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Switching from right handed guitar to left handed

by Charles garito
(Staten island, n.y.)

I'm right handed and began learning to play classical guitar about a year ago. I now find there are certain fingerings I have difficulty with because the middle finger of my left hand cannot bend at the tip due to a childhood injury. what issues do I face in making the switch?

Hi Charles,

Switching from right handed guitar to left handed, especially if you're a natural right-hander, seems an extreme solution to your problem.

Have you tried coming up with alternate fingerings and chord voicings for the music you want to play? In other words you might leave out a certain note or change its position on the fret board so that it still sounds correct but you can finger the notes.

Additionally, have you exhausted all the medical possibilities where you might get some movement or control back into the affected finger?

It just seems as though it would be a very labor intensive and time intensive way to solve your problem. And don't forget that your finger problem would possibly be transposed to the other job of plucking the notes which may cause your tone to be affected.

I hope this has been of some help to clarify things in your mind before you proceed.

Kind regards,
Trevor M.