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When playing a conventional 鈥渞ight-handed鈥� stringed instrument such as a guitar or violin, the player uses their right hand to pluck the strings or hold the bow, and uses the left hand to stop the strings on the fret or fingerboard. Of these two types of action, the left hand appears to be doing much more complicated and extended fine-motor movements than the right hand. So why is this the preferred configuration of the instrument for right-handers? Left-handed instruments are available as mirror-image versions 鈥� Paul McCartney has guitars like this 鈥� which suggests some left-handers also prefer the same relative allocation of hand activities.
鈥� Television cameras frequently focus on the left-hand gymnastics of top performers. As a result, the importance of good bows, bowing and plucking are overlooked. The truth is, with a conventional 鈥渞ight-handed鈥� instrument, the dominant right hand is where the real action occurs. Bowing or plucking ability allows players to both produce and control the sounds that they craft into their interpretation of music.
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Left-hand fingering may look impressive, but once you learn the notes, that part of playing tends to become automatic. From there on the quality of each performance depends on the sound you produce with your right hand. In the case of the violin it depends on your ability to constantly vary the bowing speed, pressure, angle, distance from bridge, bounciness or smoothness and so on, to produce the end result you desire.
Plucking the guitar is just as complex, particularly for the right hand of a classical guitarist. This is where the music is 鈥渕ade鈥�.
Bows rarely make the headlines but they are much more sophisticated than just a stick. Good violinists realise the importance of a well-balanced and responsive bow, and top makes fetch thousands of dollars from performers and collectors.
Rod Kennedy, (A left-handed but conventional ex-professional violinist), Napier, New Zealand