kipstryker
Inspired
i am a lefty - and initally learned right handed as a youngster because my dad and brother each had right handed guitars in the house.
However when I realised that Hendrix, McCartney et al were lefty I changed (probably 1 year in!). I restrung the Spanish guitar and started relearning. Golly - it was difficult at first because the brain had formed the muscle memory required for playing right handed. Equally I had to transpose chord boxes in real time.
However within a few months I was playing naturally as a left-handed. That was the mid Eighties and I am still definitely left handed when it comes to guitars. Funnily the chord boxes switched naturally in my head, tab was no bother anyway.
I am a very average player and even though I am in my 30th year of playing it is lack of time to play rather than than switching to left-handed that hinders me However have always enjoyed more complex finger picking as a challenge - and perhaps my switch has helped here.
I had heard that physiologically left handed people (in the main) tend to be naturally more ambidextrous (so for example I am naturally a right handed golfer and criketer, left handed tennis player and more left-sided football (soccer) player (although reasonably adept on both feet). I am sure there are plenty of right handed readers saying they are too...so excuse if this proves to be cod science.
Finally the question of equipment - this is the biggest downside to being left handed. Your choice is so poor compared to right handed players. While there might be 10% of us in the population, I would be surprised if most shops stock any near 3% of guitars as left-hookers.
All the best
Gilesy
If this straw poll is anything to go by then it would seem that a significant number of lefties play right handed. In which case the lack of left hookers in the shops being so small might actually be a closer reflection of the demand.
Indirectly it might be said that the manufacturers created the circumstances whereby many of us toughed it out back to front and thereby have perpetuated the apparent lack of demand for left handed instruments.