To answer questions like “are most guitarists ambidextrous?” it’s essential to define what “ambidextrous” means first. That’s a bit tricky, considering even scientists can’t agree on an exact definition for “handedness.” But you can extrapolate a possible number of ambidextrous guitarists based on the available statistics.
Most guitarists aren’t ambidextrous, but ambidextrous individuals make 1% of the world population. Suppose there are 712 million guitarists in the world. That means 71.2 million guitarists may be ambidextrous, meaning a huge number of guitarists could use both their left and right hands well.
This article will discuss what makes a guitarist ambidextrous, the names of well-known “ambidextrous” guitar players, whether handedness makes a difference in a guitarist’s musicianship, and whether ambidextrous guitars are available for people who can’t play traditional guitars.
Related: this is how guitarists make their solos, do fingerstyle guitarists need to have long nails, and do professional guitarists use tabs. New to this topic? Start with our self-taught guitar roadmap.
What Makes a Guitarist Ambidextrous?
If you want to talk about ambidextrous guitarists, you have to qualify what makes them ambidextrous in the first place. Does “ambidextrous” mean a guitarist with a dominant hand who can still strum with his weaker hand? Or a guitarist who doesn’t have a dominant hand at all and can strum with both hands?
A guitarist is ambidextrous when they can exceptionally use their right and left hands, although many argue that guitarists can’t be ambidextrous per se. Even Michael Angelo Batio is naturally left-handed, though he chooses to play his guitar right-handed.
Michael Angelo is arguably the world’s most famous “ambidextrous” guitar player who can rock his guitar in both hands, but that doesn’t mean he is necessarily ambidextrous.
As you’ll see in the next section, many so-called “ambidextrous” guitar players are lefties who choose to play guitars right-handed. Some of these names you’ll recognize, while others you’ll want to look up if you’re interested in ambidextrous guitar playing.
“Ambidextrous” Guitar Players
Many of the world’s “ambidextrous” guitarists are, in reality, people who prefer to play the guitar with their non-dominant hands. I’ll discuss them further shortly. Please note that this list doesn’t follow any particular order, and all of the people I mention are brilliant guitarists in their own right.
Michael Angelo Batio
Earlier, I mentioned that Michael Angelo Batio is possibly the world’s most famous “ambidextrous” guitar player. I also said that, in reality, he’s a leftie who happens to play guitar right-handed. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Batio says that right-handed guitar playing made his left hand stronger.
According to Guitar World magazine, Batio is also one of the world’s fastest guitarists. If you visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH, in early February 2012, you may have seen Batio’s signature Dean Mach VII Jet Double-Guitar.
Here’s a YouTube video of Batio playing double-guitar:
Jimi Hendrix
Does this man need an introduction? Even people who only have a casual knowledge of guitarists have heard of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix played a 1968 white Fender Stratocaster.
Psychologist Stephen Christman describes him as “mixed-right-handed” and argues that his particular handedness is the secret to his extraordinary musicianship. However, one writer for The Guardian points out that handedness may only be one contributing factor to Hendrix’s success as a guitarist.
Watch this YouTube video of Jimi Hendrix playing guitar:
Steve Morse
Jimi Hendrix is one of the many influences on Steve Morse, best known as the guitarist for Flying Colors and Deep Purple. Other than Hendrix, Morse names the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Who among the ten records that “changed his life.” Like Batio, he’s a left-handed guitarist who plays right-handed.
Here’s a YouTube video of Morse on a six-string guitar:
Vincent “Vinnie” Moore
Vinnie Moore has played for bands such as Alice Cooper and UFO. He uses Dean guitars and has previously endorsed Music Man guitars. Like Michael Angelo Batio and Steve Morse, he’s naturally left-handed but plays guitar in the right-handed style.
Here’s a YouTube video of Vinnie Moore playing guitar:
Gary Moore
Known for his high-energy blues style, the late Gary Moore was also a left-handed right-hand guitar player. Total Guitar calls him a “blues-rock guitar legend,” while Louder notes how Moore ultimately preferred blues to hard rock, even though the latter made him famous during the 80s. Moore’s best-known signature guitar was the 1959 Les Paul Standard (The Holy Grail).
Here’s a YouTube of Gary Moore playing guitar:
Duane Allman
If you’re a fan of Eric Clapton, he more than admired Duane Allman’s skills and teamed up with the latter to record “Layla.” Before Allman’s untimely death due to a motorcycle accident in 1971, he founded the Allman Brothers Band, with whom he played three Les Pauls. Like the others on this list, Allman was a southpaw who chose to play guitar the “traditional” (i.e., right-handed) way.
Here’s a YouTube video of the Allman Brothers Band:
Rik Emmett
Rik Emmett fronted the Canadian rock band Triumph between the 1970s and 80s before becoming a solo artist active to this day. He took less than a year to play a right-handed guitar as a southpaw. On his website, he endorses Gibson electric guitars and Godin acoustic guitars.
Here’s a YouTube video of Emmett playing guitar:
Albert King
I’m sure people have made tons of puns on Albert King’s last name. But he’s undoubtedly royalty as far as the blues genre is concerned.
Unlike most of the other lefties on this list, who forced themselves to play right-handed guitars the usual way, Albert King was more creative about adapting his handedness to his playing. He has played guitars while they’re upside down, restringed them, and created techniques to aid his musicianship.
Here’s a YouTube video of King talking about playing the custom flying V guitar left-handed:
Paul McCartney
Who hasn’t heard of the Beatles? You may know Paul McCartney as one of two surviving members of the world’s most famous rock band of all time. You may not know that he’s an anomaly among the guitar players on this list. Specifically, Paul McCartney is right-handed but forced himself to play left-handed guitar.
Here’s a YouTube video of Paul McCartney trying out a custom-made left-handed Les Paul Lite:
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain is an interesting case. To this day, people debate on whether he was left-handed, ambidextrous, or right-handed. In the last link, you can see him writing with his right hand, but Cobain plays guitar with his left and right hands. It’s worth noting that he went out of his way to have a guitar customized for his southpaw playing style, namely the Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar.
Here’s a YouTube video of Cobain on being a left-handed guitar player: