Leftie Child: Teach Right-Handed or Flip the Uke & Play Upside Down?

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_Silly_Me_Sitting_Here_

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So, a young boy I'm teaching is a leftie with a rightie uke. The boy's brother is right-handed & I'm teaching them both at the same time. I'm putting stickers on their ukes to help them find the "starter chords" like C, F, G7 and G. (Obviously, we start with one chord & build from there.) Right now we're on C chord, and I can already see the leftie struggling to play right-handed.

How weird would it be if I simply told him to flip his ukulele & play everything upside down? Could this pose problems in the future? And, would it sound strange playing the strings in reverse?

Thanks for any input!
 
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I might be missing something but wouldn't you just re-string the uke so the strings were in the same order when the leftie held it?

That way everything (chord shapes etc..) would be the same.
 
Unless it has a pick guard or is a cutout, the only thing that makes a uke right or left handed is the way that it's strung. Restring it and you're ready to go with no teaching/learning adjustment necessary.
 
mikelz777 said:
Unless it has a pick guard or is a cutout, the only thing that makes a uke right or left handed is the way that it's strung. Restring it and you're ready to go with no teaching/learning adjustment necessary.
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I would certainly re-string the uke if that's all it took... But, isn't it true that I would have to make adjustments to the saddle & nut as well? I can change strings all day long, but I don't trust myself to do anything more than that...
 
Contact the guy from Southern Ukulele Store. He plays left handed and upside down! I don’t know how difficult it is to make chords upside down or barre chords etc.

Honestly, all things being equal, I might encourage him to play it the standard way so that he can play any instrument, compared to just his lefty version. His left hand being dominant may help with chord shapes. Maybe some people with a guitar background ave some opinions.
 
I'll second the notion that being left-handed may help with shaping chords. As a left-hander playing righty, and with no preconceptions or musical background, it just seemed to make sense to me to use my dominant hand to shape the chords. I think this is especially true for beginners. However, as a player develops, both hands become involved in intricate maneuvers (whether forming tough chords with the left hand or using complex strum patterns or picking with the right). And perhaps that's where the dominant hand becomes more useful when it's not the fretting hand. The struggles experienced by the young boy may just be a hump he has to get over. Playing instruments isn't something that comes naturally to everyone; it certainly hasn't for me. That said, struggles early on may be enough to turn him off from stringed instruments forever, which would be a shame. I'm just a little skeptical, though, that accommodating his left-handedness is the solution to overcoming his struggles. Best of luck, and I hope he gets over the hump before he gets too frustrated.
Mike
 
_Silly_Me_Sitting_Here_ said:
I would certainly re-string the uke if that's all it took... But, isn't it true that I would have to make adjustments to the saddle & nut as well? I can change strings all day long, but I don't trust myself to do anything more than that...
Click to expand...

I'm going to go out on a limb here and I'm sure there's someone out there who won't hesitate to tell me that I'm wrong because I may be. I suppose that yes, if you know that a uke is going to be solely played by a left handed player that the action should be set up with that in mind. Since that doesn't seem to be a possibility here, why not just try re-stringing it? My guess is that the difference in necessary(?) adjustment would be negligible if noticeable at all. I suppose you could reverse the saddle as well if it is not glued in. I think that you would be doing a lot more harm trying to teach the child to play upside down or right handed.
 
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Jerome collector said:
I'll second the notion that being left-handed may help with shaping chords. As a left-hander playing righty, and with no preconceptions or musical background, it just seemed to make sense to me to use my dominant hand to shape the chords.......
Click to expand...

It always seemed to me that since the LH has the more intricate job it may help in chord formation. It may depend on the person, but for example if you look at orchestral string players, there is not such thing as playing left handed. All players play the same way.
 
I'm left-handed but learned to play guitar and violin at 10 years old right-handed and always felt it was an advantage since I had my most dexterous hand on the fingerboard. And fingerboard technique is by far the most demanding in terms of technique. I found the strumming and picking hand relatively easy compared to the fretting hand. Many years later I'm glad I choose to play right-handed as I can try and buy all the instruments I please!

The other advantage is I can grow long nails on my picking hand but use my more dexterous left hand to grab things without worrying about my nails getting damaged.
 
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The big difference for leftys is the C string (and Low-G) width in the nut slot(s). The location of the widest string(s) with the widest slot(s) location(s). Also, if the saddle is compensated.

In her autobiography, "Cold Pizza for Breakfast," folksinger Christine Lavin said that early on she was given advice about playing guitar left-handed. That some day you may have to borrow a guitar to play. The odds are much better of finding a right-handed one than a lefty. So, she learned to play right-handed.

I'm ambidextrous so it was no big deal for me to learn to play right-handed uke.

Teaching left-handed kids can get confusing for both them and the instructor. And chords and tabs in music is almost always written for right-handed playing.

The dominate hand is usually the rhythm one. From what I've read, it seems the brain is wired so that the dominate side, (left side of the brain for right-handed people), keeps rhythm naturally and more easily. So strumming and picking is easier to learn using the dominate hand.

However, I think it's better and easier if a left-handed person can learn to play right-handed. There are some people who absolutely cannot change over. Even if they break their left arm.
 
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I actually have 3 left handed students (very odd ratio, considering how few students I have) and I let them try each side for a while to see what they were most comfortable with (I have a Tahitian uke with all strings the same diameter that I can switch righty to lefty and back quickly. Of the 3, 2 chose to have me file the nut and re-string their ukes. I began instruction with the chords in their book re-drawn by me to left-handed versions and they're both doing great. They also have adapted and automatically re-draw chords when they see them printed. The third lefty struggled for a while, but was doing fine until he discovered guitar and switched. I would not teach anyone to play upside down.

