Playing with opposite hand

I'm curious to know how many out there play with their opposite hand/weak hand just for the heck of it? And if they are just as proficient with either hand?

Most manufacturers make left handed instruments with the strings switched around. When I was a teen and first started playing guitar in the mid sixties, a left handed friend of mine decided to play with the guitar and strings upside down. It really didn't make a lot of sense to me since in the course of learning, if he changed around the strings, we would sit opposite each other, be mirror imaged and make it easier to show chords to each other.

The leader of my uke group tells her new left handed students to learn to play right handed, which I don't necessarily agree with.

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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

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Never actually tried using my dominant hand to fret/chord with, but have been tempted to try it, as I find it quite difficult with my less dominant one.

Never tried but I saw an intriguing video on right and left hand independence.

Example. Try just playing a song with just your strumming hand and not your fretting hand. I can do for some songs but some notes are lost to me because the theory behind is that our fretting hand tells us what our plucking/strumming hand to do which leads to a lag in your playing. So if you practice right/left hand independently you improve your speed. Probably a bit more useful to practice this way instead of flipping the uke just to play on the opposite hand.

Great subject. I always wondered why we fret with our weak hand and strum with our strong hand. It would seem that more strength is required to play a chord, and less strength to strum or pick. This seems especially so when you take barring into consideration. I just may string one of my ukuleles left handed and try this out. But then again, this might screw me up more than I am already screwed up.

The sciences say that it can be very beneficial to switch hands for tasks like using a mouse, writing, eating and I would think playing a uke. It stimulates the brain and forces it to use different sides to perform these everyday activities. Helps keep it plastic and forming new neurons.

I'm ambidextrous, but never thought about switching my hands for playing the uke. I think I'll have to restring a uke and try it.

JJFN said:

Great subject. I always wonderer why we fret with our weak hand and strum with our strong hand. It would seem that more strength is required to play a chord, and less strength to strum or pick. This seems especially so when you take barring into consideration. I just may string one of my ukuleles left handed and try this out. But then again, this might screw me up more than I am already screwed up.

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This was my thought too with barres and putting better pressure on the fretboard, sliding, etc.

"the theory behind is that our fretting hand tells us what our plucking/strumming hand to do which leads to a lag"
sunshiNee-that's interesting point you bring up I didn't think about that.

Here's another question most saddles are not compensated so that wouldn't matter if you did reversed the strings, is that correct? Whereas if the saddles is compensated then you couldn't reverse the strings unless you changed out the saddle too?

A couple of years ago I had surgery on my left hand, so I re-strung a uke and tried to play using my right hand to fret. It was extremely difficult for me, and after about a week I just forgot about making chords and spent my recovery time practicing finger picking patterns with my right hand.

Yes, I'm left-handed and play left-handed. I tried playing right-handed for a few days recently but decided it wasn't worth the effort to continue. I think that strumming with my right (less dominant) hand would never feel right for me.

never tried. but it seems I can't