Learning to Play Electric Guitar - Help!!
Discussion
I have always loved the guitar but never really played.
I had lessons as a kid on acoustic but gave up after a year, I was bored.
Looking back I think it was the fact I was left handed and my guitar was set up for me but my teacher was right handed so it was very confusing to follow him as everything was upside down- hence the lack of progress I think!!
I think it’s time for another go at 44, but would like to learn electric as that’s the noise I love.
Simple question to the experts. Do I find a left handed teacher to make it easier for me or is it possible to start again and learn right handed (I can’t get my head round that) but you lot might know best!!!
I had lessons as a kid on acoustic but gave up after a year, I was bored.
Looking back I think it was the fact I was left handed and my guitar was set up for me but my teacher was right handed so it was very confusing to follow him as everything was upside down- hence the lack of progress I think!!
I think it’s time for another go at 44, but would like to learn electric as that’s the noise I love.
Simple question to the experts. Do I find a left handed teacher to make it easier for me or is it possible to start again and learn right handed (I can’t get my head round that) but you lot might know best!!!
If you're left handed, get a left handed guitar. Simple as that. I don't think there's any problem learning from an opposite handed teacher, possibly a bit easier actually.
It's all about realising what learning is all about. With any musical instrument, it's about practice practice practice. A good guitar teacher can give you months of practice to do in just one lesson. So teaching isn't really the issue when learning guitar, it's about how much time you're prepared to give to it.You can do loads of it from youtube these days.
It's all about realising what learning is all about. With any musical instrument, it's about practice practice practice. A good guitar teacher can give you months of practice to do in just one lesson. So teaching isn't really the issue when learning guitar, it's about how much time you're prepared to give to it.You can do loads of it from youtube these days.
I was in the same boat. Left handed so never really got to join in with all my mates playing right handed as a teenager as I did not have a LH guitar. Tried RH but it was no go.
Took the plunge at 40 and bought a left handed guiter (well a few actually becuase I chose poorly).
Made slow porgress, than fast progress, and then back to slow progress - practice, dedication and above all patience make a huge difference.
Go for it. The first time you are able to put a tune together without sounding like a total crap is great.
By the way, your finders are going to hurt a lot to start with. Also, don't rule out an acoustic. I started with an electric but I found the acoustic much more satisfying - if a lot harder. Now have 2 electrics and 6 acoustics!
TD
Took the plunge at 40 and bought a left handed guiter (well a few actually becuase I chose poorly).
Made slow porgress, than fast progress, and then back to slow progress - practice, dedication and above all patience make a huge difference.
Go for it. The first time you are able to put a tune together without sounding like a total crap is great.
By the way, your finders are going to hurt a lot to start with. Also, don't rule out an acoustic. I started with an electric but I found the acoustic much more satisfying - if a lot harder. Now have 2 electrics and 6 acoustics!
TD
TorqueDirty said:
I was in the same boat. Left handed so never really got to join in with all my mates playing right handed as a teenager as I did not have a LH guitar. Tried RH but it was no go.
Took the plunge at 40 and bought a left handed guiter (well a few actually becuase I chose poorly).
Made slow porgress, than fast progress, and then back to slow progress - practice, dedication and above all patience make a huge difference.
Go for it. The first time you are able to put a tune together without sounding like a total crap is great.
By the way, your finders are going to hurt a lot to start with. Also, don't rule out an acoustic. I started with an electric but I found the acoustic much more satisfying - if a lot harder. Now have 2 electrics and 6 acoustics!
TD
Thanks TD. I have taken advice from a left handed guy in my local shop who regrets learning left handed. I am going to have a lesson where an expert can see whether right handed would be possible or if I remember too much whether I will be flogging a dead horse. From there I will get some gear and give it a whirl. Can't wait!Took the plunge at 40 and bought a left handed guiter (well a few actually becuase I chose poorly).
Made slow porgress, than fast progress, and then back to slow progress - practice, dedication and above all patience make a huge difference.
