What about lefties?

S

sarahsashes

New member
Joined
Nov 11, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I've been trying to get an answer to this for a long time. Would I have to have a huge amount of money to buy my first ukulele because I'm left handed? Can affordable ones around $60 be safely strung up in reverse for left handed players without damaging it?
 
Just learn to play right-handed. Seriously. It takes both hands. Ever seen a left-handed piano or a left-handed sax?

You could string it in reverse, but you will limit yourself if you insist on a left-handed uke since you won't be able to play any standard ukes.
 
You must not understand that some people are exclusively left handed. I can not play a guitar/uke with my left hand forming the chords same as I can not hold a pen and write with my right hand. I'm a lefty and that's just the way it is.
 
I'm a lefty too, and like you, there's no way I would ever use my right hand for anything - almost.
When I started playing guitar years ago, I decided to try out as a righty due to the fact that 9/10 guitars are righthanded and not suited for lefty playing.
After a short amount of time my right hand could play guitar better then my left hand.
I strongly suggest you try to play right handed - although it will seem awkward and unnatural at first, but you won't regret it! You'll be able to pick up almost any ukulele, instead of only your own lefthanded one.
However, if you still choose to go by left handed all you need to do is change the order of the strings. Strings from the top: GCEA -> AECG
 
Aloha Sarasashes,
I was born Left handed, but my parents converted me when I was about five years ago...While I play right handed I do many things left handed.......
You could say I'm a soft leftie....some lefties have no coordination and feel if they did'nt start young...personally I think it would be a long road
of practice to accompish the switch on ukulele if ever possible for some...As for a ukulele, you can take it to the music store to reverse the nut
for you...while you're at it, you should change the nut and saddle to bone for an upgrade...and premimum strings...Any competent luthier can
do this for you...as you need the right size grooves for your strings...Good Luck and Have fun and Enjoy!!! I hope it helps, Happy strummings....MM Stan..
 
sarahsashes said:
You must not understand that some people are exclusively left handed. I can not play a guitar/uke with my left hand forming the chords same as I can not hold a pen and write with my right hand. I'm a lefty and that's just the way it is.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with Itsme. Playing the uke takes both hands. Each hand has to be trained to do something quite complex. A lot of people think that strumming is the difficult thing and that playing the chords is just a matter of placing your fingers in the right place. This is not really so. True, strumming can be complex, but fingering the chords is very complex too (perhaps even more so).

Playing with a standard uke should not be a problem. Many left-handers do this. i don't know of any uke manufacturer that considers it worthwhile to make a left-handed instrument.

If you are still not convinced, string it the other way. Before you do though, check that the saddle is straight. The nut also needs to be adjusted. It is not quite as simple as you might think.
 
"You must not understand that some people are exclusively left handed."

With respect, Sarahsashes, nobody is exclusively right or left handed. If you lost your left hand in an accident (God forbid), are you saying you would be helpless? There are videos on line of a guy playing the guitar (very well) with his feet. It's all in the mind.
 
ukantor said:
"You must not understand that some people are exclusively left handed."

With respect, Sarahsashes, nobody is exclusively right or left handed. If you lost your left hand in an accident (God forbid), are you saying you would be helpless? There are videos on line of a guy playing the guitar (very well) with his feet. It's all in the mind.
Click to expand...

Very well put, John

I am right-handed. However, I hold a cricket bat and a bow and arrow the wrong way round (left-handed). Admittedly I don't do either very often nowadays, but that's just the way I learned. If I had been born on another planet where they all play ukuleles the wrong way round, I would have found it perfectly natutral to strum with my left hand and fret with my right.

Seriously, if you are left-handed and you see all the right-handed people playing a particular way, it is natural to feel that you should be doing it differently. However, as John says, "it's all in the mind". Holding a pen and writing is different because you only need one hand to do it.
 
Funny thing when I write with my right hand or left I notice the style is the same....is it the same for ukuleles then....
I guess it boils down to the way you learned....for some innate reason you choose which is more comfortable for you..
I do some things right handed while others left handed. switching would seem very akward for some time of the learning curb..
 
Last edited:
sarahsashes said:
You must not understand that some people are exclusively left handed. I can not play a guitar/uke with my left hand forming the chords same as I can not hold a pen and write with my right hand. I'm a lefty and that's just the way it is.
Click to expand...
Yes , it is relatively easy to reverse the strings. I think you are wrong on the exclusively left handed part. I'm left handed and play guitar and uke right handed. You will limit yourself to only left handed ukes and you will make learning much harder because you will have to reverse everything. Do yourself a favor and learn right handed.
 
sarahsashes said:
I've been trying to get an answer to this for a long time. Would I have to have a huge amount of money to buy my first ukulele because I'm left handed? Can affordable ones around $60 be safely strung up in reverse for left handed players without damaging it?
Click to expand...

