Is It Just Me?

[West R Lee]

Or was Dan Seals playing guitar upside down?



I don't just mean playing a right handed guitar left handed, but with the strings upside down?

West

 

[GGJaguar]

Well... yup. How 'bout that!

 

[walrus]

He was. Always did. And a bit of trivia I never knew for years is that his brother was Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts! Talented DNA...

 

[Uke]

Almost makes me seasick. Such a nice voice, though.

 

[walrus]

BTW, there was guy who played like that at an open mic I used to go to years ago. Supposedly he used his brother's guitar for years as a kid, and just played it that way.

It definitely had a different sound because of that. And watching him play it up close was very disorienting!

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Other "upsidedowners":
•Albert King
•Dick Dale
•Otis Rush
•Eric Gales

 

[West R Lee]

Here's an acoustic rendition you won't hear on the radio. Man, just beautiful!



West

 

[RBSinTo]

Other "upsidedowners":
•Albert King
•Dick Dale
•Otis Rush
•Eric Gales

Minnesota Flats,
Don't forget Elizabeth Cotten, who wrote and recorded "Freight Train".
RBSinTo

 

[silverfox103]

Must be fun figuring out chords.

Tom

 

[Midnight Toker]

There are many people that play guitar (and bass) strung w/ high E on top, low E on the bottom. As mentioned, it starts by lefties who learned to play on others' instruments. Check out Doyle Bramhall II rip it up playing goofyfoot starting at the 30 min mark. (Even Ringo is a lefty that plays on a righty kit...it's how he first started and never went back. It's also what gives his fills a unique "stutter".)

 

[West R Lee]

I'd seen old videos that were fuzzy and thought he might have played like that, but the resolution on that first video is clearer, and you can hear the bass strings at the bottom. It may be a thing, but I'd never seen it.

So then the question is.....is this technique self taught only, or are there published lessons somewhere to teach you to play upside down? As Silverfox mentioned....an entire unique repertoire of chords?

West

 

[twocorgis]

Don’t forget Jimi Hendrix!

In Dan Seals’ case, this might be the one time I’d prefer dual pickguards on a Guild.

 

[Midnight Toker]

Don’t forget Jimi Hendrix!

In Dan Seals’ case, this might be the one time I’d prefer dual pickguards on a Guild.

Hendrix was just a righty guitar strung standard lefty. We're talking lefties that learned on righties strung righty, played w/ the strings still upside down! High E on top, low E on the bottom.

 

[West R Lee]

Don’t forget Jimi Hendrix!

In Dan Seals’ case, this might be the one time I’d prefer dual pickguards on a Guild.

I knew Hendrix played left handed, but was unaware he played upside down.

West

 

[West R Lee]

Hendrix was just a righty guitar strung standard lefty. We're talking lefties that learned on righties strung righty, played w/ the strings still upside down! High E on top, low E on the bottom.

Yes Sandy.....so I could have handed on of my guitars to Dan Seals, he would have turned it upside down and started playing. Amazing really.


West

 

[RBSinTo]

Must be fun figuring out chords.
Tom

Tom,
If that's the way one always played, it likely isn't any more difficult for them figuring out how to play chords they have never seen before than for those of us who play right-handed.
As for the cowboy chords they play often, once they're played a few times, like the righties, they become second nature.
RBSinTo

 

[twocorgis]

Hendrix was just a righty guitar strung standard lefty. We're talking lefties that learned on righties strung righty, played w/ the strings still upside down! High E on top, low E on the bottom.

Goes to show what I know! I always thought Hendrix played that way, and I get I just wasn't watching closely enough.

 

[walrus]

Paul McCartney had a habit of grabbing any guitar, and could apparently play with the low E on the botton and the high E on top.

Here he is with John's Rickenbacker:



Here he is with John's Gibson J160E:




But normally, he swapped the strings. I always thought it was weird that although he restrung his Epiphone to be low E on top, he never took the pickguard off. That would drive me crazy!

 

[RBSinTo]

Paul McCartney had a habit of grabbing any guitar, and could apparently play with the low E on the botton and the high E on top.

Here he is with John's Rickenbacker:



Here he is with John's Gibson J160E:




But normally, he swapped the strings. I always thought it was weird that although he restrung his Epiphone to be low E on top, he never took the pickguard off. That would drive me crazy!

Walrus,
Probably the reason the Queen knighted him.
RBSinTo

 

[12 string]

Elizabeth Cotten also played upside down and backwards.



Most fingerpickers learn this song early on.