Looking at a recent question, my thoughts turned to instruments which can be played left- or right-handed, without alteration. Given that approx. 85% of us are right-handed, it's hardly surprising that most instruments are appropriately made. However, bugle/trumpet/flugel seem to be ambidextrous,as are drums, but maybe not a kit of drums, which often gets set up opposite by a lefty drummer. Which other instruments could fit into this category. And - apart from one left-handed piano I heard about (!!!!) are there specific other instruments ?
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1I've often considered the guitar (which I've taught for many decades), as actually being better designed for lefties.Apart from finger picking or classical playing, the left hand fingers do most of the work. Right hand is more right arm when strumming.In fact, I think it's more versatile being played on one's lap, but still left-handed. Of course, most guitarists will disagree, as they've already learned the orthodox way. Food for thought?– TimCommented May 22, 2013 at 6:33
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1Long before I ever got shown the "correct" way to play a guitar, I naturally picked it up in the 'left-hand' position. It makes sense to me that my dominant (right) hand should do the intricate work of fretting the strings while my useless left hand just went back and forth strumming them.– WidorCommented May 22, 2013 at 11:01
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1I tried to play lefty guitar immediately after starting and it was incredibly unnatural and awkward, I was completely useless (and surprised since as Widor says my main hand out to be better at fretting). I'm strongly right handed in all respects -- writing, baseball, tennis, golf, hockey, etc. -- so take from that what you will.– user28Commented May 22, 2013 at 19:22
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"the left hand fingers do most of the work" just isn't right. The two hands do completely different kinds of work, but you can't really say which is more important, or more difficult. Nor is it actually correct to assert that a right-handed person is in every regard more skilled with their right hand; rather, there will be many things they can do better with the right hand – but possibly also a few where the left hand is better. I am left-handed, yet I can do a lot of things better with my right hand, the fretting of strings being amongst them – but not bowing or plucking.– leftaroundaboutCommented May 26, 2013 at 23:03
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All instruments can be played by left or right handed people as far as I know. Generally both hands have similarily important, but maybe different, duties. After a few thousand hours of practice it will all feel natural. There are some that allow you to choose which hand to "have on top" (or how you define it). Old time bassons (baroque or dulcians) with few keys could often be played with left or right hand on top. As the number of keys over time increased it became necessary to make a choice.– ghellquistCommented Jun 29, 2019 at 8:05
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5 Answers
TL;DR: With the notable exception of guitar, all classical instruments are taught "right-handed" regardless of handedness of the student, as there is no detriment past an intermediate level of instruction.
Now that I think of it, the only truly ambidextrous instruments might be the harmonica (since you can flip it upside down), slide whistle, handmade or otherwise invented instruments, or certain types of "found instrument" percussion.
Even instruments like the harp or piano have pedals to contend with that favor one side over the other, and all instruments with a keyboard layout are ordered low to high from left to right, which makes sense when you consider that bass lines are usually much less active than higher melody lines.
The vast majority of instruments, including all of the wind instruments and classical bowed string instruments, come in only one variety--and while that variety is biased towards right-handed people, they are learned by left-handed people all the time without alteration.
There are very few notable exceptions where instruments can be set up for left-handed people differently from right-handed people. Guitar and drum-set are the two that most readily come to mind, and I would attribute that to those instruments' sheer popularity and use in popular music, as contrasted with a more formal style of classical training used for other instruments.
Some specific examples addressing instruments referenced in previous answers that only come in one design:
- Snare Drum - music is written with L/R sticking
- Trombone - valve attachments can only be actuated by the left hand; teachers intend for the students to eventually graduate to instruments with a valve, so a reversed horn is never taught.
