Ukuleles are not really right-handed or left-handed: most have a symmetrical body, and the parts that care are the nut, which sets the string order, and on some models the saddle. So a left-handed player has three honest options. None is wrong. The one to avoid is switching between them every week.
01 Option 1: play right-handed
Plenty of left-handed people play a standard ukulele right-handed. The fretting hand (your left) does the finger-placement work, and the strumming hand mostly keeps time. Everything you buy, borrow or look up matches without translation. Try it for two or three weeks before deciding it is not for you.
02 Option 2: flip it and restring
Hold the ukulele the other way round and swap the strings so the order is mirrored: the A string goes back nearest the floor and the G string nearest your face. Now your right hand frets, your left hand strums, and every chord shape is the mirror image of the right-handed one. This is what most dedicated left-handed players do.
- The nut slots are cut for particular string thicknesses. Swapped strings may sit too loose or too tight; a technician can recut or replace the nut.
- Some ukuleles have a slanted saddle for intonation. If notes up the neck sound out of tune after flipping, the saddle may need turning or replacing.
- Many shops sell left-handed ukuleles already set up this way.
03 Option 3: flip it and don't restring
Some players simply turn a right-handed ukulele over and learn the shapes upside down. It works, but every chord shape is different from both standard and mirrored charts, so you will be working out each one yourself. It is the hardest route if you are learning from charts.
04 Reading chord charts left-handed
A standard ukulele chord chart is drawn as if the neck is standing up facing you, strings left to right G, C, E, A. On a flipped and restrung ukulele you see the strings the other way round, so the chart must be mirrored: A, E, C, G from left to right, with each dot in the mirrored column. Tab is less of a problem: it lists strings and frets, and the string names do not change when the instrument flips.
05 Left-handed charts in Soloist Ukulele
Soloist Ukulele has a left-handed setting at setup and in Settings. When it is on, every chord diagram in the app is drawn mirrored from the same fingering data, with the fourth string on the right, the way a flipped and restrung ukulele looks from the player's side. The lessons are drawn, not filmed, so there is no right-handed video to translate. It works in all four tunings the app supports. It does not draw charts for an unrestrung, upside-down ukulele.
Related reading
Questions
Can a left-handed person play a normal ukulele?
Yes. Many left-handed players learn right-handed, because the fretting hand does much of the detailed work. If that feels wrong after a few weeks, flipping and restringing the ukulele is a common and reversible change.
Do I have to restring a ukulele to play it left-handed?
If you want to use standard left-handed chord charts, yes: flip the instrument and reverse the string order so the A string is nearest the floor again. Playing it flipped without restringing also works, but every chord shape is different and ordinary charts will not match.
How do I read chord charts as a left-handed player?
A standard chart shows the neck as a right-handed player sees it, with the G string on the left. For a flipped and restrung ukulele, mirror it left to right: the A string is on the left and the G string on the right. Mirrored left-handed charts do this for you.