I'm not able to answer the whole question about handedness and
musical ability, but I recently published a paper with some colleagues
which showed evidence for an excess of left-handers among professional
musicians - this was true for professional singers aswell as instrumentalists
so a manual-dexterity (!) arguement may not hold-water too well. You'll be
pleased to note that we mention Jimi Hendrix (and Paul McCartney) in the
introduction... The reference is:
Aggleton, J.P.; Kentridge, R.W. and Good, J.M.M (1994) Handedness and musical
ability: A study of professional orchestral players, composers and choir members.
Psychology of Music 22, 148-156.
cheers,
bob k
--
Dr. R.W. Kentridge phone: +44 91 374 2621
Psychology Dept., email: robert.kentridge at durham.ac.uk
University of Durham,
Durham DH1 3LE, U.K.
