Looking for advice

Not sure if I am the right person to field this question but I'll do my best. The only disadvantage to playing left-handed is when walking into a guitar store, you'll notice the vast majority of guitars are made right-handed. There are also plenty of left-handed people who play the guitar right-handed mostly because of not having access to a left handed guitar when they started to learn.

If she switches from right-handed to left-handed, yes she will have to retrain her hands. She'll have a bit of a head start because she already has knowledge on how to play. However, to switch your fingering and strumming hands, it is pretty much starting over. Most people when picking up a guitar the right way are very awkward so I am not sure if switching would necessarily improve her playing. The good news is, she is only 10 and the younger you are, the easier you learn. If she picked it up easily, make sure, her complaining isn't more about her taking longer to learn her new more challenging material. People often hit plateaus while playing. I think the best thing you could do is have a discussion with her and her guitar teacher. That way the three of you could talk it out. She is so young that it wouldn't be that big of a deal to switch if it is really bothering her.

My one curiosity is why she started playing right-handed?

Thanks so much for your reply. I liked the thought that she may just be reacting to the increased difficulty of the pieces - I hadn't considered that. She started right-handed for a few reasons. With the exception of writing, she has a lot of right-handed skills - she swtich hits in baseball and also golfs right-handed. When she started lessons, her teacher recommended that if she could play right-handed she should, mostly to have more choice in her instruments and not to have to make accomodations in tabluture, etc. He wasn't opposed in any way to her playing left-handed, but he seemed to think it was worth a shot to see if she could go right. She seems to be OK with it, but I guess I worry a little that if it feels to unatural to her she might get frustrated or give up. We've talked to her about the pros and cons of switching, and she seems a little confused by it all. My current plan is to have her try out a few lefty guitars and see if she notices enough of a difference to make her want to switch.

Thank you again for your help!

My one curiosity is why she started playing right-handed?

In that first moment of contact, it doesn't feel any different either way round - they're both going to be hard and both feel as comfortable as each other. I did have a student switch from playing left-handed to playing right-handed a few years back, and I'm not sure it was a great idea - he never progressed from that day on, and eventually gave up.

I'm left-handed (in fact, most of us lefties are used to doing lots of things right-handed, and things like phones, calculators, PCs, remote controls and pianos are not made in left-handed versions) and play right-handed. A lot of people do.

I support the idea that it's a plateau thing that's arisen because of the challenge the current material presents.

Best,

A :-)

I'm a right-handed person playing guitar right-handed.

I've always wondered if lefties had an advantage since, (when playing rightie) it's the left hand that does the hard work of making the chord shapes, while (as a beginner, anyway) the right hand simply strums up and down. Wonder if you should point this out to her, that's it's her "favored" hand that does the more-difficult job of fretting when playing rightie.

If she already does some things (batting and golf) right-handed, I'd think she should be able to play guitar right-handed. Maybe she just needs some encouragement over this learning bump, and to better understand the long-term advantages of playing right-handed.

Margaret

FWIW, I'm a righty playing righthanded. I've always had more problems with picking hand rhythm than anything. Whichever hand you use, it takes a lot of work and practice.