I can see the merits of teaching right handed for easier instrument switching, but I think it should be up to the student (and their parents if the student is young). It's so easy to file and restring, after all, unlike a guitar.
 
Anthroterra - This is great advice! Two questions... (1) Which book are you using? (Just curious!) (2) What kind of file are you using to make that nut slot a little bigger? I've never done it before & I'm scared to death of ruining someone else's uke. Do you typically have to make any other adjustments besides filing that one slot?
 
_Silly_Me_Sitting_Here_ said:
How weird would it be if I simply told him to flip his ukulele & play everything upside down? Could this pose problems in the future?

Thanks for any input!
Click to expand...

I would never in a million years teach someone upside down chords. It would be a disaster years down the road if he ever wanted to move to guitar or another string instrument. If can learn to play right handed he will be better off. If not, re-string and have him play normal shape chords left handed. As Dave noted, you are only talking about the C and E nut slots, and you can probably get away jus widening the E slot with folded sandpaper to fit a C string.

John
 
gochugogi said:
I'm left-handed but learned to play guitar and violin at 10 years old right-handed and always felt it was an advantage since I had my most dexterous hand on the fingerboard. And fingerboard technique is by far the most demanding in terms of technique. I found the strumming and picking hand relatively easy compared to the fretting hand. Many years later I'm glad I choose to play right-handed as I can try and buy all the instruments I please!
Click to expand...

I'm also a lefty who plays righty.

Ukuleles/guitars are an ambidextrous instrument and I'm quite happy to have my most dextrous hand doing the fretting. As a rank beginner when your only holding one chord down and trying to strum evenly then it seems better to have your strongest hand strumming yet this phase passes quite quickly. I'm quite a strong finger picker so its not like my weaker hand didn't learn to be better at picking than most right handed people.

Playing a ukulele is an ambidextrous pursuit. Left handed / right handed at the start is red herring.

Is the left handed child younger than the right handed child?

I gave ukuleles to my nieces and of course the older child progressed faster at first yet now its the younger child who kept on with playing ukulele/guitar and the older child moved on to singing and piano.
In the case of brothers I would be even more inclined to teach them both right handed (sic) and just help and persevere with the one who is a little slower to begin with.
 
By-the-way, Barry Maz includes Left-handed chords and Bari chords in his book "Chords that Ukulele Players Really Want to Know". Cheap and an easy reference.
 
Anthroterra said:
I actually have 3 left handed students (very odd ratio, considering how few students I have) and I let them try each side for a while to see what they were most comfortable with (I have a Tahitian uke with all strings the same diameter that I can switch righty to lefty and back quickly. Of the 3, 2 chose to have me file the nut and re-string their ukes. I began instruction with the chords in their book re-drawn by me to left-handed versions and they're both doing great. They also have adapted and automatically re-draw chords when they see them printed. The third lefty struggled for a while, but was doing fine until he discovered guitar and switched. I would not teach anyone to play upside down.

I can see the merits of teaching right handed for easier instrument switching, but I think it should be up to the student (and their parents if the student is young). It's so easy to file and restring, after all, unlike a guitar.
Click to expand...

I'll agree with this 100%. I am a lefty player, and while I hate walking into a music store and there being only 3-4 lefty guitars (usually very cheap guitars) and typically there are no ukes setup lefty, it still just feels "right" to play lefty. (See what I did there? :)) So my suggestion is to let them try both and see what they decide. If a lefty likes the way that a righty uke feels then that's great and it opens up a world of options! However, I wouldn't force them into one or the other. Again, it didn't work for me.

Also, I wouldn't have them form chords upside down. I'm not saying that it wouldn't work, but it's a very different sound than what I am typically looking for in a uke or a guitar.
 
Ukuleles and guitars are ambidextrous instruments. As a lefty I just don't understand why the picking hand is considered the leading hand or why we even have left or right handed ukuleles and guitars.

As a lefty I'm REALLY happy to have my stronger hand doing the fretting and my view is the "right handed" players are missing out due to a freak chance decision many centuries ago.
Lets say that history was changed and we ALL played guitars and ukuleles the other way around.
There would STILL be some left handed people that just believed that they needed to play it the other way and what we now call right handed would be considered left handed and lefties would be playing the same as modern righties..

Forget left and right. Its a manufactured figment of someones imagination. Its an ambidextrous instrument and if your struggling at first then this is NORMAL and has nothing to do with it being a Left or Right handed instrument.
 
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OK.
First of all, I did not read every post, so apologies if this has already been addressed, but I want to add my experiences.

I am right handed.
When learning guitar over 40 years ago I was wondering, as a kid, why am I doing such complicated things (fretting chords etc) with my weaker hand?
I tried playing lefty, and quickly realized that it is very difficult to keep a steady rhythm with my left hand.
So that finally made sense.
Now as far as getting a left-handed ukulele or guitar or re-string it for lefty - to this I say a resounding NO.
Because if a left handed person learns to play "upside down" then they will not need a special instrument to jam.
I see kanikapila (jam sessions) where a couple of Lefty's I know can just grab an instrument and play.
They won't be left out (pun fully intended) if they leave their instrument at home.

Just let him play however it feels natural.
 
I think I'd let the student decide, by that I mean let them try playing each way - they will likely learn quicker & stay with it if they are comfortable.

You don't necessarily need to file the nut or alter the saddle, especially on a cheaper uke, as most use a standard size slot at the nut & don't compensate the saddle.
 
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