Lefty appreciation thread

Lennytoons

Senior Member
I'm just curious how many true lefty drummers are out there. I play completely left handed including bass drum. Lots of folks play open handed and left hand lead but play the kick right footed. It's a pain being a lefty on jam night but most musicians I've played with are cool with me switching the drums around. Also, who are the great left-handed drummers? I can think of a few:
Phil Collins
Dennis Wilson ( not so sure he was great but a lefty)
Carter Beauford
Ringo ( Lefty who played right handed)
 
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Full Lefty here. My first drum teacher was also left-handed. I already make enough adjustments to a right-handed world that I decided to keep it real when I go to drum.

Famous lefty setups:
- Ian Paice
- Rod Morgenstein
- Bun E. Carlos (switched for a while, then went back to righty)
 
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There are two bands in our little bar circuit here that have lefty drummers. Kind of makes it a challenge when those bands are involved in any benefit that we're doing with 4-5 bands, and the gear is backlined ;) We had one such benefit with both those bands involved. We had one band with a righty start the show, then we dropped the kit from one of the leftys in front of the main kit, those two bands played next, then we pulled that kit back out for the rest of the show. a lot more moving pieces that we like for a five band benefit show, but we made it work.
 
I'm righty in almost everything, except drums where I'm complete lefty - left hand on the hats and ride , left foot on the bass drum . Hihat stand on the right , ride cymbal on the left. In soccer and football , martial arts I kick with my left foot naturally . Sitting in has always been problemical , but at the same time I had a gold plated excuse preventing drummers slicker than me from doing the same .

Go figure .
 
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Lefty drummers seem to be everywhere, always sneaking up on me with their mirror image drumkits. Granted it is the internet so we have the widest possible sample now.
But I always trip out a little when I'm checking out a forum member's Bio and the last thing I notice is their kit which happens to have the hihats on the right side! I mean the wrong side, lol. It has happend more than once here and so I'm just assuming there are quite a few more lefty drummers than I expected there to be.

I'm righty in almost everything, except drums where I'm complete lefty - left hand on the hats and ride , left foot on the bass drum
Aha, this might be what is causing the extra number of lefty drummers. The world makes sense to me again.
 
A favorite growing up was sitting in front of Mark Cranny with Zero Ted who was a lefty which added even more uniqueness to his personna. Also..listening to Bo solo around a sambal is something I'm going to strengthen in my own world. Love that.
 
I am very left handed and very right footed, so I play open handed. Peace and goodwill.

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When ever I use a multiple user kit like a benefit I only swap fl tom snare and hat. If I'm only playing a few songs I just close the hats and sit left handed not using hat foot at all and just deal with playing a right handed kit.
 
Ambidextrous playing lefty. I like the fact that drunks generally can't get up and play my kit. I feel that with my left being slightly weaker, it truly helped me become a better player leading with my left hand. My right hand can do things a true lefty can only dream of due to my ambidexterity.
 
I'm a lefty, but I play a right handed kit.
 
I'm just curious how many true lefty drummers are out there. I play completely left handed including bass drum. Lots of folks play open handed and left hand lead but play the kick right footed. It's a pain being a lefty on jam night but most musicians I've played with are cool with me switching the drums around. Also, who are the great left-handed drummers? I can think of a few:
Phil Collins
Dennis Wilson ( not so sure he was great but a lefty)
Carter Beauford
Ringo ( Lefty who played right handed)
Is Carter Beauford really left handed? He explains in his DVD:

- My left hand lead, started-- was like one of the first things that got me doing that, whole left thing. All of my equipment or my drums, my Hi-Hat, my Snare drum, everything was on the right side of my kit. And the reason for it being on the right side of my kit was every time I saw a drummer, I would take it the way I saw it, the drummer-- If I saw Buddy Rich, for instance, was one of the drummers that I saw in early age, and I set up my kit the same way that he had his kit set up. When I faced him his kit was Hi-Hat, Snare drum on the right. So I set my Hi-Hat, Snare drum on the right, and play cross hand, cross sticking the same way he did not realizing, that actually he was playing on to his left. And as a kid, I wasn't paying attention to that whole thing. I just want to emulate his every move. So therefore, everything was leading with the left.

He also prefers to write with his right hand:
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I learned left handed and play for about 5 years lefty, then switched over to right and play open handed on both the ride and hihats. I find lefty kits look weird, and people playing open handed (like myself) also look strange haha
 
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