Left-handed Uke

trixielarue

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My friend wants a uke but is left handed. She is more comfortable strumming with her left and chording with her right hand. Should she buy a uke and restring it in reverse or leave as is and learn to play with the standard configuration?
 
Our tenor player is left handed, plays it like she's right handed, and even though I've been playing 3 years longer, she's better than me. She does pretty much stick to strumming instead of picking, though.
 
Interested to hear the responses. My four year old son looks to be left handed so far (he still does quite a bit with either hand) and I've been wondering if I should re-string his Dolphin for a lefty.
 
One of my fellow students in the ukulele class I'm taking is left-handed. He initially tried playing right handed, however he's since given that up and restrung the instrument.
He seems to struggle much less.
 
IF she is more comfortable strumming as a lefty, then buy a Uke and re-string it. My wife and daughter are both lefties, and have re-strung, and are doing fine.
 
Ukes are usually a lot more leftie switcheroo friendly than steel string guitars. You may have to have the string nut slots re-filed to better suit the strings, and there's a chance you'll want the saddle adjusted for action to a small degree, but these are not a big deal. If you depend on side dots, you'll have to have those added to the South side, too, but once again, no big deal. All of this would take any decent luthier less than half an hour to accomplish.
 
I was always discouraged from playing left handed by guitar teachers growing up, but stubbornly carried on anyway, and Im glad i did. In learning any instrument I think its important to discover your own niche and style, and the pains that go along with playing lefty help create that in a person. I played flipped guitars all the way through high school. until I got a lefty USA standard strat as a graduation gift. Its still my main guitar 15 years later...I would encourage your friend to just flip the ukulele and play it. The one big drawback to playing lefty though is that youll rarely ever be able to walk into a shop, and just play things to try them out....
 
I am a lefty. For factory made ukes, you can just restring reverse. Changing the nut really helps but is not absolutly necessary. The vast majority do not have a compensated or slanted saddle.

Like mentionned above, the sad part about being a lefty is that there are almost no instruments in stores to try out. I figure about 1%.....and 10% of the population is left handed. As an example, where I live, I have never ever seen a left handed mandolin. I bought one from ebay. Also, many companies charge more for a lefty instrument. Most luthier do noy charge more for a custom lefty. I have 2 custom lefty ukes ordered.
 
Question for leftys: both hands are involved in playing the uke/guitar, one is doing intricate chording, the other can be doing intricate finger-picking, or complex strumming patterns. Why is it that you have a preference for what hand is doing chording vs. picking/strumming?? I'm right-handed, and I'm about to restring one of my ukes so that I can see what it is like to switch over to a lefty orientation. Thanks in advance for your comments!
 
Question for leftys: both hands are involved in playing the uke/guitar, one is doing intricate chording, the other can be doing intricate finger-picking, or complex strumming patterns. Why is it that you have a preference for what hand is doing chording vs. picking/strumming?? I'm right-handed, and I'm about to restring one of my ukes so that I can see what it is like to switch over to a lefty orientation. Thanks in advance for your comments!

Its a good question....I alway thought it was strange that our non dominant hand is seemingly doing the more intricate job (fretting). Its kind of like baseball. I bat right handed, if I actually was right handed my non dominant (read weaker) hand would be on bottom of the bat where the power comes from in your swing...I always wondered if this gave me an advantage having a dominant hand in the power position.
As for why I chose to play instruments lefty. When I started as a child I grabbed an old banjo we had lying around and started messing with it, teaching myself little one string songs. It wasnt until a while later a family friend who played guitar told me I was playing lefty, and what it meant. Until that point it had never occurred to me, it was just the way I had naturally first grabbed that old banjo. I wasnt playing any chords, just picking out notes so I never noticed a difference...I like being a lefty, its like being in an exclusive little club. As far as not trying guitars in stores I have adapted and can play quite a bit lefty on a guitar strung righty.
 
Hello, if you want any chord sheets for lefties let me know. Send me an email address to mail them to.
 
You don't need to restring. You could always just flip the uke over and learn the chords the upside down way. Just another option to consider and as a big plus it means you'll be able to play any uke, in a shop, a mate's, whatever.

But if you do decide to restring, here's a handy left handed chord chart:

 
Great advice for my lefty friend.

I really appreciate the great advice about playing left handed. My friend thinks she will but a uke and have it restrung. The chord charts will be a great help for her.

I'm glad I found UU. Everyone here is terrific!!!
 
Its a good question....I alway thought it was strange that our non dominant hand is seemingly doing the more intricate job (fretting). Its kind of like baseball. I bat right handed, if I actually was right handed my non dominant (read weaker) hand would be on bottom of the bat where the power comes from in your swing...I always wondered if this gave me an advantage having a dominant hand in the power position.
As for why I chose to play instruments lefty. When I started as a child I grabbed an old banjo we had lying around and started messing with it, teaching myself little one string songs. It wasnt until a while later a family friend who played guitar told me I was playing lefty, and what it meant. Until that point it had never occurred to me, it was just the way I had naturally first grabbed that old banjo. I wasnt playing any chords, just picking out notes so I never noticed a difference...I like being a lefty, its like being in an exclusive little club. As far as not trying guitars in stores I have adapted and can play quite a bit lefty on a guitar strung righty.

It is a good question. I play instruments lefty but am right handed for many things. I write with my right hand for example. My right hand is stronger than my left hand. Holding a string instrument playing righty just doesnt feel natural to me, it feels bizarre. I would play upside down instead. Holding an instrument with my strong hand on the fretboard is an advantage in my opinion. A lot more strenght for barred chords on a guitar for example. I think you have to go with what feels comfortable to you. I have a friend that plays right handed but can play with my lefty gear upside down without hesitation....that amazes me. I can play a uke upside down (easier E chord for sure !) but, its much better and easier when restrung. A shame that no uke companie sells ukes setup for leftys. I only know of Gold tone that sells lefty banjolele.
 
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