itself too.

I don't entirely understand why it'd be better to play one way or the other, since the guitar is really a two-handed instrument.  Just play whichever way feels right.  (When I first started, it DID feel weird to play right-handed but now it feels normal, and would feel weird to play left-handed.)

I am a lefty and have always wanted to play the guitar (for more than 20 years), but really struggled as all that was ever around was a right-handed guitar.

This Christmas, I was lucky enough to get a left handed guitar - What a difference!!! I am motivated and loving it! Although I am slowly chugging along, you can make out The House of the Rising Sun, Jolene, Hallelujah, Puff the Magic Dragon and Dream emanating from my fingertips Not bad for two weeks!!!

Jokes about keeping rhythm aside, if you are truly left handed and want to play, get a left handed guitar!

Hell, it took me a year to make an F chord, and some still avoid them after many years (and don't even bring up the dreaded B chord!). As you say, practice is the key. Hang in there - I look forward to seeing your vids on YouTube!

Jeff

I'm left handed AND PLAT A RIGHT HANDED GUITAR. i PICK WITH MY RIGHT AND FRET WITH MY LEFT. i WAS LEARNING AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS NOT GOOD TO BE LEFT HANDED AND SO WAS MADE TO LEARN AS A RIGHT HANDER, NOW ITS SECOND NATURE