Left Handed and other questions

Playing/Techniques
#1

I have been listening to the Yoshida Brothers for far too long and have decided to invest in this great instrument. The problem is that I like to play string instruments left handed. How easily can this be done?

I’ve watched a lot of videos and it appears that I can just assemble the Itomaki and strings in the reverse order. The only problem I can see that I would run into is if I get something better than the beginner Shamisen then the Azuma Sawari will be in the wrong position. However, are these instruments hand made if I order one that is higher up than the beginner one and thus the Azuma Sawari could be put on the other side?

I am an intermediate fiddler who purposely uses a narrow neck and have shaved down my nut so that my strings are as close to my neck as possible. Based on the fact that I know the pros of having strings closer together might I like the Sakura Shamisen even if I “think” I want to play in the style of Tsugaru?

Any and all help would be wonderful. Thanks in advance.

-Matt

#2

Welcome to Bachido, Matt! :slight_smile:

Glad to hear that you’re ready to take your shamisen listening experience into reality!

Personally, I strongly feel that we should all play music with our natural hand. I’ve written a whole blog article on the subject, I’d encourage you to check it out. :slight_smile: - http://bachido.com/blog/can-left-handers-play-shamisen

Actually, if you’re interested in the Sakura Shamisen, you’d be in luck. Because the Sakura Shamisen are built per order, I think it would be possible to be built for a left-hander (with the itomaki holes reversed, as well as the azuma sawari reversed), so you’d get the full experience!

On a side note, your fiddle experience should definitely help you with learning shamisen. A violinist dude joined our shamisen circle last month, and he’s just catapulted in skill level. Initial comfort with the fretless fingerboard is the biggest help.

Cheers! :slight_smile:
Kyle

#3

Hey Kyle thanks for responding.

So here’s my dilemma with which hand to play with. Yes I write with my right hand but I do many things with my left. Those things aside, when I pick up string instruments I naturally want to play them left handed.

When I used to play guitar hero it was left handed. I play mandolin but play it right handed and it is very uncomfortable. When I learned how to play the fiddle I wanted to play left handed but that instrument is rarely made for left handed people and it is not symmetrical like a guitar or shamisen. When I tried learning guitar I failed miserably because my teacher made me play right handed.

My left hand is definitely not as good as my right hand and is very dumb or slow compared to the right. I will never be able to be more than an intermediate fiddler because of it. My right hand would be so much better on the neck of the instrument as I would be much faster, accurate, flexible, etc.

What do you think? If I suck it up and play right handed I could do it but it won’t feel natural, I will be a slower player, and I feel like I would already have stunted or plateaued my progress.

#4

Hi Matt,

Even more so I would strongly encourage you to play shamisen left-handed.

In my blog post, I talk about our fiddle student who took our workshop many years ago. (this was part of my family’s music education system toneway.com) She is left-handed and played right-handed fiddle for 9 years without ever feeling comfortable with it. We finally convinced her to have her fiddle set up for left-handed playing, and her progress accelerated dramatically! She instantly felt more comfortable with the fiddle, and could… bring out the soul of it, as it were.

So yes, by your story, I think you are meant to play music with your left-hand, just as our fiddle student was meant to do the same. :slight_smile:

If you are interested in the Sakura Shamisen, I’m sure they can build it specially for a left-hander. (With the azuma sawari and itomaki reversed) No matter what, I want you playing with your left-hand! :slight_smile:

#5

Ok cool. I thought you were actually making an argument to play with my right hand originally. I feel really sad that my luthier said it would cost me $10k for him to build a left handed fiddle. The only ones in existence that aren’t personally made for people are cheap Chinese $200 violins. I could be such a better musician but instead I’m nothing because no one where I live believed in letting me play any instrument the way I wanted to.

#6

Oops! I sure hope my article didn’t give that impression. :frowning: In my opinion, playing with one’s natural hand is the first step to playing music. :slight_smile:

There’s a left-handed shamisen player who competes in Japan almost every year. He’s a really awesome guy.

That’s curious why a left-handed fiddle would cost so much. Wouldn’t it simply be a matter of changing the bridge and neck rest?

#7

Glancing at a violin it appears that it is symmetrical, but it is not. Yes you would have to reshape a new bridge, yes you would have to get a different chin rest, but there is also a bass bar and sound post on the inside that would have to be moved. The only way to move the bass bar once a violin is created is to open the violin up, somehow remove it without breaking the violin, and then restore it.

But that’s not even the biggest issue. If you look carefully at the fingerboard it is not symmetrical, it curves down more to the right. This is why you cannot just pick up a violin and play it left handed. It is actually created and shaped to be play right handed. The intricacies in such a small instrument astounded me when I first started playing.

#8

Ah, true. For the left-handed violin to be set up for the exact same experience as a right handed, that would have to be done.
However, I don’t think that is necessary for the simple act of just enjoying the instrument.

Even if it is slightly curved one way or another, our fingers/brain are capable of adapting. Again, I bring up our student who just switched the bridge and chin rest. Though the neck and bass bar weren’t changed, she’s enjoying the fiddle so much more and excelling.

A great example is Elizabeth Cotton, who was left handed and simply learned to make the chords backwards.

I believe great music is more dependent on the actual person behind the instrument than the instrument itself. I say this because so many great musicians started out playing “inferior quality” instruments and rocked them like stars. They didn’t have instruments perfectly set up for them, but that didn’t stop them from expressing themselves with whatever they had.

So, with that as encouragement, I’d still say try to play any instrument with your natural hand, and your fingers will figure out how to work around any issues. We’re much more dexterous than we think! :slight_smile:

© 2020 Kyle Abbott