I have a new 5 year old student who is left handed. Should I restring her violin so she can finger with her right hand, or should I teach her to play the usual way?

Hi there,
First of all let me say that I`m no expert on this !
Well certainly not at playing the violin anyway - I guess though that as I`m over 40 and born a "leftie" I`m pretty expert at being left handed !!!!
As a child I learned to play the violin - the right handed way and as we live very much in a right handed world us "lefties" are very good at adapting you know!
I would suggest they learn the right handed way.
I only played the violin for about 4 years - didn`t really take to it not because it was too hard as I was left handed but rather that I really wanted to play a wind instrument and the violin came a very poor second in my eyes at the time !!
Good luck to your youngster whichever "handed" they choose !
Sue

This can be a difficult decision at such and early age. You undoubtedly will get more feedback stating that your daughter should start with a right-handed instrument. Each child is different and not all left-handers exhibit the same consistency in handedness as right-handers. Many of us lefties have some degree or another of ambidexterity. A small percentage of us are completely ambidextrous. Most of us do have a preference for "things left." This includes musical instruments. Keeping these points in mind, I would urge you to observer what your daughter`s preferences are in daily activities and to speak with your daughter`s teacher. The best test is, let her pick-up a violin and bow and see how she holds them. This action is usually instinctive. But, be prepared to allow her to switch instrument types (left or right) later down the road, if she decides she needs to try it. She will know which is best intuitively.

I will caution you. If her teacher states that she is at an advantage with a right-hand instrument because "the left hand does all of the work," or "she won`t be able to play in an orchestra," find another teacher.