A LEFTY PLAYS BACH

Hans-Ludwig Becker is a left handed European cellist who has listed 27 videos of himself playing various Bach Suite movements. After losing his left pinky in an accident he re-dedicated himself to learning the cello left handed. His dedication is inspiring and should send us all back to the practice room! You can see the rest of his videos here.



*Update*

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your message and your interest for my left handed playing. The story is quite simple: I started playing cello at the age of seven. Two years later I had a stupid accident with my bicycle and cut one finger on my left hand. The situation at this time was, that in our big family everybody was playing an instrument and my parents wanted me to continue with the cello. So the only possibility was to get an instrument changed, which is quite expensive and not healthy for a very old and fragile instrument. But all the three cellos I have didn't suffer of this "operation".

Later on I studied with Karine Georgian, Johannes Goritzki and on masterclasses with Daniil Shafran, became principal cellist for seven years in a small German opera house. Since nine years I've been 2nd soloist of the Flemish Opera Antwerp/ Ghent.
From my experience I can say, that many orchestras don't accept "the other way 'round", but luckily there are some which do accept.

Your question, what strings I am playing: A and D "Jargar", G and C Wolfram spirocor. I tried for A and D different ones, but came back to Jargar, because of the sound. The weak point is that you cannot play very long on them.

I hope you got the right information. Let me still say you, that you play the Bach beautifully. I didn't have the time to check all your videos, but in one of these days I will do.


Best greetings from Belgium,
Hans-Ludwig Becker