Hi there,
First post thought I’d introduce myself.
Andy from belfast, play an M&E that I bought a couple of years ago, before that I had a brief excursion with a dixon tube.
I’m waiting on a Hamilton 4 keyed Left handed due April '08, can’t wait.
Question are there many left handed players out there, all of the recent flute sales seem to be right handed.
Andyras
There are a lot more left-handed flute players in the world than there are left-handed flutes for them to play. Many great flute players who play left-handed do so on right-handed flutes. Often they play on keyed flutes and just don’t use the keys. Catherine McEvoy comes to mind as a great left-handed player who does just that. And then there is the left-handed Cathal McConnell who is very entertaining to watch as he raises his left hand off of his right-handed flute to hit the G# key which is on the wrong side of the flute to be played with his right hand pinky. But then again Cathal McConnell is a very entertaining man to watch no matter what he’s doing.
If the flute is keyless, obviously there’s not much difference between playing it left or right handed. Often left-handed players will have a flute maker do a little undercutting on the embouchure of a right-handed flute to make it sound better when played the opposite way. But many good flutes will play fairly well from the “wrong” side even without having this done.
I don’t quite understand left-handed instruments. It takes both hands to play so why does the instrument need to point the other way? Most confusing are left-handed stringed instruments. If anything, they are already the right way for a left-handed player.
Yes I should try playing a right handed keyed flute to see if I can get used to it.
I had the privilege of a class with Cahal, it was the funnest thing ever, he had a number of elastic bands on his flute and they kept breaking.
PS his daughter was very pretty.
I believe Hammy is one of the only makers to bias the flute for left or right.
Andyras
Play your right-handed flute left-handed for a few minutes and see how you like it…
I realize that as a complete beginner, it might not seem like it would make much difference, as you’re going to sound horrible either way. Plenty of lefties force themselves to learn on right-handed instruments and get along playing that way just fine. I think it depends a lot on the individual and I think there are varying degrees of left- and right-handedness from person to person that can affect the way that someone learns an instrument.
I’m a very left-handed person. When I first started playing Scottish pipes and whistle, I tried playing both right handed and found that it felt completely illogical for me: things that completely twisted my fingers and my brain in a knot when I tried to play “normally” flowed out with ease when I switched my hands and played lefty. It just felt MUCH more natural for me, just as playing right-handed generally feels more instinctive for a right-handed player. After a couple of months, I gave up trying to play right-handed for good and I’ve had no regrets. I play flute, whistles, Scottish pipes and uilleann pipes all left-handed…It’s kind of fun when people at sessions do a double take (usually after a few hours) and realize that I’m playing “backwards.”
Keyed lefty flutes do come up for sale used from time to time–I got my Hamilton that way–but if you’re going to play left-handed and you want a keyed instrument, it’s best to order a new instrument.
A number of makers bias their flutes for left or right, but the actual difference may not be that huge. Hanz Araki borrowed my flute for a gig a couple of months ago and said he noticed nothing different about blowing it or the resulting tone from that of a right-handed flute.
I’m still not a flute player, but a whistle player.
I’m left-handed. When I got my first whistle I read many tutorials on internet and saw that the left hand should go in the upper holes, so I did it that way.
Now it’s natural to me, and if I get a flute I think I could play it without many problems!
Even better, try to pick up a guitar left handed 
Seamus Tansey from County Sligo also is a left-handed flute player.
I am a left handed uilleann piper, whistle player.
I play the Bouzouki, guitar, bodhran and button accordeon/anglo concertina all right handed.
Cheers
Ferg
Thanks for the info,
my quandry is that I am right handed, picked up the whistle at an early age the wrong way round, wasn’t corrected. I also play guitar righthanded but whistle and flute left.
I have tried to switch but I think the tracks are laid in my brain, I’m also finding that one hand has more dexterity than the other. It makes ornamentation on the top 3 holes easier than the lower 3.
Pretty mixed up ehh…
PS Henke thanks for the prompt but since I’m playing my M&E R&R version and the Hamilton will hopefully be with me in April, I’ll have to hold off till it arrives, then I’l have to think about tunes using keys. 
Some Irish flute players that play left-handed:
Cathal McConnell, Seamus Tansey, Patsy Hanly, Michael McGoldrick, Catherine McEvoy, Gary Shannon, Vincent Broderick, Barry Kerr, & Deirdre Havlin.
one of my friends has to avert her eyes when she sees me play the irish flute left-handed. she spent many years in band and it freaks her out. then there are the few people who have seen me play the irish keyless flute and the silver flute, one after the other. that always gets a double take.