- When you first pick up the cigar box guitar, work out what feels the most comfortable way to play.
- Try holding the neck in the right hand as well as in the left hand. Which feels more comfortable?
- Use the first finger of your fretting hand to press down across all 3 strings- do you have a preference for one hand over the other?
- Try strumming up and down- do both feel equally comfortable or is up strumming really tricky?
- Look at some chord charts. You can use the same chord charts and tab as a right-handed player.
- Even If you reverse the strings to make a left handed guitar you can use the same chord charts.
- A 3 stringed cigar box guitar tuned in open tuning has the same top and bottom notes, an octave apart.
- However, you may prefer to mirror the chord charts so that the bass note and top note are reversed.
- You can choose to play right-handed or left handed once you have decided which feels more comfortable.
- You can play a right-handed instrument left-handed and learn to strum up to go from bass to top string.
- Reversing the strings means you will want to reverse the nut and bridge too so that the strings will sit well in the grooves.
| preference | left-handed guitar | right-handed guitar |
| neck held in left hand | no | yes |
| strum with left hand | yes | no |
| fret with left hand | no | yes |
| right-handed chord charts | yes | yes |
| strum down for bass to top | yes | no ( unless you play it right-handed) |
Altering A Right-Handed Instrument To Left-Handed
If you learn to play left-handed by reversing the strings or by requesting a left-handed guitar ( or building your own) you will always need to play a left-handed guitar.
This does mean that by learning to play a left-handed guitar you won’t be able to play anyone else’s right-handed guitar if you are away from your own guitar. However in the many years I have played guitar I’ve never played anyone else’s guitar.
If you reverse the strings, remember to turn the nut and the bridge around too. If you don’t the strings will not fit into the grooves and you are likely to get a buzz on the strings or have problems with intonation if the string sits too high.
See these articles coming soon for information on the nut and bridge.
Pros Of Learning To Play Right-Handed If You Are Left-Handed
If you play your cigar box guitar as if you were right-handed, you’ll find that any tab will be written in a way that you cn play immediately without any alteration. You will be strumming with your weaker non-dominant hand but you will have a strong advantage when it comes to fretting which is a great advantage for cigar box guitar. Chord shapes and intricate melodies will also be easier for you.
In fact it’s a bit strange that the dominant hand does the strumming and picking which some might think is the easier part of playing. However you need to consider that the guitar is as much a rhythm instrument as it is an instrument to play chords and melody.
Piano players need to learn to play with both hands equally- it’s a skill. Similarly violin players in an orchestra all play right-handed so that the bow doesn’t end up hitting other performers.
Pros and Cons Of Left And Right-Handed Guitars
| left-handed guitar | right-handed guitar | |
| fretting | fret with your right hand | fret with your left hand |
| strumming | strum with your left hand | strum with your right hand |
| cost of bought instrument | can be more expensive | often less expensive |
| cost of self-made instrument | no more expensive | no less expensive |
| difficulty of altering instrument | not applicable | not difficult for a cigar box guitar |
How Can Left-handed Players Read Guitar Chord Charts For Cigar Box Guitar?
Left handed chord charts for 6 string guitar players will need to be reversed if a left-handed player plays the guitar left-handed unless they learn to reverse everything in their heads. This is not as impossible as it sounds but it definitely a skill that needs learning.
However for 3 string cigar box guitars in open tuning there is not the great need for swapping the chord charts over. In fact I wondered if there was any need to use left handed chord charts at all?
For a cigar box guitar in open tuning whether that is open G with strings tuned G D G, open E with strings tuned E B E or any other tuning that follows this I IV I pattern, the bass and top string are the same note.
As a right-handed player, playing a right-handed instrument, I sometimes play chords as a mirror image if it is easier as long as it sounds OK. I find some stretches onto my little finger very tricky especially on the first four frets. The notes will be the same but the bass note will become the highest note.
This is what I mean: playing an E chord shape on a G D G guitar can have the notes in the order B E G#. The B is played on the 4th fret of the bass string, the E on the 2nd fret of the second ( middle) string and the G# is on the 1st fret of the top string.
This chord shape could be reversed to be 1st fret bass string, 2nd fret on middle string and 4th fret of the top string. These is called inversions and both are E chords.
If you would prefer to write out left-handed chord charts for yourself, here is a link to a pdf download of a page of blank chord charts:
In the future, I hope to provide left-handed chord shapes and tabs for my postings, so check back later.
How Can Left-handed Players Read Guitar Tab For Cigar Box Guitar?
Similarly, if you can train yourself to read guitar tab so that the top line of the tab is the top ( highest pitch) string of the guitar whether that is left-handed or right-handed, you can play any tab.
If that’s too tricky, here is a link to a pdf download for blank 3 string tab so that you can write out the tab for yourself:
Further Reading
I have many articles on this blog for beginners to cigar box guitar. I recommend that you click over to my absolute beginner’s guide here which we give you a basic introduction to the world of cigar box guitars. The menu at the top of the page will help you to navigate around to articles that may interest you.