Go for it. The first time you are able to put a tune together without sounding like a total crap is great.
By the way, your finders are going to hurt a lot to start with. Also, don't rule out an acoustic. I started with an electric but I found the acoustic much more satisfying - if a lot harder. Now have 2 electrics and 6 acoustics!
TD
interstellar said:
works on acoustic but not electric due to shape and buttons in the way I believe.
Jimi Hendrix did it:https://www.quora.com/Did-Jimi-Hendrix-play-upside...
Or am I missing something?
I'm left handed, and tried going down the R/H conversion method, but it just adds a further layer of hardship.
Some steel-string acoustics can be modded with a new nut and bridge, electrics like Strats/Teles/LP's can be done with a new nut, except the machine heads and the vol/tone controls are then the wrong way up and the intonation needs resetting.
But with practice, anything is possible. :-)
My tutor was fairly old school and insisted that starting with a steel-string acoustic was better to get the fretboard fngers correctly placed as you could hear the result more clearly.
If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy a cheap L/H steel string acoustic for the first few months to get the fingers working. They're also a bit less annoying if you share a living space with someone. :-)
There are good L/H Chord books now, plus YouTube lessons.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Left-Hand-Guitar-Chord-Bo...
Some steel-string acoustics can be modded with a new nut and bridge, electrics like Strats/Teles/LP's can be done with a new nut, except the machine heads and the vol/tone controls are then the wrong way up and the intonation needs resetting.
But with practice, anything is possible. :-)
My tutor was fairly old school and insisted that starting with a steel-string acoustic was better to get the fretboard fngers correctly placed as you could hear the result more clearly.
If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy a cheap L/H steel string acoustic for the first few months to get the fingers working. They're also a bit less annoying if you share a living space with someone. :-)
There are good L/H Chord books now, plus YouTube lessons.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Left-Hand-Guitar-Chord-Bo...
Nanook said:
Kinda.
You'll need to change the bridge, and the nut, it's not just a case of flinging the strings on it upside down and playing away, if you don't sort the bridge, your intonation will be all off and it'll never tune up properly, if you don't change the nut, the fat strings are going to be sitting on the top of the little slots, and the skinny strings are going to be lost in the bottom of a big slot, ruining the action.
You can obviously modify to suit, but these days it's easier to just get something appropriate, left handed guitars are much easier to find these days.
I have a friend who plays a right handed guitar, left handed. A completely standard right handed guitar that any other right handed player would use. But he plays it upside down, as he's left handed, and when he was growing up they could only afford one guitar that he and his right handed brother had to share, so that's how he learned.
I get a headache trying to learn or pick up anything that he's playing, messes with my brain!
Nice.You'll need to change the bridge, and the nut, it's not just a case of flinging the strings on it upside down and playing away, if you don't sort the bridge, your intonation will be all off and it'll never tune up properly, if you don't change the nut, the fat strings are going to be sitting on the top of the little slots, and the skinny strings are going to be lost in the bottom of a big slot, ruining the action.
You can obviously modify to suit, but these days it's easier to just get something appropriate, left handed guitars are much easier to find these days.
I have a friend who plays a right handed guitar, left handed. A completely standard right handed guitar that any other right handed player would use. But he plays it upside down, as he's left handed, and when he was growing up they could only afford one guitar that he and his right handed brother had to share, so that's how he learned.
I get a headache trying to learn or pick up anything that he's playing, messes with my brain!
I'm no musician but I did work on this: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375293/?ref_=ttfc_fc... and remember the Hendrix right-handed guitar cropping up in an interview with Chas Chandler.
(I also remember it because I spent some time working with Don Letts and had no idea who he was....)
ts and giggles, try the Albert King way : get a right-handed guitar and play it upside down with the high E nearest you!Mate - you're gonna find it hard enough so I wouldnt complicate it by trying to learn right-handed. There's so much info available on youtube that you have a reasonable chance of learning but it all comes down to practice. And with plenty of practice you should soon be able to get that Overdrive pedal........
