When I perform in public listeners often
ask me why I hold my violin "differently" from other
players. Many comment that they've never before seen someone play
a violin left handed, that is, holding the bow in my left hand.
In comparison, If you look at any orchestra around the world,
you'll notice that every violinist is playing right handed! Its
been this way for hundreds of years. Right and left handed people
alike customarily play the violin right handed. Violin teachers
instruct all of their students to play right handed whether or
not they are naturally right handed.
I had a telling experience early on in my
career as a lefty violinist. I walked off stage after a performance
and a man approached me, smiled, patted me on the back, and said,
"Good job, we lefties have to stick together." I was
so surprised at the notion of a "lefty club," that I
didn't know what to say and just nodded at him. After that incident
I began paying more attention to whether people around me were
left or right handed in their activities. I eventually met several
other left handed musicians, who, noting how I played, and thinking
that I was left handed by nature, confided in me that they'd always
suspected that they would have been better players if they had
played left handed instead of right handed. I became fascinated
by this concept and decided to explore the roots of beliefs about
handedness.
I found it curious that people who didn't
know whether I was naturally right or left handed would say things
like, "It must be really difficult to play a violin backwards,"
as if there was some inherent reason why it should be easier to
play it right handed. All right handed persons know that skilled
tasks are performed better with the right hand than the left,
yet many of them seem to overlook the fact that lefties have an
equal and opposite reaction.
I also listened to such statements from
a very unusual perspective. Unlike almost every other violinist
in the world, I had first spent many years mastering right handed
violin playing, and then spent a similar amount of time learning
how to play left handed. Before beginning this immense task I
had previously developed a measure of ambidexterity by teaching
myself to write with my left hand in grade school to pass the
time during boring classes. I learned to do it fairly well, but
the final results were always less satisfying than writing with
my far more coordinated right hand.
As an adult professional violinist, I was
forced to switch to playing lefty due to a physical disability
in my right shoulder and soon recognized the close similarity
between hand writing and playing a violin. Like any righty who
finds it harder to do things with their left hand, I found it
harder to control the violin bow with my left hand than with my
right. But my love of violin playing made me persevere and I struggled
mightily so that I could once again perform professionally. When
I returned to public performance I soon encountered many right
handed "experts" who opined with an air of authority
on the topic of playing a violin left handed.
My left handed playing was a bit rough at
first and other violinists would often tell me that I was playing
the violin "wrong," and that it would be "easier
for me" if I would simply just play in "the correct
way." Few of them were interested to hear my explanation
as to why I was playing left handed. They were eager to point
out the "pitfalls" of playing lefty, such as, "it
looks funny," or, "it makes me dizzy watching you play,"
and, "no orchestra will hire you." Their comments didn't
slow me down since I had no interest in playing in orchestras,
and I was more concerned with how my playing sounded than what
it looked like to watch me play.
These critics also listed the supposed advantages for lefties who play right handed, such as, "fingering is easier for lefties," or, "you use both hands to play, so it doesn't make any difference which hand bows and which fingers the instrument." I discovered that these notions were clearly erroneous when compared to my own experiences and those of many people whom I interviewed for my book. In addition, I found many published quotes from famous violinists and conservatory violin teachers about the much greater importance of bowing a violin as compared to merely fingering it.
I found the common criticisms of left handed
violin playing to be based primarily on speculation which was
unsupported by any systematic study or collection of evidence.
And there were financial aspects as well. Many left handed individuals
have been talked into buying a right handed instrument by violin
teachers or music store salesmen who might proclaim, for example
that, "there is no such thing as a left handed violin,"
rather than let a commission escape their grasp.
I began my book project with a graduate
school background in the scientific methodology of experimental
design. Back in college I had nearly earned my Ph.D. when the
passion within me for actually performing music rather than just
studying about it finally won out, and I escaped to Nashville
to join a full time touring band as a country fiddler. I had learned
something important from my scientific studies however. I learned
that one can't legitimately draw conclusions of "fact"
unless there is a good body of evidence to support the facts.
I searched the scientific literature and discovered that scientific
evidence relating to the supposed disadvantages of left handed
violin playing doesn't exist. There were no scientific studies
on record where lefties playing violin right handed were compared
to lefties playing violin left handed.
As far as I could determine no one except
myself had bothered to learn to play violin both left and right
handed at a professional performing level and had studied the
experience in a systematic way. Yet evidence abounds which demonstrates
that both right and left handed individuals choose their dominant
hands for many other skilled activities. Except for a few disabled
individuals I could find no record of any healthy right handed
person who voluntarily chose to play fiddle left handed on purpose.
