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Contents
1Definition and guide
2Royalty and nobility
3Political and governmental leaders
3.1USA
3.2Other nationalities
4Criminals
5Artists
6Authors
7Musicians and composers
7.1A-C
7.2D-F
7.3G-J
7.4K-M
7.5N-R
7.6S-Z
8Actors/actresses
9Film directors
10Athletes
10.1American Football
10.2Baseball
10.3Basketball
10.4Billiards and snooker
10.5Bowling
10.6Boxing
10.7Cricket
10.8Fencing
10.9Figure-skating
10.10Football (soccer)
10.11Golf
10.12Ice Hockey
10.13Motor sport
10.14Rugby Union
10.15Tennis
10.16Wrestling and professional wrestling
10.17Team Handball
10.18Other sports
11Philosophers
12Miscellaneous
13Disputed left-handed people / Ambidextrous
14References
15See also
Definition and guide
A left-hander is a person who is more skillful with the left hand than with the right: a left-hander will probably (but not limit to) use the left hand for tasks such as personal care, cooking, and so on.
Writing with right hand alone does not necessarily indicate one's right-handedness. The world is right-handed-dominant, and many natural born left-handers were forced to write with their right hand. Consequently, a lot of born left-handers may write with their right hand but use the left for everything else.
However, if a person writes left-handed then he is most likely left-handed.
People who are forced to use their left hand because their right hand is not available for use (for example, due to injury or disease) should not be included on this list.
Contrary to popular belief, left-footers are not necessarily left-handed, which causes much confusion when it comes to famous soccer players. While many left-footed players like Arjen Robben are known to be left-handed, there is actually a high percentage of soccer players that are left-handed while being right-footed such as Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Gerald Ford was a partially-switched left-hander. Extensive newsreel footage and photographs document that Ford was left-handed when sitting but right-handed when standing. [7]
Nelson Rockefeller - Failed at childhood conversion to right-handedness. At the dinner table during Rockefeller's boyhood, his father tied a string to Rockefeller's left wrist and yanked it viciously every time the boy used his left hand. [13]
Left-handed people play guitar or electric bass in one of three ways: (1) play a right-handed guitar right-handed, (2) play a true left-handed instrument (or a right-handed instrument that has been altered to play left-handed, i.e. with the bass strings on top), or (3) turn a right-handed guitar upside down, pick with the left hand, but leave the strings as they were — which makes them reversed from the normal order for a left-handed player. Classical guitar is only played one way regardless of the handedness of the player, as is done throughout classical music. Orchestral instruments have uncommonly been played in a "left-handed" fashion by some entertainers, but this is virtually unheard of in the classical music world, and would be viewed as playing incorrectly if one were to attempt to undertake a classical audition playing an instrument with the hands reversed or the instrument altered.
Left-handed drummers also have a variety of methods to play a drum kit: (1) simply play the standard right-handed way (e.g. Ringo Starr, Travis Barker), (2) have the kit set up in the mirror image of a standard right handed kit, so the hi-hat is on the right, the ride cymbal is on the left, the snare drum is struck with the right stick, the tom-toms descend to the left, etc. (e.g. Phil Collins, Ian Paice), or (3) open handed drumming method, which is to play a standard right-handed kit with a left-handed method, using the right stick for the snare and the left stick on the hi-hat and ride cymbals (typically, the ride cymbal's moved to the same side of the kit as the hi-hat) (e.g. Simon Phillips, Carter Beauford.) The third method has two distinct advantages: 1. Left-handedness does not inherently correlate with left-footedness, and the right-handed set up keeps the bass drum and hi-hat pedals on the correct sides; 2. Open handed drumming allows for a much higher, stronger and generally freer downstroke with both hands in the standard time-keeping arrangement (i.e., strong hand on the hi-hat and weak hand on the snare drum) than cross-sticking does.
Charlie Chaplin - Played a left-handed violin. He had a normal violin modified, switching the chin rest and sounding post from the left side to the right, and he re-strung the violin with the pitches reversed.
Chloe (Smoosh) - Plays a right-handed drumkit open-handed.
Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) - Learned to play the guitar by left hand and wrote with left hand. Learned to write and lead off on drums with his right hand.
Ginger Fish (Marilyn Manson) - Plays drums both left and right set up, but usually appears with right handed set up because most Marilyn Manson songs are 'rock oriented,' as Ginger says in an interview with Guitar Center, which is easier for him to play with a right hand set up (as opposed to left handed set up for 'swingy beats').
Jimi Hendrix - Wrote right-handed, played guitar left-handed, usually a right-handed Fender Stratocaster guitar turned upside down and restrung for a left-handed player. In James Brown's backing band, played guitar right-handed. Often referred to as ambidextrous, and was capable of playing guitar right-handed too.
Daniel Johns (Silverchair/The Dissociatives)- Forced to be right handed at an early age. Many speculate Johns has gone insane which may be linked to this forced change in his dominant hand.
Harpo Marx - The only left-handed Marx Brother, taught himself to play the harp without realizing he was playing it incorrectly. He placed the harp on his left shoulder instead of his right.
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