Question regarding right/left handedness

[imported_Lucifer]

Ok, my friend is right handed. For a while, he was playing guitar. But an incident about 1 year ago stopped him from playing. While building something in shop class, he chopped of a piece of his finger, i believe on the tip. His finger healed in an odd way, and he tells me that the finger keeps him from playing well. He said that the finger nail is in a curved state, so when he plays his guitar, he would accidentally hit the wrong frets. This is obviously a problem. So, he stopped playing guitar, and just recently, he wanted to play again. But, he wants a left handed guitar. And he is right handed. So, my question is how long will it take him to actually get used to the left handed guitar? Is it even a good idea for him to get a lefty?

Thanks. 🙂

 

[Ronstang]

Yes, the brain is a wonderful thing and his desire will retrain his hands in no time. Tell him to go for it.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Awesome! I'll tell him!

Thanks Ronstang! 🙂

 

[nakedfrog]

He doesn't have to get another guitar, his current guitar can possibly be converted. It will probably be frustrating at first, but I imagine he could probably do it. How long had he been playing before?

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
He doesn't have to get another guitar, his current guitar can possibly be converted. It will probably be frustrating at first, but I imagine he could probably do it. How long had he been playing before?

I believe he's been playing for about a year.

 

[firefaux]

definitely go for it. i'm left handed, and i've been playing right handed guitar for about 10 years. it shouldnt be as difficult for him to switch since he's only been playing for a year.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: firefaux
definitely go for it. i'm left handed, and i've been playing right handed guitar for about 10 years. it shouldnt be as difficult for him to switch since he's only been playing for a year.

Awesome! 🙂

 

[Platypus]

Do it, your brain just needs to be trained.

I remember reading a study about 4 patients that were given glasses that they had to wear that flipped their vision 180 degrees so everything appeared upside-down. At first it was nearly impossible for them to do simple tasks but after a few days it was completely natural. Removing the glasses had the same effect, their brains had to relearn what was up and what was down.

I am sure this is a similar brain function.

 

[Stojakapimp]

if the brain is powerful enough to learn how to play a left-handed guitar, then it is powerful enough to learn how to adjust to a bent fingernail. Sounds like he might just need some time to adjust to his new finger

 

[thomsbrain]

just tell him to restring the guitar upside-down, like jimi hendrix did. no sense in wasting money on a new guitar if he's not sure if he'll be able to re-learn. personally, i agree with stojakapimp, that he might be better off learning to deal with the finger.

jerry garcia was missing part of one of his fingers, too! (though it was on the picking hand).