As I‘ve mentioned before, I play guitar left-handed. And I won’t get into the question of whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing (or a little of both). It is, however, fairly unusual. Anywhere from 7-10% of the population is left-handed, but go to a guitar store and see if 7-10% of the guitars are. It’s rare enough that I’ve only ever met a couple of other southpaw players, and that was only when buying or selling a guitar.
There have been a handful of greats, though, who play the “wrong” way. As a fun (and hopelessly subjective) exercise I thought I would put together a top 7 (get it? 7%?) list. Here goes:
1. Jimi Hendrix. This one’s a no-brainer. He would have been #1 on the list of greatest right-handed guitarists, too, if he had played right-handed. He played a variety of guitars, both built left-handed models and righty guitars with the strings flipped. The greatest rock guitarist of all time.
2. Dick Dale. The king of the surf guitar was was and continues to be innovative and inimitable. He plays Fender Stratocasters strung upside down (that is, strung as if for a right-handed player). His machine gun tremolo picking and lightning-fast runs were unlike anything anyone else was doing when he appeared on the scene.
3. Albert King. The Velvet Bulldozer. A tremendous blues frontman, he had a commanding and powerful stage presence and voice that complimented his muscular and agressive playing. He’s another guy who played guitars strung for right-handed players, which no doubt contributed to his unique voicing and phrasing.
4. Tony Iommi. A founding member of Black Sabbath, Iommi has as much claim as anyone else to the title “inventor of heavy metal.” Since 1969, Iommi has been cranking out classic metal riffs, from Iron Man to War Pigs to Sweet Leaf, along with some surprisingly sweet and sophisticated prog-rock-inspired interludes like A Bit of Finger and Planet Caravan.
5. Paul McCartney. Surely the man needs no introduction, but besides being a very musical and underrated bass player, McCartney played guitar on several Beatles songs. Later on in Wings and his solo efforts he played many of the guitar parts.
6. Kurt Cobain. Not a great technical player, but composed some classic riffs and songs, many of which are very deceptively hard to sing and play at the same time. Would be rated much higher if this list was based upon influence, but even as a guitarist he could hang with the greats. Interestingly enough, Cobain wrote with his right hand.
7. Omar Rodríguez-López. Pompous? Yes. Often annoying? Well, that’s my opinion, but yes. Say what you will, (and obviously I’m not a great fan,) the guitarist for At the Drive In and The Mars Volta can shred.
So, what do you think? Anyone I missed? Who should I move up the list?
I dont think Omar is pompous in any way. I read the guitar player article about him, and he feels he isnt a good guitarist, he wishes he were softer in his style, how is that pompous”
Posted by Jared on February 27th, 2010.
Jared,
You make an excellent point. It is fairly presumptuous of me to call Omar pompous based only on the media reports I have seen, which do not include the Rolling Stone article you mention.
My comment was largely based on the Wikipedia article, wherein Lopez states that he “began to see effects as allies in my war against the guitar” and that he “stated that film is a primary influence on him.” I found that these quotes belied a somewhat inflated self-opinion but I may well be wrong as I am not too familiar with Lopez’s music. Clearly I should give his ouvre a fairer shake before discounting it.
Thanks for the comment and the reminder that it’s easy to judge and far harder to perform.
Posted by Joel Anair on February 27th, 2010.
Writing (or reading) about music is like dancing about architecture.
Posted by shredder on March 12th, 2010.
paul mcartney should not be there!
Posted by jason on March 17th, 2010.
Nice post Joel.
Posted by mattie on July 3rd, 2010.