- Trumpet - 2nd valve slide and bell throat are designed so the instrument is held by the left hand
- Recorder - many soprano recorders come in one-piece varieties (without a separate bottom joint), and larger recorders only come in "right-handed" configuration, so, like the trombone, students will just be taught the standard configuration so they have more opportunities later
- Flute - even without keywork, they are typically designed with an important leading edge inside the tone hole that can only be blown across from one side with any success
- Theremin - In addition to the antennae designed ever-so-ergonomically to favor one side over the other, electronics controls are only located on one side of the instrument (ostensibly the one facing the player).
answered May 21, 2013 at 20:33
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Few classical guitars can be set up for left-handed play with no modification. At least the bridge must be skewed the other way. If the bracing is asymmetrical, it may or may not work, or even be damaged by reversing the string order. Commented Jan 27, 2014 at 17:56
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You mention snare drum sticking. I'd defy anyone listening to it being played vice versa to tell the difference, played by a proper player, who should be able to swap over at the drop of a (hi) hat... And trombone - do you mean that teachers expect most players to move onto a valve trombone?– TimCommented May 1, 2017 at 13:26
A trumpet is difficult to play lefty, as the tuning valve is placed to one side of the main valve set, and hard to reach from the far side.
Now, any flat-necked string instrument (e.g., guitar, erhu, banjo) can be played as-is lefty, tho' you have to rethink your methodology since the strings are effectively reversed.
The recorder, at least the upper (no keys) ones, can be played lefty with a little finger stretching and rotation of the bottom joint. As to piano-- I'm not sure what you define as "lefty," given that both hands are pretty busy, and there are known pieces w/ cross-hand action. The washtub bass (or any single-string instrument) is ambidextrous. I dunno how accordionists would feel about their line of instruments being included here.
didgeridoo
Percussion instruments don't really count.
answered May 21, 2013 at 19:14
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Only higher pitched recorders (soprano and up, possibly alto) can be played with the right hand on top. Try playing a tenor or a bass with your right on top. Impossible– Luke_0Commented May 21, 2013 at 19:18
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@Luke - that's why I put that disclaimer in there. Don't all tenors have keys for the bottom notes? Commented May 21, 2013 at 19:54
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Not all, but if you look at the barrel of a recorder, the holes are not in a straight line. They are aligned on two curves, one for each hand (see the alto in this image). The curves are larger for the larger recorders. The alto, which never has keys is difficult to play with the hands switched unless you have unusually large hands, which few people do.– Luke_0Commented May 21, 2013 at 20:35
Here are some, in a wide sense, symetrical instruments:
- Harp (possibly except for the pedals)
- Trombone (without valve extensions)
- Harmonica (with exceptions such as the double decked bass harmonica)
- Theremin
- Digeridoo and similar non-keyed instruments
- Some flutes with straight finger holes
- One-chord instruments such as a traditional washtub bass
answered May 21, 2013 at 18:59
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1Playing the trombone wrong-handed is nontrivial, more so if you have a model w/ tuning valve. Commented May 21, 2013 at 19:07
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@carl:Why would a regular trombone (w/o valves) be non-trivial to switch over? Except for my left arm being untrained I've found no problems when I've tried it. Commented May 21, 2013 at 20:11
Tin whistle and their relative the low whistle are truly ambidextrous instruments.
There are some examples of the larger low whistles having their finger-holes offset from the centre line to make the reach slightly easier, but they aren't the norm.
I'm a lefty and have been playing the Chapman Stick for a year now. I really believe this is an ambidextrous instrument. Usually, you play the bass strings with your left hand and the melody strings with your right, but you can also use your right thumb to tap a bass string or your left thumb to tap a melody string. Or you can play uncrossed (left hand on melody, right hand on bass), or play a bass part with both hands, or a melody with both hands, or even some more interesting harmonic stuff, playing "split arpeggios" or "big fat chords" with both hands, by leveraging the overlap between bass and melody.
When I first wanted a Stick I thought about ordering it "lefty", that is with the strings inverted, but then I decided against it after thinking about it for a while, realizing it's a completely different instrument and I should learn it as such, instead of wanting to "map" it as a bass+guitar or a piano.
