hello i have recently got a shamisen and would love a little help my question is im left handed and my left hand is most comfortable while strumming and feels horrible if i try to use it to hold the strings so i strum with my left hand my only problem is that when i look at right handed players there thick string is the furthest from their fingers and the thin strings are closer and with all that being said should i switch my thin and thick strings so that i will have the same effect i think it kinda feels weird to have the thick string closer to my fingers and the thin strings further i would like to know if switching the 2 is a good idea and if not what actions should i take and i would like to apologize for being such a burden
Hi Trevion!
Welcome to Bachido! Glad to have you here! 
Ah, if you are left handed, then you should definitely play with your natural, ‘soul’ hand.
It’s pretty simple to set your shamisen up for left hand. The main thing is just switching the outer two strings and the putting the doukake (cloth cover on the arm side of the body) on the opposite side of the body. That will get it playable for you. Later on, you may want to change the nut so you can get the buzzing sawari sound on the thick string (which happens when the thick string touches the bare wood)
Don’t apologize at all! This is a great question! Everyone here wants to help everyone enjoy shamisen, so by all means share any questions you have!
Thank you very much Kyle I look forward to learning from you
I believe It’s always good to hear both sides of a decision before making a choice so here’s my 2 cents on the problems of left handed vs right handed.
I am also left handed, however over the years I’ve found it beneficial to learn many things right handed for the sake of removing the need for special attention to what I’m doing. examples include things like kendo/kenjutsu, firearms, a computer mouse, and shamisen. All of these usually have right-hand specific features and learning them right-handed off the bat saves later annoyances. Everything I listed above was more comfortable left handed for me to begin with, but as time passes, I would never hold a shinai, bokken, firearm, or shamisen left handed. It just feels unnatural now and I no longer have to worry about left handed techniques or left handed specific modifications or designs.
Of course, Kyle is a fantastic teacher and his word most likely carries more weight than my own for this kind of stuff but I strongly believe you should always look into both sides before making a decision.
Also, if you have doubts that you are capable of learning right handed because of your current comfort with left handed, don’t doubt yourself. Everything (EVERYTHING) can be learned through practice. You just have to start at a lower comfort level when using your off-hand.
Teague, best explanation ever!
I just think also than its good to adapt ourselves to right handed.
Anyway ifyou can´t, go to the natural path. But I think as Teague. All can be learned through practice