On August 13, we celebrate the International Left-Handed Day, a celebration that since 1976 aims to publicize and help reduce the difficulties left-handed people encounter in a predominantly right-handed society. Today we want you to meet left-handed artists who have shown that when it comes to music, talent does not depend on right or left-handed.
Approximately one in 10 people in the world is left-handed and statistically the left-handed is more frequent in men than in women. There are several myths, unfounded about lefties, such as that they are smarter, more introverted, that they have a greater tendency to leadership, that they have learning problems, that they get sicker, etc. Left-handed, In fact, according to a study by a Chicago researcher, most chimpanzees in the wild are left-handed, unlike captive-bred, which are usually right-handed.
Lefties have an advantage in some sports like soccer, boxing and tennis. Being a minority and being used to facing righties gives them a considerable advantage. Among the most relevant left-handers are Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Alan Turing, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Miguel Ángel, Rubens, M.C. Escher, Van Gogh, John McEnroe, Maradona and our most famous left-hander Rafa Nadal.
But what about music? The representation is very complete and of great quality: Mozart, Beethoven, Gary Moore, James Roote, Kurt Cobain, Noel Gallagher, Sting, Al McKay, Mark Knopfler, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop … they are just a sample of the lefties who have passed for the music.
Many of them had to adapt to instruments made by and for right-handed people, such as:
- Jimmy Hendrix: Considered one of the best guitarists in history. Hendrix (1942-1970) was born left-handed, but his father forced him to play as a right-hander, because the left-hander was considered a sign of the ‘devil’. In the absence of adapted instruments, he learned to play in all positions: right-handed, left-handed with the guitar reversed without rearranging the strings, and left-handed with the strings in the traditional position (bass up and treble down).
- Paul McCartney: The 71-year-old British multi-instrumentalist, famous as a bass player for the Beatles, always played with the bass and guitar reversed, but with the strings normally arranged (bass up and treble down). However, he continues to play the piano and drums as if he were right-handed.
- Ringo Starr: Another Beatle, on drums and also left-handed since birth, was forced to write with his right hand. By shooting his career to stardom, he armed his drums as if he were right-handed, forcing him to take the drumsticks like hammers, and not in the classical form of jazz, as was common at the time.
- David Bowie: From the age of 9 the British already played the flute, ukulele, bass and piano. But due to lack of conditioning, he got used to playing the guitar as a right-hander, something that never bothered him.
Enjoy a nice moment left-handed guitarist Al McKay left us with his inverted guitar versioning September in the second edition of the Smooth Hot Jazz Festival:
If you want to know the most complete list of left-handed musicians you will find it here.
Happy Left-Handed Day!
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