Left-handed playing after right hand injury: can it be done?

[GabrielFrank]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post… I have an injury that means my right index finger is numb and weaker than before (looks like it's probably permanent). I can play with my left hand and have been practicing with it for a while, but I wondered if anyone has had experience with having to switch entirely to left-handed playing? Is it possible to get up to the same level of fluency? How long might it take with daily practice? I'm guessing years… or maybe never quite… I mean, I can play pretty well with the left but it lacks the "edge" you need for fluent improvising, precise rhythm, etc... I've seen some posts about left-handed playing but I really would like to hear stories from people who have had right hand injuries and know what it's like…

Also, any specific tips for improving the left hand's fluency (beyond normal practice) would be much appreciated.

[kehaulani]

Oh my, what do French Horn players do?

You just have to work at it. After playing trumpet, I switched to French Horn for my Freshman year in college. Back to trumpet and then back again to French Horn, again, for a couple of years in a service band. Just takes work.

The only significant difference I can see is the use of the valve slides for intonation. It might be a little tricky and you may need valve-slide triggers or find a horn that allows you to lip the squirrely notes into pitch without losing tone color.

If you want to go that route, I believe Schilke, Yamaha and Jupiter make left-handed trumpets as did King. There may be more out there.
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[Rogerrr]

I’m just speculating, but wouldn’t it help to start using your left hand more for other tasks too….like writing, etc….and maybe strength training etc
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[Subtropical and Subpar]

I will add that Carolbrass, and likely others, offer left-handed trumpets. Basically looks like a 'regular' trumpet in a mirror. See most of the way down here: https://www.carolbrass.com/products.aspx?getId=9A464C339A24D76A&getId1=59C956552B3C38AE
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[tomba51]

The great cornet soloist, James Burke played left handed because he only had the use of one arm.

John McNeil, the great jazz trumpeter, taught himself to play left handed when illness caused him to lose the ability to play with his right hand. He eventually recovered and now plays right handed again.

So it is definitely possible to play left handed.
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[dershem]

Jack Sheldon, after his stroke, had to learn to play left handed. he was never satisfied with it, but he always strove for better.
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[Jeff_Purtle]

I had a student years ago that fell through a glass door and severed tendons in his right hand. He had to play with his left hand for several months and did great. He ended up adding another pinky hook on the bell to help and called his trumpet "The Bull Horn."

Jimmy Burke played with his left hand because his right hand and arm didn't work like normal.

Jeff
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[peanuts56]

Never seen a left handed trumpet.
There’s a guy in Connecticut that plays lefty on a traditional right horn. I believe he teaches applied trumpet at one of the state colleges, possibly Central Conn. His right hand seems to have some kind of disability He’s an excellent player, jazz and legit.
High school band mate of mine plays trombone lefty. He had polio and is right side is severely atrophied. Graduated from North Texas and played in house bands in Las Vegas for a while.

[horfhorf]

I've played French Horn and Trumpet like instruments (trumpet, mellophone, cornet) for most of my life. You might have some challenges coordinating your fingers but I think it's mostly a mind game. Your brain already knows what to do. You only have to transfer it to your other hand.

Playing recorder has a similar mind game. Soprano and Tenor recorders use the same fingerings. Alto and Bass recorders use the same fingerings. The parts are not transposed so a middle C on a soprano recorder uses a different fingering than an alto recorder. When you switch, you have to switch gears in your brain.

I would guess Tuba players do the same thing when they switch from a C tuba to an F tuba (like for the Bydlo solo from Pictures).
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[Andy Cooper]

You might spend some time "mirroring" your left fingerings with your right hand on a table top. Go back to your Arban book and also scales - it's a matter of muscle memory.

[umum_cypher]

How strange, I am also in London and also switched to left hand early last year. I have been struggling with an issue with my right hand for four years and it was getting worse and worse. And my playing was entirely defined by the problem - spending all my time trying to fix it, changing what I played to accommodate it.

I spent a very, very long time reading, watching and practising different things. It was awful. One day I thought - just play left handed, who cares. It was a little slow at first, but soon got faster, and is now more uniformly fluent and clean than my right hand ever was, though I probably can’t rattle some things off quite as fast. I don’t think about it any more, and when improvising I do what my ears say rather than being vetoed by my fingers. Apart from trumpet players absolutely no-one notices that I am doing anything out of the ordinary.

Just go with it and practice as normal, I’d say.

[cheiden]

In high school I started doubling on French Horn and I was surprised how quickly my left hand caught up with my right.

I do agree that if this is permanent that you might look into a left-handed horn just so you don't have to struggle with the mechanics.
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[spitvalve]

John McNeil published a book on jazz trumpet technique many years ago where he advocated left-hand practice as a way to increase concentration, especially for learning difficult licks. I tried it; it works.

Trust your brain. It will be easier than you think.

You might want to do what Clark Terry did and have a finger hook put on the bell--he often played two horns back and forth, with the flugel in his right hand and the trumpet in his left.
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[peanuts56]

There's a guy in my neck of the woods who plays left handed. His right had is slightly deformed. I don't know him but have heard him play a few times and he's an excellent player. Pretty sure he was on the faculty at one of the state colleges. Good legit and jazz player.