Kid is left-handed, questions on Rocksmith, need advice on guitar choice too.

[Jiro]

I cant find any lefthanded guitars in our area. Online - may take months to ship (overseas).

My kid(8) is a lefty, plays drums right-handed. I gave my son a toy guitar and he holds it naturaly as left handed would do. He says it's natural and easier to play with left hand. We tried looking online but eventually gave up. We both agreed to just buy any guitar but he will play the guitar in reverse (we will both play on the guitar). We both agree that we like the LesPaul but might settle for SG type.

1. I know rocksmith offers left handed choice, but does it have a choice about string in reverse order? I couldnt see it since it wont let me pass that Tuning Test.

2. I have basic acoutic guitar skills but zero knowledge about electric guitars. I cant tell the difference between LesPaul, Strat or Tele in youtube. We were actually thinking buying SGtype or FV type guitar then reverse the strings just for him, It just feels wrong, all the knobs and sockets are out of place for lefties. What do you guys think?

Well, this would mean I will buy another guitar(bass maybe?) just for me =P

3. OR Should i just flat out force my son to learn right-handed guitar?

[rcole_sooner]

1) You can both set for left/right handed and normal/reverse strings.

2) I'd get an LP or SG style guitar for rocksmith. The fixed bridge and humbuckers seem to work best for most. Actually any fixed bridge humucker guitar would work great. Google those terms if you don't know them.

3) If you son is more comfortable left handed, then let him play that way. If he is at all early on and can easily switch to right handed, I would think it would give him more access to better deals on instruments on down the road. But never force anyone to do anything.

[Buck]

Personally, I'm a southpaw who plays righty and generally encourage others to as well. Right handed instruments and instruction are FAR more common which may help foster learning (as opposed to trying to mentally flip everything in your head)

However, he should do what feels best and most natural for him.

[Paladin]

I too am a southpaw, so dominant in fact nuns couldn't change me. LOL

However I play right handed. it works,and I have nearly 1100 hours in the game and loving every minute of it as a right handed player. (P.S. I also golf right -- got free culbs to start)

Just have your son start he will be better off for it as well. ALso, better choices of guitars and better opportunity to sell them.

Otherwise his only choice is to play a right handed guitar left handed like Jimmie Hendrix.

Have him learn right handed.

[pappy13]

Originally posted by Buck:

Personally, I'm a southpaw who plays righty and generally encourage others to as well. Right handed instruments and instruction are FAR more common which may help foster learning (as opposed to trying to mentally flip everything in your head)

However, he should do what feels best and most natural for him.

Right hand guitars are cheaper, too. If I remember right (and it's been a LONG time) something like 15% of models have left-handed options and they're generally more expensive.

My son is left handed and I'm teaching him ukulele now, but he's learning to play right handed.

[cdarklock]

Originally posted by bebangs:

My kid(8) is a lefty, plays drums right-handed.

Awesome. Lefty here. Playing left AND right handed with RockSmith. Also a drummer. :)

We both agreed to just buy any guitar but he will play the guitar in reverse (we will both play on the guitar).

You can string the guitar backwards, too. Hendrix did this for the same reason... no left-handed guitars available.

I know rocksmith offers left handed choice, but does it have a choice about string in reverse order?

Yes. I occasionally turn the guitar over and play inverted just as a fun little game. I have five profiles in RockSmith: LeftHand, RightHand, LeftInvert, RightInvert, and Test. (That last one's the first profile I made, where I wasn't really working on anything and just playing around.)

It just feels wrong, all the knobs and sockets are out of place for lefties. What do you guys think?

You won't even notice. When you start getting more advanced, an inverted guitar lets you stick the whammy bar under your forearm and use elbow pressure to work it while you play. Regular players can't really do that at all.

Should i just flat out force my son to learn right-handed guitar?

It is immoral to use force or the threat of force to alter the behaviour of otherwise peaceful people. ;)

I would advise your son to make a solid effort to learn right handed, if only because having a right-handed guitar makes that slightly easier.

If he REALLY doesn't want to, though, that would make it a LOT harder. So much that it's not worth it. So let him play left-handed if he wants. String the guitar backward if he wants. He's young, little things make a big difference in whether he sticks with it.

As a parent myself, I advise you to learn the same way your son does, and try to keep pace with his progress - so if either of you needs help, you can get it from the other.

Besides, it will be no harder for you to learn left-handed than it would be for him to learn right-handed. But you're an adult, and have more maturity and perspective, so when sacrifices like that are needed... it's a lot easier for you to see and appreciate the value of it.

