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- Jimi Hendrix. When the greatest electric guitarist of all time happens to be a lefty, choosing the greatest left-handed guitarist is simple. Have you thought about how Hendrix’s left-handedness influenced his technique, though?
- Kurt Cobain. It’s serendipitous that in 1991 the only decent left-handed guitar Kurt could find for sale was a Fender Jaguar. Its short scale undoubtedly influenced his playing style, and visually and sonically the guitar underlined the fact Nirvana’s music was a clean break from the 1980s mainstream.
- Tony Iommi. Iommi’s left-handedness is less significant to his unique sound than the loss of his fingertips in a work accident, but his awesome catalog of riffs certainly adds weight to the hypothesis that lefties are more creative.
- Albert King. Few would have suspected that the Flying V was capable of such subtlety before King got his hands on one. His reversed strings meant King had to pull down rather than push up to bend the high E and B strings, and this enabled his immense control.
- Jimi Hendrix
- Tony Iommi
- Dick Dale
- Malina Moye
- Paul Mccartney
- Zacky Vengeance
- Elizabeth Cotten
- Kurt Cobain
- Albert King
- Barbara Lynn
Jimi Hendrix is one of the greatest and most innovative guitar playersof all time, and he may have the unique way he used his hands to thank for that. Although Hendrix mostly played a right-handed guitar upside down with his left hand, he also often used his right hand to write and would sometimes use both hands when playing the guitar. Hendrix’s a...
The lead guitarist and co-founder of Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi, originally learned to play with a right-handed guitar held upside down. Over the years, he searched for a left-handed model when he finally found, oddly enough, a right-handed man who was playing a left-handed guitar upside down. The two met in a parking lot and exchanged guitars, and ...
Dick Dale became known as the king of the surf guitarwith his heavy rapid-fire guitar playing, which he says was his attempt at emulating the sounds of the ocean that he surfed as a young man in southern California. Dale, the guitarist for the Del-Tones, used a right-handed Fender Stratocaster that he flipped upside down and used extra thick string...
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Malina Moyemixes R&B, blues, and hard rock to create her own style. Moye came from a musical family. Her father is bassist George Moye, and both he and her mother have played with musicians such as Tina Turner. When Moye was a little girl, her dad gave her a right-handed guitar even though she was naturally left-ha...
Although Paul McCartney is best known for playing the bass, he did start his career as a guitarist for the Quarrymen. As a kid, his dad bought him a trumpet since trumpets were really popular at the time, but once he decided he wanted to sing as well, he traded it for a guitar. However, the Zenith he got was for a right-handed player, and McCartney...
Zachary James Baker, better known as Zacky Vengeance, is the rhythm guitarist for Avenged Sevenfold. Despite being left-handed, his first guitar was right-handed, which he learned to play upside down at the age of 13. Baker now has his own line of left-handed Schecter guitars, which all have his signature 6661 under the bridge. Zacky Vengeance was ...
At only eight years old, Elizabeth “Libba” Cottenlearned to play her brother’s right-handed banjo while he was at work. She would do her fingering upside down. After a few years, her brother moved away, so she got a babysitting and house cleaning job where her employer paid her 75 cents a month. After five months, she bought her first guitar for $3...
The verdict is still out on whether Kurt Cobain, Nirvana’s legendary frontman and lead guitarist, was completely left-handed. Although he called himself left-handed and usually played that way, he also wrote with his right hand and sometimes played with his right hand. Like Jimi Hendrix, Cobain was at least partially ambidextrous, which may explain...
Mississippi-native Albert King was the master and creator of his unique string-bending guitar style, influencing musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Like many left-handed guitarists, King learned to play on a right-handed guitar flipped upside down. He also tuned his guitar down one and a half steps and ...
R&B guitarist and singer-songwriter Barbara Lynntoured alongside other greats, including Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, and B.B. King in the ’60s. She began her career performing in local clubs throughout her home state of Texas before she got signed to Jamie Record in the early 1960s. Many people considered her extraordinary durin...
Feb 20, 2024 · A towering figure in the blues genre, King's upside-down, left-handed playing on his Flying V guitar contributed to his expressive, vibrato-heavy style. His influence on blues and rock guitarists is immeasurable.
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- Jimi Hendrix. 1942. Seattle, Washington, U.S. The Jimi Hendrix Experience. What better way to kick off this list than talking about the most iconic guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix!
- Albert King. 1923. Indianola, Mississippi, U.S. The “King of Blues Guitar,” a title he shared with Blues legends, Freddie and BB King.
- Tony Iommi. 1948. Birmingham, England. Black Sabbath. His lightning-fast solos and jaw-dropping minor-key riffing were genre-defining and precisely why Black Sabbath’s Toni Iommi is hailed as the “Godfather of Heavy Metal.
- Dick Dale. 1937. Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. Del-Tones. Dick Dale, hailed as the “King of Surf Guitar,” bought his first-ever guitar for $8 from a buddy on credit.
- Albert King. Blues guitarist/singer Albert King Nelson (1923 – 1992) is considered to be one of the legends of blues guitar. King is best known for "Born Under a Bad Sign," which was made even more popular when covered by supergroup Cream.
- Dick Dale. Surf-rock guitarist Dick Dale is considered to be an early influencer many heavy rock guitarists, including Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix.
- Kurt Cobain. Although not known for his guitar work, many consider Kurt Cobain to be a formidable player. Cobain played in a "traditional" way for a left-handed guitarist—meaning he uses all the same chord shapes as a right-handed guitarist would.
- Jimi Hendrix. Apparently Hendrix was naturally left-handed but—as was common at the time—he was pressured to learn to write, play guitar, etc. right-handed.
Oct 8, 2012 · Blues legend Albert King was not only left-handed, he was an upside-down player. King played right-handed guitars (usually Gibson Flying Vs) simply flipped over, so the low E string was nearest his feet.
Jan 19, 2023 · Doyle Bramhall II is a blues and left handed rock guitarist and producer from Texas, USA. He is arguably best known for his guitar work with both Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. Doyle plays left handed guitars but strings them upside down resulting in a unique playstyle. 23. Courtney Barnett
