The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm a lefty except throwing a ball,and playing steel,which I do right handed

I am left handed but was told at 6 years old this is a steel guitar. So I play Right handed, at 12 started playing 6 string left handed. I have tried left handed both and NOPE, ain't happening.

One day in the Desert Rose Steel Guitar Shop in Tucson there were 6 guys in all steel players right handed and all but one was left handed. Hal Ruggs said, "He thought a left handed person had an advantage, because that thing in your left hand is called a tone bar."

Joe Naylor

Joe,
You are correct.
My guitar teacher said the technique in playing steel guitar was in the left hand (the bar hand).
Erv

I'm a new member (first post), and thought I'd add to this thread that people have been sawing on for the last several years. I've lurked on the forum for a while and thought that now that I actually have a pedal steel it was time to join.

I was right handed, and an amateur fingerstyle guitar and bass player. I lost my right arm below the elbow in Iraq on new year's day of 2005 the morning after I picked a couple of tunes very rustily in the talent show we had the night before.



As I was recovering, I did some experimentation and even got a pick holder attachment from Walter Reed, but found that a pick and a piece of cardboard duct taped directly to a sock on my arm worked the best for strumming. While I could still fret, all of the feel in my wrist, and, of course, individual finger picking was gone completely.



For years now, I've imagined that the pedal steel might be the way to recover some fingerpicking options, offloading fretting to pedals and levers. We'll see.

I just got a lefty GFI delivered after more than two years on order, and am getting down to trying to make it work. Getting beyond the duct tape, I'm adapting the lace-up arm that I've designed to be a magnetic bar holder (here's an earlier version of the arm prototype: https://www.stumpworx.com/. The new version does away with most of the metal).

Of course I'll have very little "feel" on the bar side (imagine trying to play with your forearm), but I've already been able to pick some familiar patterns out with my left hand--the brain is pretty amazing with its ability to mirror. One hand typing was the same way.

I have to agree with some of the previous comments about right and left handed playing. For a regular guitar, of course, fretting is just as demanding as finger or pick work (or more), and it's probably true that a lot of lefties could get by just fine learning right-handed.

That said, sucking it up and playing right handed isn't an option for some of us, and I'm thankful that, unlike cameras, for example, which are nearly unusable by one-handed lefties, that there are options, and folks like GFI (unlike MSA, for example) still offer them.

Anyway, thanks to b0b and to you all for this forum. I'm looking forward to learning from you all.

Jon

Hi ya'll,
Jonathan,
I just saw your post ahead of mine. I personally want to thank you for your sacrifice, and being a true hero! Welcome to the forum. If there's any info I can help you with, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me! Also, I just remembered I have a video of a preacher I met & videoed who had lost his right arm, but still played with just his left, sang & was a fine entertainer & preacher. PM your address to me & I'll send you a copy!
My story is that I'm a lefty, but have played 6 string right handed all my life, and do the same on my steel. My late friend Danny Gatton was the same way on whatever he played.
My friend Greg Rowles in Myrtle Beach is and plays lefty.
Whatever way you play, the bottom line is what comes out of the speakers!😁
Don't stop pickin! Just keep at it!
Pat

Jonathan, a great big Thank You for your story, your insight, and most of all your service to country.

...and welcome to the forum...

It's great to see how you've overcome adversity and I'm sure an inspiration to others.

Looking forward to hearing some of your pedal steel experiences when you're ready.

I'm left handed, and play right handed (picks on right hand). I write, use a fork, and do tedious things (like soldering a connection) left handed. I throw right handed. I'm right eye dominant, and shoot weapons right handed. I guess I'm ambidextrous. When I started playing, I never gave the left/right handed thing a second thought. I just played it right handed. I don't think I could play left handed if I tried very hard, for a long time. Like others here, I recognize that it takes dexterity in both hands, and practically equal. As such, I've just never understood the need for a left handed instrument. Your mileage may vary, but those are my thoughts.

johnnyupok on YouTube offers helpful tabs etc. for lots of good stuff. He's a lefty so it looks weird from the righthanded perspective but afater a while you get used to it!

Here's a unique video of a well-known left-handed musical genius--who touches briefly on the very topic being discussed here...

“Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road”, recorded on 28 July 2005, was a live concert given by Paul McCartney at Abbey Road Studios, specifically Studio 2, where many of The Beatles' recordings were made.

Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation At Abbey Road
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9elQeVfrLOo&t=1477s
21:19 –Left-handed Paul McCartney talks about learning to play either a left-handed or a right-handed guitar—and gives a short demo!

- Dave

The late Sonny Curtis (George & Tammy's steel player) also was a lefty but played right hand steel.

Just a quick side note. Everly Bros and Glen Campbell were all left handed players playing right. Glen, who learned so much from watching and talking to right hand players, said it was a great decision he made that hugely helped with communication. RP