When one watches a guitarist or bassist on stage, it is not unusual to see they are playing as a right-handed instrumentalist. Learning to play bass or guitar is difficult for anyone, so what do about 10% of the world’s left-handed people go through? While chords are usually formed with the left hand, strumming is done with the right. It is the opposite case for lefties who take to the stage, and such was the case with Paul McCartney, one of pop’s most famous left-handed guitarists and bassists. It may seem unusual that Paul, in addition to many other famed left-handed guitarists, is able to do the hard work in forming precise chords with a less dominant right-hand, while strumming is done with the left. It is also common knowledge that in the early days of the Beatles, Paul also mastered left-hand bass.

Paul has owned more than a fair share of left-handed rare guitars and basses. McCartney played one of the very few 1960s Sunburst Gibson Les Paul guitars made in that year, an ultra rare topic of interest amongst guitar geeks and Beatles fans alike. He is known to have played at least several basses consistently throughout his career in the Beatles. While he started out on a six string guitar, a period when a fellow band mate left the band the Berlin period. His first stint on bass was with a 1961 Hofner Bass. Whether it was made for Paul or just purchased in Hamburg, no one knows.

A rumor mill has always existed stating that Paul was really a right-hand man in real life. This was found to lack any truth as Paul has gone on record stating firmly that he is definitely left-handed. Many fans speculate that it may have been Philip Norman, author of “Shout!”, who wrote that McCartney had tried to play his first guitar, bought with fifteen pounds, but couldn’t achieve much at first. It wasn’t until he learned the guitar had been made for a right-hand player that he took it to be altered for his use, although was “right-handed for every other purpose”. Norman states that Paul found he could only play with this left hand. It is difficult to say where Norman sourced this information, but author Mark Hertsgaard additionally asserts that Paul was only a leftie on stage. The authors may have gotten this idea from Paul’s ability to sign fan autographs with his right hand.

Considered the most prolific and successful singer and songwriter of all time, Sir James Paul McCartney has no peer. His fortune borders on the legendary with such notables as Andrew Carnegie, and his fame is unparalleled. Hailing from Liverpool, United Kingdom, Paul McCartney is the left-handed bass guitar player of the Beatles. Who hasn’t hummed those haunting notes of “Yesterday?” It’s the most covered song in history. Symphonies play Yesterday; Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra covered it, and Paul McCartney penned it.

Sir Paul was born in war torn Britain in 1942, and began on his esteemed career in 1957 when he met and joined John Lennon in the Quarrymen. The band changed its name several times before settling on the name the Beatles. Ringo Starr and George Harrison had joined the band by the time name was worked out, and the rest is history. The Beatles changed not only the music industry, but had a strong and lasting influence on cultural changes throughout the world.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles eighth album, was hailed by Time Magazine as historic, and it won four Grammy Awards. The album came after the band officially retired from touring, and it was during this time that McCartney came up with the idea for Sgt. Pepper. It’s considered the world’s first concept album, and Rolling Stone Magazine ranks it as the number one album of all time on its list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

In 1970, the Beatles broke up, and Sir Paul launched a solo career with his wife Linda Eastman and Denny Lane formerly of the Moody Blues. Eventually a new band was developed and Wings was born. Wings went on to make its own history. My Love and the Academy Award-winning Live and Let die were said to be symphonic rock by music professors, and the Band on The Run album was on the charts for 124 weeks.

Sir Paul has won 21 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two times. He was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997, and his Coat of Arms is a bass guitar. The list of his awards and honors is a long one, and he holds more than 3000 copyrights. He has sold more records than anyone else in history, but Sir Paul is finished yet. He still tours the world writing, singing and playing with his left-handed bass guitar.