Thanks for writing. There’s no really simple answer to this. To start with, your son is going to first find out that playing Guitar Hero is not really very much like playing guitar. It makes sense that he would play the game left handed because that would mean his right hand would be doing all the interacting with the computer in order to get a good score. On Guitar Hero and other similar games, the scores are based on getting the fingers in the right place at also the right time. So he’s trusting his strong hand to handle the both the keeping in time and being in the right place on the neck as far as the buttons are concerned.

But on the regular guitar each hand has its own job. If you think about it, why don’t right handed people play guitar left handed? Doing so would let the right hand handle the fretting of the notes, which seems a lot more complicated than strumming and picking.

The real reason is that the guitar is first and foremost a rhythm instrument. And most people prefer to use their dominant to play rhythms.

So the first thing your son will have to figure out is whether or not he can strum and keep rhythm accurately and with a good sense of ease with his left hand. If that proves to be the case, then he certainly can play left handed.

If he does decide to play left handed, one thing he should know is that his future selection of guitars is going to be much more limited than if he were playing right handed. Manufacturers don’t make every guitar model available to left handed players. And. for some people (even left handed people!), that’s reason enough to go with a right handed guitar.

If he’s really unsure, the best bet would be to go with a very inexpensive right handed guitar that he can just switch the strings around and play left handed to experiment. And he should definitely make a serious attempt with both ways if he’s not sure. That way if he decides to stick with playing left handed, he can then get a guitar more to his liking and you’ll probably be able to sell the right handed one (although he may decide he likes it – that has happened to many folks). And if he decides to go right handed, he will have a guitar he can use until he gets to the point where he’ll want to upgrade.

Hope this helps. The best of luck to you and your son and please feel free to write anytime if you want more advice.

I look forward to chatting with you again.

Peace

Watch this video. I got my head clear through this video. Though, the stuff David mentioned is exactly the same but, like they say, a video always helps.

Thanks David for that “m7b5″ for half diminished. I never knew that.

I’d be glad to help. Send me a note at my private email – dhodgeguitar@aol.com – and I’ll send you a copy of “Double Stop Rock.” It’s too complicated to post it up here on the blog!

Peace