pancelticpiper wrote:He invented all his own chord-shapes, which of course are completely different-looking than the usual ones.
Nah, he didn't. It is actually somewhat common. He's just flipped the guitar around as have many players. Unless he came up with unique tuning intervals between the strings the chord shapes remain the same, only the orientation of the neck differs. And there are lots and lots and lots of tuning schemes that most of us use - then there's Joni Mitchell.
Albert, one of the Three Kings, as has already been mentioned, played that way. Hendrix dabbled that way too.
I would offer Coco Montoya as one rather well known example of a guitarist employing that same upside down method.
When you don't prescribe to someone how to play an instrument, they will figure out their own method, if properly motivated to play.
Look at Stanley Jordan. He was a classical pianist before he picked up the guitar. He used his piano background as a frame of reference to visualize playing the guitar with a two handed tapping technique. He was not the first player to tap the strings but he was motivated to take it to a different place. Most anything is possible.
When you don't tell someone that "this is the only way" good things can be the result.
Other touch style guitarists play with the neck in an upright position to take advantage of the side-to-side symmetry of the human mind/body.
I've introduced many challenged individuals to slide guitar, lap style or Spanish style. It is a dis-service for us to teach music as though there is only one way to do things.
Peter Duggan wrote:But that's totally normal, and probably done by more left-handed guitarists than play left-handed guitars.
And I would submit that it is totally normal for left hand dominant individuals to play what we foolishly call "right-handed" woodwinds. Our whole mistake is to call them "right-handed" instruments. It sets up a left hand dominant individual with a possible prophecy for failure. Leave out the right versus left thing and all goes well, generally.
"Where there's a will ... ", you know how that one goes.
I'll shut up now.
Feadoggie
I've proven who I am so many times, the magnetic strips worn thin.
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