A fellow teacher friend of mine recently asked me about lefty guitar student he was starting with and asked if they should be looking at left or right handed guitars. Here is my response to him with regard to his new student as a lefty who plays right-handed.
“As a lefty, I always felt the guitar was originally built left handed. My dominant hand does the hard work and my recessive hand wags over the strings. It’s cheaper to buy a right handed guitar and there are way more right handed options. If he can possibly play with a right handed guitar, he would be better off. However, if he holds a right handed guitar and it is equally as uncomfortable to him as a lefty is for you, then he is probably going to want to go with a lefty guitar. I’d try to clearly educate him on the long term benefits of playing a right handed instrument. Comfort is the only possible benefit for a lefty guitar. In all other areas, it is a detriment. The guitars and parts are all more expensive, since they are produced in much lower volume. Not every model of guitar is available as a lefty, either. Restringing a right hand for left leaves the intonation all screwed until you replace and adjust a bunch of stuff. All in all, if he can swing a right, he’d be better off. If not, then he needs to prepare to pay up. -C”
Editing note: the upside down option for southpaws can produce new voicings (or fingerings), however many standard voicings become difficult if not impossible. There is a potential to explore a new set of sounds, but all diagrams and method books will be much more challenging to translate to the neck. Again, if you can swing it, don’t go down the left handed route unless right handed guitars are just unfathomably difficult to work with. Let your dominant hand do the hard work.
Lessons With Cameron 