Because idiodexterity is a handedness approach, it has different implications depending on the more general handedness of the person. For example, Earl May – the jazz bassist who inspired this research in the first place – was strongly left-handed, like many idiodextrous musicians. This means that while the key conditions for idiodexterity are met (holding the instrument in such a way that the order of the strings in relation to the body is ‘inverted’), the roles of the hand are the same as they would be for a conventionally left-handed bassist (such as the ones interviewed here).
Idiodextrous guitarist Eric Gales, on the other hand (pun shamelessly intended), is right-handed. He has said that it has felt ‘comfortable since day one’ to flip a conventionally ‘right-handed’ guitar over and play it in the way typically considered to be ‘left-handed’. So for Eric Gales, not only does his approach challenge the normative order of the strings in relation to the body, it also defies the traditional roles assigned to the hands throughout the known history of string instruments: that the dominant hand is in charge of sound production (plucking, picking, bowing, etc.), while the non-dominant hand is assigned to pitch control (stopping, fingering, fretting, bending, etc.).
(See the CHALLENGING TRADITIONS page for more information and to contribute to the debate on whether these traditions make sense).
Even within the limits set by the current definition of idiodexterity, there are subtly different permutations. Two idiodextrous guitarists who visibly appear to be holding the instrument the same way may be dealing with different physical consequences based on their invisible ‘handedness stories’.
Next article: What is a handedness story?
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