Need music Advice: Son/guitar/ school issue lefty righty

[fitncrafty]

Hey muscians...
I need some advice from you all as I am pretty livid at the moment. My youngest son is 10 (is sensitive and has aspergers) came home from school (6th grade middle) saying that his classroom music teacher was forcing him to play guitar right handed. Nik is a lefty and has been playing guitar for about 2 yrs now, and is VERY Good!
WHen school first started, the teacher a long term sub sent home and email introducing himeself and talking about the curriculum in classroom music. I saw tht guitar was on there and remembered that was an issue for my almost 17 yr old when he was in classroom music. So as the letter described and requested I wrote him, welcomed him to the school and asked him about the guitar and told him that when they came to that section if he would let me know so I could send a left handed guitar in to school for nik to play. We had been given a little Martin backpacker which would be small and easy for nik to carry and leave locked up even in his locker. I had a new nut made and had it strung lefty for him and set up. The onl response from my email was that guitar was much later in the year and actually he told my son to tell me that!
Fast forwarding to today. Nik was VERY upset because he didn't know that guitar was starting and the teacher told him he could NOT bring in his guitar and he should just play right handed it will make him a better player! WHAT!!!!???? I am going in to see the principal tomorrow to discuss this and the head of the fine arts department if I need to. To me this is unacceptable. I realize that it is a small thing, but for a kid that has been playing for years to be told no, plus with his sensitivities he is a wreck. I am sure that Nik can play circles around this teacher however, I feel like he is at a disadvantage because he is already used to playing lefty!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this so I can go to school with a level head and correct this matter..
Thanks so much all..
Carrie

 

[Newportlocal]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musicians_who_play_left-handed
I was just reading this the other day. May help.
Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix are on the list.

 

[mm stan]

I am quite disappointed with the music teacher's decision to make him switch....it is not his place to do so and without confiding to you first..especially if he knows your sons sensitive situation.
I would give him a chance to explain himself before going over his head.....be firm and calm but go through channels first...may work out better for the both of you...good luck

 

[ksiegel]

Carrie, I just read this message.

The teacher is an idiot. What he is trying to do is no different than forcing kids who are left handed to write with the right hand.

A trip to the principal is a good thing, and if that doesn't do it, hit the PTA/PTO, and the school board. A letter from the Occ Therapist would be in order as well.

I wonder if making the teacher play Left Handed would make HIM a better player... or is he just jealous?

-Kurt​

 

[Patrick Madsen]

OMG Carrie, as a retired teacher, I am appalled anyone would do this. I am a lefty who plays right handed. My brother is a lefty who can only play left handed. I feel that your son has imprinted to play left handed and that's how it should be. For myself, I would speak with the teacher first and then head to the Principals office if necessary. Man I am livid right now. Aspergers is tough enough, I would think the teacher would capitalize on his already learned skills and maximize his potential.

Take a deep breath, it'll be okay. If anything, the teacher is going to learn you don't mess around with anyones kid in such a manner. GO get him Carrie.

 

[Olarte]

It is totally ridiculous and idiotic for the teacher to even suggest that your son switch.

As a classical guitarist, I know how hard it is to get proper coordination with both hands, without even thinking of going against your natural preference for being right or left handed.

Any self respecting musician never mind someone who is supposed to teach others would never force a student to do such a thing. He should be maximizing your son's natural abilities instead of forcing him to go against them.

Definitely stand your ground, and if needed, escalate this as much as its necessary.

 

[tigersister]

Carrie, I'd be livid too if that were my son. Maybe send a polite email reminder to the music teacher with a cc to the principal? If the music teacher still balks at the idea, then a talk with the principal.

 

[vanflynn]

Hi Carrie,

The fact that you are willing to provide a instrument should make it a non-issue.

My two c's

 

[haolejohn]

what ever happened?

I hosted a uke club for two years at a previous school I taught at. I encountered one lefty the whole time. Know what I did? I took the bridge off and turned it around then restrung the uke lefty. It was a challenge to teach b/c everything seemed backwards, but it was more comfortable for the little girl.

 

[gitarzan]

The teacher prob. gets confused whe he/she see the lefthanded playing. It's the teacher's incompetence that s the problem.

Threaten her with an ADA lawsuit. She'll decide in your son's favor.

 

[gyosh]

Teacher first.

Escalate from there if necessary.

And you are totally in the right.

(I'm a high school teacher and this guy/girl is an idiot but you should probably start with him/her.)

 

[JamieFromOntario]

Threaten her with an ADA lawsuit. She'll decide in your son's favor.

I don't know that this would be a particularly useful way to handle the problem. Alienating a misguided (and likely-overworked) teacher is hardly helpful - plus, would you want your child to be treated so harshly because they made a bad call? I can only assume that your comments are in jest.

All that aside, I agree with everyone else's comments on the issue. Fitncrafty, I think that your son should most certainly be allowed and encouraged to continue to play lefty. It's one thing to encourage a total beginning player to play rightly (I do this when I teach (and so does James Hill, so it can;t be all bad)), but asking someone to switch their playing style to dramatically after two years of playing...it's ridiculous.


