As a preface, I am strongly left-hand dominant. I pretty much mouse, golf, bat, what-have-you left handed, all of which I started out doing right-handed, due largely to lack of left hand specific quality equipment.

I tried on a friend`s right hand violin and my arm just did not have anywhere near the amount of control it should have.

I recently got a left handed gems 1 violin from gliga and it is so much easier it isn`t even funny. Money well spent.

My two cents on the matter. Fighting nature gets to be not fun and I didn`t start violin to not enjoy what I was doing.

If you consider yourself left handed, then it makes sense to play an instrument left handed too.

I`ve been playing left handed violin for 23 years and never regreted it. The bow creates the magic, and should be in the hand that controls it best.

Charlie Chaplin played left handed fiddle by the way. Yehudi Menuin was left handed but played right handed of course. It`s the only way to get a Strad

Was Yehudi Menuhin really left handed? if Yehudi Menuhin was left handed and bowed with his right the disadvantage people are assuming couldn`t really have been that great could it? Or are we to assume that with a left handed fiddle Yehudi would have been ten times better?

I`ve always thought I could be loads better. I`m nipping out right now to buy a left-handed Gliga Maestro.

I am searching for a left handed fiddle in 1/4 size for my 8 year old son (he`s small, weighs 45 lbs and has short arms to match).
Does anyone know where I can find one, new or used?
My son plays mandolin, and wants to try the fiddel after messing around on his uncle`s full size.

Thanks
Annette

I think you are doing wrong. By letting him play left handed, the sad fact is that he will probably never find a teacher and probably never play in an orchestra. There are plenty of left handed players who play the same way as right handed players and a child is not in a position to understand what he will be missing by learning left handed. If an adult wishes to make that decision, knowing the limitations, that`s fine, but why impose it on a child?

liz

Liz

i think in this time we live in, unless people start bucking the system and letting their children (or themselves) learn left-handed, then the culture of not helping them will never change.

in this age, it`s blantant discrimination for organisations such as an orchestra to not allow a left-handed player join purely on that reason.

what is an orchestra? a group of people that makes music. therefore someone in an orchestra MUST be chosen or graded ONLY on their musical abilities, and not anything to do with their chosen hand.

nowadays, if they did discriminate like that - they`ll open themselves up to legal suites and the chances of winning them would be bery slight indeed.

so keep bucking the trend - let lefties learn left-handed. people will gradually change their tone and teach them, but not until people let it happen.

I wonder. If it happens, great! But first, you can`t force teachers to teach someone they don`t want to teach, and that would mean private tuition would not be enforceable on the grounds of "handedness" : all the teacher has to do is claim "no vacancies". Second, an orchestra would certainly be allowed to reject a player on the grounds that they habitually bowed in the opposite way to everyone else, auditions are competitive, and how is anyone ever going to prove that the left handed player was the best candidate? Would such a candidate ever be the best player if there are few teachers willing to teach left handed, and the teachers that you need to teach to that level are in fact themselves playing right handed?

I do think there is a strong case for parents of left handed children to take a pro-active approach and recruit teachers who are willing to teach this way (that would mean money and commitment) and encourage those teachers to form left handed orchestras, for example, but i wonder, are there enough interested players to make such an orchestra possible even on a national basis? Could one even get a summer school together? I have my doubts.

In short, it may be possible, but I can`t see it happening in the forseeaable future.

liz

Liz

I have read some of your emails. I think it is funny how people have all kinds of opinions on left handed violin playing. I started out playing left handed, and then I realized that most instruments are made for right handed people, so I tried to play the "right" way. So far I am not very successful playing right handed and I think I will permanently go back to left handed, SINCE THE BOWING WITH MY RIGHT HAND IS REALLY BAD!!! I think if you would start as a child it would not matter that much, but it is just more comfortable and rewarding playing left handed as a lefty. You don`t need any special left handed instruction booklets. Just reverse it, like most left handed people have to do all their lives. My teacher is very good and he did not mind me playing left handed. The only thing is that I have a great vibrato right handed, but that does not do me any good if I can`t bow right handed. So, play as your comfortable and not as your told.

i`m a beginner and i`m a lefty too, and so is my teacher.
he plays right handed and so do i, coz i`ve been playing around with my bro`s guitars a long time now, who is a right hander, so the fingering is easier for me.

it`s interesting how you lefties out there seem so "purist"
coz none of us are REALLY 100% left handers anyway...
we adapt to what`s thrown at us so what`s the big deal with how we play the violin, eh?

TVNut, your bowing hand is the one you should be concerned with, not your fingering hand. Bowing is the most important technique to develop in fiddling. The fingering will just come.

i understand what u mean coz i`m having trouble with my bowing...
but mayb i lack practice and hopefully in time i`ll improve...

You will. Keep playing and praticing, whichever hand you choose.

It is interesting to me that folks have replied to my original post stating that I`m looking for a left handed 1/4 size fiddle with opinions on playing left handed. Since I didn`t include any details some of the replies made incorrect assumptions about our individual situation. My son plays left handed as this is how he has always held and played any instrument, eating utensil, ball to throw, etc. His accomplished and well-known working musician who is teamandolin teacher suggested getting him a smaller fiddle, since the full size left handed one of our family friends gave him is difficult to hold and he started playing it quite a bit. Left handedness isn`t an issue. My post was one of several local and internet avenues we used to put out the word that we`re looking for a 1/4 left handed fiddle. I don`t use the internet much and am amazed at how folks who don`t know us show so much concern about my son`s left handed trait. None of our many family members and our many friends and acquaintances who are full time and part time working musicians in several states have expressed any consternation about being left handed. Anyway, thanks so much for your thoughts, but it appears real working players don`t see any problems here.

And we`re still looking for a left-handed 1/4 size fiddle so if anyone has one to sell, we`d love it if you`d contact us.

Thanks for all,
Annette & Rico

It is interesting to me that folks have replied to my original post stating that I`m looking for a left handed 1/4 size fiddle with opinions on playing left handed. Since I didn`t include any details some of the replies made incorrect assumptions about our individual situation. My son plays left handed as this is how he has always held and played any instrument, eating utensil, ball to throw, etc. His accomplished and well-known working musician who is teamandolin teacher suggested getting him a smaller fiddle, since the full size left handed one of our family friends gave him is difficult to hold and he started playing it quite a bit. Left handedness isn`t an issue. My post was one of several local and internet avenues we used to put out the word that we`re looking for a 1/4 left handed fiddle. I don`t use the internet much and am amazed at how folks who don`t know us show so much concern about my son`s left handed trait. None of our many family members and our many friends and acquaintances who are full time and part time working musicians in several states have expressed any consternation about being left handed. Anyway, thanks so much for your thoughts, but it appears real working players don`t see any problems here.

And we`re still looking for a left-handed 1/4 size fiddle so if anyone has one to sell, we`d love it if you`d contact us.

Thanks for all,
Annette & Rico