One tip I would give is to ignore all the theory and petatonic scale nonsense that's so prevalent on the net. Use your ears just like Hendrix and Page and the others did.
One tip I would give is to ignore all the theory and petatonic scale nonsense that's so prevalent on the net. Use your ears just like Hendrix and Page and the others did.
lockhart flawse said:
Mate - you're gonna find it hard enough so I wouldnt complicate it by trying to learn right-handed. There's so much info available on youtube that you have a reasonable chance of learning but it all comes down to practice. And with plenty of practice you should soon be able to get that Overdrive pedal........
One tip I would give is to ignore all the theory and petatonic scale nonsense that's so prevalent on the net. Use your ears just like Hendrix and Page and the others did.
Thanks , some really good advice there.One tip I would give is to ignore all the theory and petatonic scale nonsense that's so prevalent on the net. Use your ears just like Hendrix and Page and the others did.
Not sure what I will do yet. I think I want to give right handed a try because I don't like the idea of a limited choice of guitar being left handed but we will see.
Mr_Yogi said:
How left handed are you? My son is left handed but he uses a mouse with his right hand and plays a right handed guitar.
Fairly dominant although I cross a football right footed. I am open to try it for a couple of weeks. I spoke to a guitar teacher who said practice everyday for 2 weeks right handed and if you haven't switched in your head at that point then give up and go lefty.I can get one locally for £50 , give it a try and it costs £50 to find out.
I was in a similar situation to you, albeit a few years ago...
I'm left handed, and when I was 7 attempted to learn to play left handed and gave up due to teacher and peers playing right handed.
picked it up again when I was 12, learnt to play right handed, never looked back.
See if you can get yourself into a shop with that has both left and right handed guitars you can try and strum a few chords on and see what feels right (or left...)
but as already said, there is no wrong way to play! just do what works for you.
I'm left handed, and when I was 7 attempted to learn to play left handed and gave up due to teacher and peers playing right handed.
picked it up again when I was 12, learnt to play right handed, never looked back.
See if you can get yourself into a shop with that has both left and right handed guitars you can try and strum a few chords on and see what feels right (or left...)
but as already said, there is no wrong way to play! just do what works for you.
As a leftie, I cringe when I see the advice to learn RH or mess around trying to convert a RH guitar!
There’s a massive choice of LH acoustic and electric guitars to suit every budget. Why mess with a RH? There are tuition book for lefties too.
As for learning, for me being LH is an advantage. Look at any picture of someone fingering a chord RH and it’s a doddle to reach the mirror image, IMO and IME, instinctive. The same if a teacher is showing you something.
And if you sit before a mirror, you see your hands just as you’d see someone else on a screen or your tutor. Really helps for me.
Tabs and music read just the same, of course.
I’m not strictly LH. I play golf RH. Cricket bat RH, bowl LH (in my younger days!) throw RH, kick either but prefer LH. Write RH, tools either hand. A RH guitar feels completely wrong to me.
There’s a massive choice of LH acoustic and electric guitars to suit every budget. Why mess with a RH? There are tuition book for lefties too.
As for learning, for me being LH is an advantage. Look at any picture of someone fingering a chord RH and it’s a doddle to reach the mirror image, IMO and IME, instinctive. The same if a teacher is showing you something.
And if you sit before a mirror, you see your hands just as you’d see someone else on a screen or your tutor. Really helps for me.
Tabs and music read just the same, of course.
I’m not strictly LH. I play golf RH. Cricket bat RH, bowl LH (in my younger days!) throw RH, kick either but prefer LH. Write RH, tools either hand. A RH guitar feels completely wrong to me.
I am most definitely Left handed but a lot of things just seem more natural right handed and playing a guitar is one of them. I have never got past the learning stage as I seem to have very short fingers which makes it difficult but couldn't imagine playing guitar left handed. Not found a guitar to suit my short fingers.
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