Think about how it feels when your son wants to learn to play guitar, and while the environment dictates the kind of guitar available, your desire to learn as well dictates other things about how he learns. You're basically saying that your preferences are more important than his. So maybe in this case you can let HIM make the decisions while YOU adapt? ;)

[Jiro]

=) thanks for all your advice. read all the comments. I will most likely settle for SG type cause i think it's more lefty-friendly or maybe a strat like jimi.

But im going to give him a right handed guitar, tell him that "most of the time" he's going to deal with right handed type guitars(school/friends). It's best for him decide if he wants to switch or reverse the string. I will let him figure out how to learn. Show him the different Guitar Hero'es - left hand reverse / left hand backwards / lefty but right handed guitarist, etc.

TYTYTY

[cdarklock]

Originally posted by bebangs:

tell him that "most of the time" he's going to deal with right handed type guitars(school/friends).

That is a HUGE reason to learn to play on a right-handed guitar. Guitarists are social and clannish. They love to get together and pass things around. If he can play a right-handed guitar strung right-handed, he will be able to participate in this. If he can't, he won't.

We're already sort of weird and won't have much of a social life in high school because we're still trying to nail that one lick in that one song, so if you also kill your social life with other guitarists, well... you're gonna be pretty lonely.

And if you're learning on a right handed guitar strung right handed, you may as well play right handed to avoid the various minor annoyances that come with flipping the guitar over. Also, it's much less likely that your guitar-playing friends will make fun of you for being different. It's just socially a much better choice.

Take it from a guy who played exclusively left-handed for thirty years. It matters.

[Dont]

Going to keep it simple.

One, the game is lefty supportive. There is an option for lefty mode.

Two, I would pick up a very cheap guitar with 'Dual Humbuckers'. Don't waste 200+$ on a starter guitar. A new player prolly won't appreciate an expensive one, anyways.

Key thing though, Dual Humbuckers. If you get a used guitar (I always buy used!) buy new 5$ strings. Thick strings if he's into metal, thinner is he likes jazz, and warm music.

[Ironballs McFistPunch]

This guy played with a right handed guitar flipped over, definately possible to just restring it.

https://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7899ac1b20f9aa3ad1fffb603eec321c?convert_to_webp=true

[MTZIGG]

Albert King plays guitar left-handed, without re-stringing the guitar from the right-handed setup; he plays everthing upside-down .It is possible to set your RS visual this way. A truly astounding way to play for Albert he had only his mind to visulize with .But as he said in an interview .He could not afford his own so he learned to play on others.of course most were all righties ;-). so I would say let him decide. If he as never played.
Of course you would also have to invert you strumming

[Stampert]

If it feel like yoy left prefer , go for it, am also lefty, think that when you are left handed, and learn right you wil never ever perform 100% , and Yes rocksmith is fully capable for left users,

[cdarklock]

Originally posted by Stampert:

when you are left handed, and learn right you wil never ever perform 100%

This is demonstrably not true. Practice beats talent every time.

Studies consistently come up with a figure that hovers around 10% for how much better off a person is to have started with talent. If you practice exclusively with your off hand, you'll be 90% as good in four years as you would have been using your dominant hand, and the difference is negligible after eight.

So if you work for eight years at something you've no talent for at all, you will be every bit as good as that astounding prodigy - provided you practice every bit as hard. The key is neuroplasticity more than anything.

[Menthol Elf]

As a lefty i think (personal opinion only) that advising forced right hand is a terrible idea,as he is only 8 yrs old you can find lots of cheaper left handed guitars.

[cdarklock]

Originally posted by Squadie:

you can find lots of cheaper left handed guitars.

I'm sure every left-handed guitarist on the planet wants to know WHERE, because every left-handed guitar I've ever seen is more expensive than a comparable right-handed guitar.

[Jiro]

Ultimately, the decision is his, I will allow him to learn left or right handed BUT on a right handed guitar(since there arent any left-hand guitars here). I wont force it on him, i will let him to realize if it's a mistake or not.

Before we bought the guitar, I showed him different famous guitarist - Jimi, Nirvana, AlberKing, PMcCartney. Told him the different ways to play with the guitar. So We decided to get SG type guitar because it's easier to play left handed(upside down) . We went to the localshop, he tested it on his right! Told him he could reverse the guitar if its easier. When we arrived home, he started practicing on his right on rocksmith! he said - "Playing righty just feels 'right' ".

Now i can sleep =)

I really dont care if he learns lefty or righty because there's only 1 guitar. We both could play on it anyway. It's up to him to decide how to learn faster. He's definitely taking guitar lessons next schoolyear.

THANK YOU ALL!