Guitars are made so that the lowest of the six strings is at the top, and the highest string is at the bottom. That way, the scales and chords can easily be formed and played. That only works for a right-handed player. Left-handed guitars are built the other way round, so that the neck points to the left and the strings are in the correct order.

But take a look at some of the most famous left-handed guitar players. They’re playing right-handed guitars. Jimi Hendrix is the best known example, but there are many others, including Kurt Cobain, Bobby Womack, and blues great Albert King.

They probably learned to play on borrowed right-handed instruments, or were given one by well meaning relatives who didn’t know lefties needed their own purpose-built guitar. Once they were successful, they could afford a left-handed guitar, but some never made the switch, and some never reversed the strings, teaching themselves to play entirely upside down.