🎸 Left-handed Guitars

And why we should support it!

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that a left handed guitar is the same as a right handed one, except upside down and backwards. It also means that you strum in the opposite direction (or rather, downwards). There are very few left-handed guitarists out there compared to right-handed guitarists. Among the most famous, we have Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Paul McCartney (Beatles), Zack Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne), and Albert King. Though a number of the most famous left-handed guitarists play right-handed guitars upside down, there are also those who play left-handed guitars such as Jimi Hendrix and Noel Gallagher (Oasis). Imagine a world where left-handed guitars are the norm and right-handed guitars are an exception. Where right-handed guitar players struggle to play the guitar.

The common and most widely accepted notion is that the guitar was “invented” by Orville Gibson in 1894. However, if you look at cave paintings from thousands of years ago, you can see they were a lot more advanced than Orville Gibson’s early models. They had frets, strings, tuning pegs and even pickups! We can only speculate on how they did these things (perhaps with magic or aliens), but one thing is clear: they played them left handed. While playing a guitar may seem easy to some, it can be hard for others. But it is especially harder for those who are left-handed. Since there is barely any support and encouragement to pursue training in the dominant left hand. Left-handed guitars are scarcely made and far more expensive than the right-handed counterparts. Nonetheless, there should be an increased support for left-handed players. It is 2022. the right hand tyranny needs to stop.