Please email the teacher a link to this thread - maybe they'll see sense then.

 

[000Kanaka000]

i am left handed and when learning guitar my father forced it to be done right handed.
this being said don't see that it matters right or left in the end and so for the teacher
to make him switch now is redundant. What is important is to be able to play and to
enjoy the instrument playing right handed does not make one a better musician, simply
practice does. More than likely the teacher has his prejudices about it and it is very
confusing for him to be able to give instruction to one that is playing left handed as
everything would be backwards for him. So this would be for the teachers benefit and
not for your sons to have him switch hands. At this point in time it would only cause
much confusion for you son so would try to get through to the teacher that the sons
welfare is more paramount than the teachers feeling unable to cope with teaching a
lefty. The teacher needs to suck it up.

 

[seneystretch]

I don't know that this would be a particularly useful way to handle the problem. Alienating a misguided (and likely-overworked) teacher is hardly helpful

I'm one of those souls who are cross dominant. Write left, catch a baseball and throw left with a dominant right eye. Golf right and bowl left, play ice hockey right. I'm a decent pool player (left) and play the ukulele right. Why? Who knows, who cares.

If your kid wants to play left-handed, so be it. You can spend half your life guessing this teacher's motives, but who has that kind of time? The school is there to meet your kid's needs, not the other way around. If it takes bringing up the American for Disabilities Act, find a coach who can help you make it stick.

 

[JamieFromOntario]

I don't know that this would be a particularly useful way to handle the problem. Alienating a misguided (and likely-overworked) teacher is hardly helpful

I'm one of those souls who are cross dominant. Write left, catch a baseball and throw left with a dominant right eye. Golf right and bowl left, play ice hockey right. I'm a decent pool player (left) and play the ukulele right. Why? Who knows, who cares.

If your kid wants to play left-handed, so be it. You can spend half your life guessing this teacher's motives, but who has that kind of time? The school is there to meet your kid's needs, not the other way around. If it takes bringing up the American for Disabilities Act, find a coach who can help you make it stick.

I'm not 100% sure what you're getting at with you post...but,


I agree that the teacher is there to help the student learn; I was only trying to suggest that threatening folks with lawsuits in order to get your way is not the best way to solve the problem.
In fact, using coercion to force teachers to act in a certain way is slippery slope. It's not long before we end up with schools in which grades are awarded based on how abrasive and aggressively litigious parents are.

Again, in no way do I feel that the teacher made the right call on this, but I prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt since I can't spend half my life guessing at their motives.

 

[seneystretch]

I'm not 100% sure what you're getting at with you post...but,

Let me make myself perfectly clear.

This child has established himself as a left handed player of a fretted string instrument (guitar >Nik is a lefty and has been playing guitar for about 2 yrs now, and is VERY Good!<). He wishes to expand his musicianship. I'm saying this teacher must take him on as a left hander and not try to impose some teacher-centered value system on the student.

I was a left handed printer from kinneygarden to third grade. I first encountered cursive at the end of third grade. Teacher thought my awful (an accurate judgement) cursive would improve if she kept me after school practicing right handed. Epic fail. Weirdly, in the last ten years I developed the ability to mirror write with my right hand in a nice feminine cursive.

I'm saying the teacher must drop his agenda and accept this child's handed-ness before he makes this kid's life miserable. Handed-ness is as poorly understood as sexual orientation and you just aint going to change either one. We just don't know very much about the human brain.

There are some Utube videos showing Paul McCartney playing a right handed bass upside down. Ask this teacher if he's sold as many CDs as Slim Whitman.

If persuasion doesn't work, there's always the option to yank the kid out the public school system for a private school. It's the raw money argument and the school superintendent will come around pretty quickly. I know that's not permitted in Canada as even the parochial schools are government paid so maybe that's where you're not seeing my reasoning.

 

[JamieFromOntario]

Yep, I'm with you on pretty well everything you say.

The only thing I might quibble with is the assumption that the teacher has some sort of agenda. I agree with other posters that the teacher needs to be approached first, then one could follow up with principal, school boards, etc. Let's give the teacher a chance before we convict them. Though, should they fail to be swayed by Fitncrafty's very reasonable argument, I would be outraged and would start into some of the more severe measures some have mentioned. This child should absolutely be supported in their left-handed playing and not forced to change.

I totally disagree with teachers who make decisions about a student's learning based on that teacher's own limitations or prejudices.


(Btw, you're close but not quite right in your understanding of the Canadian school system. There are what might be termed parochial schools here that are fully funded by the government, just like public schools. In Ontario, these are Catholic Schools. However, there are many, many other private schools, both those associated with a particular religion and secular ones. These are just like any paid, private school in the US. Removing one's child from a public/Catholic school here will result in the same kind of funding loss to the school as it does in the US.)