I bought my Kala ukulele from music guy mike on E-bay and he set it up for me left-handed. I think he would probably have a uke in your price range. He has a great reputation for setting ukes up well and providing great customer service. As a lefty I say don't let people intimidate you out of your left-handedness. Do what feels right for you.
 
Last edited:
I understand the do what feels right for you thing, but I'm left handed and I was persuaded to play right handed and I am thankful. Yeah, it felt horribly awkward for about a week or so, but it went away and now if I tried to play left handed like I originally wanted to, I couldn't do it at all. And like someone else said playing right handed gives you the freedom to try out playing other ukes instead of being stuck playing your own all the time.

Righthanded is the way to go.
 
I am lefty and for some reason, I naturally picked up the uke 'right handed', I have two boys that play guitar and are left handed, they are always frustrated at the lack of choices. Although there is a guitar shop that caters to lefty's about an hour from here (where we bought their guitars). I was lucky..If you really want a left handed uke, maybe check their website they are Adirondack guitar. They ship everywhere.

good luck either way! I have never done anything else right handed, but relieved that I can play, I like the choices..
 
I play in a band with a guy who plays guitar left-handed, but strung right-handed. I brought a uke over to his house and he played it the same way--just flipped it over and did what he was used to. Albert King played guitar that way too. Just a thought.
 
I'm left handed and play left handed and would have it no other way. I started out trying to play right handed, but it just felt wrong. I ended up ordering a uke from musicguymic on e-bay and had him set it up left handed and I've never looked back.
So, I guess, do what feels right for you.
 
I think the point here is that the OP is making an assumption, that because she is left handed, then she MUST play the uke the "wrong" way round. It is not a correct assumption. No one is trying to pressure her to do anything unnatural. She asked for advice, and has received it. If she choses to play anyway other than the conventional way, that is her choice, but she should be aware that it brings some serious disadvantages.

I just hope that whatever she decides will be right for her.

John Colter.
 
If you want some chord charts for lefties send me a private message with an email address
 
Ok, I'll see if the music store we have (I live in a small town) could do the proper reversing of the strings for me. Playing left handed is what's natural for me. I only asked because I had a guitar once when I was a kid. This was before the internet, and the music store told us (me & my mom) that the guitar companies would have to shut down production to make a left handed one, so it just wasn't possible for them to get a lefty guitar from any of the makers in California way out here on the east coast. So they told me to just reverse the strings, and didn't say anything about changing anything else. Of course the strings didn't fit, and it never tuned right, and a year later when I sold it, the neck was slightly bent. But for everyone telling me to be right handed, sorry, it's not going to happen. I feel like I'm being told that more so out of the mass's desire for everyone in this world to be the same - heaven forbid someone be different in any way! And why are you so worried about me being able to pick up other ukes? I live in the damn sticks, there's no ukes for 500+ miles I'm sure! I'm just a country girl who wants a solitary hobby!
 
Pukulele Pete said:
Yes , it is relatively easy to reverse the strings. I think you are wrong on the exclusively left handed part. I'm left handed and play guitar and uke right handed. You will limit yourself to only left handed ukes and you will make learning much harder because you will have to reverse everything. Do yourself a favor and learn right handed.
Click to expand...

I believe the words some people are very important in Sarah's statement. You may not be exclusively left handed but others are. My son although 3 is exclusively left handed. I have read several articles that say that however you pick the instrument up the first time should be the way you play it because your brain naturally is selecting right or left handed when you pick it up. To tell someone to "Do yourself a favor and learn right handed." is demeaning and uncalled for...
 
sarahsashes said:
Ok, I'll see if the music store we have (I live in a small town) could do the proper reversing of the strings for me. Playing left handed is what's natural for me. I only asked because I had a guitar once when I was a kid. This was before the internet, and the music store told us (me & my mom) that the guitar companies would have to shut down production to make a left handed one, so it just wasn't possible for them to get a lefty guitar from any of the makers in California way out here on the east coast. So they told me to just reverse the strings, and didn't say anything about changing anything else. Of course the strings didn't fit, and it never tuned right, and a year later when I sold it, the neck was slightly bent. But for everyone telling me to be right handed, sorry, it's not going to happen. I feel like I'm being told that more so out of the mass's desire for everyone in this world to be the same - heaven forbid someone be different in any way! And why are you so worried about me being able to pick up other ukes? I live in the damn sticks, there's no ukes for 500+ miles I'm sure! I'm just a country girl who wants a solitary hobby!
Click to expand...

There should be no reason they can't! :) Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Big Kahuna
Any lefties out there?
Replies
19
Views
958
mocash2003
M
B
Lefties and Righties alike!
2
Replies
24
Views
1K
Pukulele Pete
Pukulele Pete
UkeLad
Any Uké "Lefties" out there?
Replies
7
Views
503
12fretharmony
12fretharmony
K
How do lefties play?
2
Replies
21
Views
3K
heymak
heymak
K
Risa for lefties
Replies
3
Views
796
Oldgaryh
O
Top Bottom