I guess it makes sense that if playing guitar is completely new to you, it wouldn't matter which way you played. This leads me to a new question of how the current orientation of the guitar came to be. Who decided on the left hand fret, right hand pick setup that is used today. Azrael, I know you know a lot of musical history, perhaps a question up your alley? I'll follow my buddy's progress and see if he runs into problems with his picking.