Top 10 Ambidextrous Musicians

Ambidextrous players can use their right and left limbs equally well. This indicates better interaction between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

I find ambidexterity most fascinating in drummers because it is especially useful.

There are two types of ambidextrous musicians on this list:
- Musicians who use their ambidexterity in music (they are more important and more interesting for this list).
- Musicians who do not make use of it in music (e.g., they play with their left hand but eat with their right).

The Top Ten

  1. Ludwig van Beethoven

    Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include nine symphonies, five piano concertos, one violin... read more

    A biographer said he'd seen Beethoven use his left hand when composing. But Beethoven painted with his right hand. So he was probably ambidextrous.

    I always hesitate whether to put Beethoven or Mozart higher because both are amazing. But Beethoven was deaf. A deaf musician of his caliber impresses me, so he's higher than Mozart for this reason.

    I always preferred him over Mozart. Mozart is a bit too light-hearted, happy, and major-heavy for my taste. His Requiem is a masterpiece, though. As Linda Spa used to tell her class, Mozart was a bit of a showoff.

    But Beethoven is more dramatic, bombastic, and graceful. Even his more upbeat, cheerful music feels more gripping and not as over the top.

  2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era, born in Salzburg. He composed more than 600 works, including symphonies, operas, chamber music, and choral pieces. His most famous compositions include... read more

    He wrote and composed with both hands. Historians believe Mozart was naturally left-handed, but at the time left-handers were forced to write with their right hands, so Mozart learned how to do it with both.

  3. Mike Mangini

    Mike Mangini is an American drummer known for his technical proficiency and teaching expertise. Since 2010, he's been the drummer for the progressive metal band Dream Theater, following the departure of founding member Mike Portnoy. Mangini also holds several world records in drum speed and has served... read more

    One of my favorite drummers. He is American of Italian descent, and ambidexterity probably runs in the family because in Italian "the surname Mangini is a name for a person who was equally adept and skilled in the use of both hands." It is derived from the Italian word 'mancino,' which means one who is ambidextrous.

    Mike was born right-handed, but he achieved ambidexterity over four years. He said in an interview in 1999:

    "The metamorphosis from a regular kit happened when I forced myself to train all of my limbs. I put the ride cymbal on my left side like Simon Phillips. It was in my teenage years that I started using my left hand to lead. But I was in my twenties before I started leading with my left foot.

    It took me about four years to get the left side of my body equal to my right. So now my right foot can step on a remote cable hi-hat that connects to a left-handed hi-hat, and the left foot can play kick drum - or vice versa. This allows me to stay on the left hi-hat using the left kick drum for most of the verses because the A Custom hats that I have positioned there have a warmer sound."

  4. Michael Angelo Batio

    Michael Angelo Batio, also known as Mike Batio or MAB, is an American heavy metal guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. He is known for his technical skill, particularly his ability to play complex pieces on a double-neck guitar. Batio has released several solo albums and instructional videos... read more

    Plays a double guitar ambidextrously. Plays proficiently both right-handed and left-handed guitars. Wow!

  5. Leonardo da Vinci

    Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 - May 2, 1519), more commonly Leonardo da Vinci or simply Leonardo, was an Italian polymath. His areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpture, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany... read more

    Painter, musician, scientist, inventor, architect.

  6. Randy Black

    Randy Black is a Canadian-born metal drummer and recording artist. He is known for his work with bands such as Annihilator, Primal Fear, Duskmachine, and Bif Naked. Black is also known for being ambidextrous on the drum kit.

    A drummer who plays thrash and speed metal. I love watching him play because it looks so beautifully symmetrical, especially when he plays his symmetrical set of cymbals.

    Unlike Mike Mangini, who trained himself to become ambidextrous, I think Randy is naturally ambidextrous (but I can't be sure).

    There are two YouTube videos illustrating Randy's ambidextrous approach:

    1. Demons & Angels Randy Black Primal Fear

    2. Blackened Beauty - Randy Black Style (ambidextrous)

    Since Randy Black and Mike Mangini were both long-term drummers for Annihilator, it seems Annihilator had ambidextrous drummers for most of their career.

  7. Scott Travis

    Mark Scott Travis is a Grammy Award-winning American rock musician, best known as the drummer for the English heavy metal band Judas Priest and the American heavy metal band Racer X. He joined Judas Priest in 1989 and debuted with them on the 1990 album Painkiller, which showcased his fast and aggressive... read more

  8. Stewart Copeland

    Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, and composer best known as the drummer for the English-American rock band The Police. He is also recognized for composing numerous film and video game soundtracks. Copeland's dynamic drumming style helped shape the band's signature... read more

    He's the drummer for The Police who is comfortable leading with both hands. He's naturally left-handed, but he mostly plays right-handed because, as he says, "It's more convenient that way. Like most left-handed people, I am close to being fully ambidextrous."

  9. Paul McCartney

    Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the rock band The Beatles, one of the most popular and influential groups in the history of pop... read more

    Not very high on this list because he's ambidextrous but favors his left hand for guitar playing. For this reason, he's usually considered left-handed.

  10. Jimi Hendrix

    Jimi Hendrix was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Though his mainstream career lasted only about four years from 1966 to 1970, he's widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in popular music.... read more

    There are some discussions about his ambidextrous status, and I didn't put him very high because he is usually considered left-handed. Besides, he didn't use his supposed ambidexterity in music, so he shouldn't be very high on this list.

    According to many, he wasn't strictly left-handed. Some even argue he was "mixed-right-handed."

    Left-handed activities:

    He played his right-handed guitar upside down, used his left hand to throw, comb his hair, and hold cigarettes.

    Right-handed activities:

    He wrote, ate, and held the telephone with his right hand.

    Jimi was a left-handed person, but his father thought that playing with the left hand was the work of the devil. That's why he pushed him to play with his right hand.

    11. The Newcomers
  11. ?

    Kurt Cobain

    Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 - April 5, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the frontman of the grunge band Nirvana. Founded in 1987, Nirvana achieved global success in the early 1990s, reshaping rock music with albums like Bleach, Nevermind, and In Utero. Cobain died... read more

  12. ?

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, as well as for vocal music such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Bach's work greatly influenced... read more

    13. The Contenders

  13. Ringo Starr

    Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including "Yellow Submarine... read more

    Ringo Starr was born left-handed, but he played a right-handed drum kit.

  14. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    His father, Johann Sebastian Bach, wrote in a letter that "his son needed to work on building up his right hand to match his left." He was dominantly left-handed.

  15. Shara Lin

    She is naturally left-handed but plays violin and guitar right-handed. She can also play the piano with her left hand while playing the zither with her right.

  16. Justin Bieber

    Justin Drew Bieber (born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He currently resides in Ontario, Canada, and is Christian. He is the son of Pattie Mallette, an author.

    Justin Bieber is best known for his songs "Baby" and "What Do You Mean?" As of mid 2025, 11 of... read more

    This is not a troll item. I added him because he is ambidextrous and uses it in music. He plays guitar ambidextrously - he usually strums with his left hand but also with the right one.

  17. Ella Koroneos

  18. George Frideric Handel

  19. Frédéric Chopin

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