If you’re left-handed and thinking about picking up the guitar, someone has probably already told you that you need a left-handed guitar. It makes sense on the surface. You write with your left hand, you throw with your left hand—so you should play guitar left-handed, right?
Not necessarily. And before you spend the money, there are some things worth knowing.
There’s No Such Thing as a Left-Handed Piano
Think about every other instrument out there. Piano. Trumpet. Violin. Flute. Saxophone. Cello. None of them come in a left-handed version. Left-handed people have been playing these instruments for centuries without anyone suggesting they need a mirror-image model. The guitar is really the only instrument where this idea took hold—and honestly, it has more to do with manufacturers realizing they could sell a separate product than it does with any real musical need.
Everything Feels Awkward at First
Here’s what actually happens when a left-handed person picks up a standard guitar for the first time: it feels awkward. Their fingers don’t cooperate. Nothing feels natural.
Here’s what happens when a right-handed person picks up a standard guitar for the first time: the exact same thing.
That initial awkwardness has nothing to do with which hand is dominant. It’s just what learning guitar feels like in the beginning. Both hands are doing things they’ve never done before. A right-handed beginner’s fretting hand feels just as clumsy as a left-handed beginner’s. The difference is that the right-handed person doesn’t have anyone suggesting the guitar must be the problem.
Your Dominant Hand on the Fretboard Is an Advantage
If anything, left-handed players have a built-in edge when they learn on a standard guitar. Your dominant hand—the one with better dexterity and coordination—ends up on the fretboard, which is where the most demanding technical work happens. Chord shapes, hammer-ons, pull-offs, barre chords, intricate finger placements—all of that is fretboard work. Having your stronger, more coordinated hand doing that job is not a disadvantage. It’s an advantage that right-handed players don’t get.
The Mirror-Image Problem
I have a student named Jason who came to me with a left-handed guitar. I teach him on it—no problem. But here’s what Jason deals with that none of my right-handed students ever think about: every piece of reference material in the world is written for right-handed players.
Every chord diagram. Every YouTube tutorial. Every instructional book. Every time I demonstrate something in a lesson. Jason has to mentally flip all of it—mirror-image everything before he can apply it. That’s not a one-time adjustment he made when he started. It’s an extra mental step on every single thing he learns, and it will be for as long as he plays.
It’s completely manageable. Jason does it. But it was also completely avoidable. If he’d picked up a standard guitar from the start, that extra cognitive step wouldn’t exist. He’d just see a chord diagram and play it.
Availability and Cost
This is the practical side. Most music stores carry one or two left-handed guitars for every hundred right-handed ones. Online selection is better, but still a fraction of what’s available for standard players. When you play left-handed, you’re shopping from a smaller pool for the rest of your life, and you’ll usually pay more for it. Manufacturers don’t produce left-handed models in the same volume, so the cost gets passed along to you.
Beyond shopping, there’s the everyday convenience factor. If you’re at someone’s house and there’s a guitar sitting in the corner, you can’t pick it up and play it. If a friend wants to let you try their new guitar, it doesn’t work. These aren’t dealbreakers, but they add up over time.
If You Already Have a Left-Handed Guitar
If you’ve already bought a left-handed guitar, don’t panic and don’t throw it away. The techniques are the same. The music is the same. You’re not at a disadvantage in terms of what you can learn or how good you can get. At Guitar Lessons Geauga, I’ll teach you on whatever guitar you show up with—left-handed included.
But if you haven’t bought one yet, that’s exactly why I wrote this. You don’t need one. Save yourself the extra cost, the limited selection, and the mirror-image headache. Pick up a standard guitar, push through the same awkward first few weeks that every guitarist goes through, and you’ll never think about it again.
The Bottom Line
Being left-handed does not mean you need a left-handed guitar. It means you’ll have your stronger hand on the fretboard, you’ll have access to every guitar and every piece of learning material ever made, and you’ll save money in the process. The awkwardness you feel picking up a standard guitar isn’t your handedness talking—it’s just the normal learning curve that everyone goes through.
If you live in Geauga County / Northeast Ohio, Guitar Lessons Geauga can help you become the player you’ve always wanted to be. Click the button below to request your FREE no-obligation trial lesson.
About The Author
Brian Fish is a professional guitarist who has been dedicated to helping other guitar players in Northeast Ohio pursue their musical dreams since 1994. He’s passionate about guiding others on their musical journey! He is the Guitar Playing Transformation Specialist, instructor, mentor, trainer, and coach at Guitar Lessons Geauga.
Brian has also created the fantastic rhythm course, “Ultimate Rhythm Mastery,” which is available at MusicTheoryForGuitar.com.