The reason is simple. Righties prefer to hold a pencil in their
dominant hand in the same way that lefties do. Most left and right
handed children alike tend to pick up and manipulate objects with
their chosen hand from an early age. When a violin bow is held
out to a child for the first time, righties usually take it in
their right hand and left handed kids usually take it into their
left hands at first, before the teacher points out the lefty's
"error."
I found one issue which clouds the handedness
question. That's the phenomenon of ambidexterity. Most tools and
implements in this world are designed for right handers, and by
learning to use them many lefties have a great deal of experience
in developing ambidexterity, and often express pride in this ability.
Some lefties often purposely choose to use their right hands for
certain activities as a child because the majority of their peers
or family members do it that way. Throwing a ball is an example.
With some extra work one can become good at manipulating the non
dominant limb. I experienced this myself when I learned to write
with my left hand as a child, practiced throwing frisbies left
handed in high school, and then as an adult learned to bow my
violin with my left hand. I'll admit that I feel pride in my left
handed violin playing accomplishment, the same pride that I hear
expressed when a left handed person tells me, "I write with
my left hand but I bat right handed at baseball."
Most lefties up until recent times were
literally forced by well intentioned teachers and family members
to primarily use their right hand. Several of the adult lefties
I've interviewed had attended grade schools in the '50s and '60s.
During that era most all school teachers would force lefties to
write with their right hands. Several people related to me that
their teachers actually tied their left hands down to their school
desks with a cord, in order to force them to use their right hands
to hold the pencil. Others had their left hands slapped with a
ruler by vigilant teachers who spotted them attempting left handed
writing. When they got into music, their music teachers also steered
them in a right handed direction. Since most school teachers in
the USA now allow lefties to choose their preferred writing hand,
Its amazing to me that 99.9% of violin teachers still adhere to
the archaic practice of forcing lefties to bow right handed.
One of my violin students of high school
age recently described to me how she resisted when as a child
her grandmother tried to make her write and eat with her right
hand. I initially taught her basic introductory bowing and fingering
exercises playing right handed and then followed with the same
instruction playing left handed on a left handed instrument. She
was asked to take both instruments home and practice each for
an equal amount of time. When she returned to my studio she appeared
to have equal skill on both instruments. When asked about the
experience she stated that she preferred to play with the left
handed violin because she "could handle the bow better."
She could finger the violins equally well with either hand.
In my book I've documented several amateur
left handed musicians, on violin, guitar, and mandolin, trained
to a moderate level of skill in right handed playing, who purposely
took the time and effort needed to relearn to play their instruments
left handed. And not surprisingly, they found that they could
actually play better left handed. I'm in regular contact with
many individuals interested in the handedness issue. One friend,
a classical violin teacher trained at a prestigious music school,
maintains a strong opposition to the idea of anyone playing violin
left handed. Another right handed friend who runs a private violin
school for children is very excited about the concept. After reading
my book she has changed more than a dozen of her naturally left
handed beginning students over to playing lefty violin.
She was delighted to report to me that the
lefties are making good progress, none worse, but most better
than when they played right handed. A violin teacher and former
student of mine consulted with me when he discovered that one
of his lefty fiddling students was being banned from a public
school music ensemble because he played left handed. The school
music teacher had insisted that he relearn how to play violin
all over again right handed.
Despite being a righty myself, I've become
a lefty advocate, and an activist even, but I've taken care in
my book to point out reasons why lefties might at least consider
playing in the traditional right handed way, despite their natural
inclinations. I think that my book gives them the information
they need to make an intelligent and informed decision.
I'm a firm believer in utilizing resources with maximum efficiency and utility in every aspect of human endeavor, whether it be encouraging the production of fuel efficient vehicles, turning an unused cubby into a storage space, or advocating that capable and willing disabled persons be offered gainful employment. I'm all for progress that results in a net gain for humanity. As a teacher and educator, my foremost task is to recognize and nurture the skills and talents of my students. To that end I strive to facilitate their musical progress in any way that I can, even if it means bucking a dubious establishment. Music making is a journey, often a fulfilling lifetime pursuit. There are many possible paths, many possible goals. The journey might lead solely to personal satisfaction and enjoyment in private playing. It might lead to a career in professional performance. My job is to facilitate the journey regardless of its endpoint.
Ryan Thomson is a string teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy and the author of "Playing the Violin and Fiddle Left Handed," which is the world's first book to challenge the prescription that all violinists must play right handed. ISBN 0-931877-42-3
Ryan Thomson
Music Department
Phillips Exeter Academy
20 Main Street
Exeter, NH 03833-2460