Help me understand guitar and ukulele sizes, please

April 18, 2018 2:10 AM

So I am a very, very amateur guitarist with tiny hands and in the market for the smallest guitar possible. Details within!

I will not be performing for anyone anytime soon and just want to get the easiest guitar to play and learn on. For me, that would be a really small one with nylon strings that are easy to press. Is the half-size guitar the smallest one I can get that still has the "normal" guitar sound? Through my research, I've even come across something called a guitarlele. How does that compare to a half size guitar? I also would like to get a ukulele at some point because I love the tone of it for certain songs. Are there different sizes for those as well?

posted by madonna of the unloved to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (12 answers total)

Through my research, I've even come across something called a guitarlele. How does that compare to a half size guitar?

It's tuned higher than a standard guitar, which is going to give it a more ukelele-like sound, I think.
posted by thelonius at 3:23 AM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

You could go for a tenor guitar as played by Neko Case. If you want something more standard then a Baby Taylor or travel guitar could be an option. Don't go for a nylon strung guitar unless that's the sound you're after (Leonard Cohen, Mark Kozelek, Segovia)
posted by oh pollo! at 4:00 AM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

I played a guitarlele a few weeks ago. I did not care for it. Even tuned as suggested (up a fourth from standard guitar tuning, I think) the strings felt slack and it was excessively quiet. Not a great compromise, for me.

I think the easiest-to-play guitar is any electric guitar, strung with light strings and set up with low action. If you want to play acoustically, you can probably find a hollow-body in just about any price range. Unless your hands are very small, I don't think a full-size electric will be much of a problem (I am thinking mostly of a woman I know who used to play a hollow-body; I don't think she's any taller than 5'2" or 5'3", and it was no problem for her).

If you do want a fully-acoustic guitar, the Baby Taylor or Little Martin might be a fit, unless you're really dead-set on the sound of nylon. But try them first -- the necks on acoustic guitars tend to be larger than on equivalent-sized electric guitars.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:06 AM on April 18, 2018

Nylon strings are going to hurt your fingers just as much as steel when you're starting out, so choose the sound you want, not the string material. After a month or so of regular practice you'll develop calluses and the throbbing fingertips will go away. You can also use very light steel strings to start and then move up as your fingers adjust.

As for size, search for 3/4 scale guitar.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:47 AM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

i was visiting with a friend last week and played his ten-year-old daughter's 3/4 scale guitar while they were out and about. i really enjoyed it and have thought about getting to have handy to use with my toddler.

(their dog also really enjoyed me playing it for them and it was only slightly embarrassing when my friend's wife came home early to find me serenading their pup with this song)
posted by noloveforned at 6:07 AM on April 18, 2018

Ukulele sizes, from smallest to largest, are: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. Most beginners start with the soprano because you can get a pretty nice one for relatively cheap and they are the smallest.

I don't know enough about guitars to weigh in too much, but I know that the guitar that St. Vincent designed with Ernie Ball Guitars was specifically created to be smaller and lighter while still managing that "rock god" sound. They're pretty spendy for a learner guitar though.
posted by helloimjennsco at 6:34 AM on April 18, 2018

I have teeny teeny tiny hands, I have been playing guitar despite this since I was 13, and I recently bought a Taylor 7/8 size (this little friend). I was, like you, seeking something even tinier, but I fell in love with this one and bought it, and I can play it much more easily than a standard size acoustic. My other recommendation is to get an electric guitar! I used to play only electric and somehow it's just easier, hand-size-wise.

I'm assuming your tiny hands are no tinier than my own extremely tiny hands, which wear ring size 5, are the objects of "oh my god how cute" exclamations at the nail salon, and cannot come close to spanning a piano octave and also, really truly require children's gloves. If they are even tinier, I don't know.
posted by millipede at 7:13 AM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Michael Kang of the String Cheese Incident plays an electric 5-string mandolin.
posted by stinkfoot at 9:38 AM on April 18, 2018

I have tiny hands also and I play a Fender acoustic. It has a narrow neck compared to a classical guitar.
posted by kamikazegopher at 11:34 AM on April 18, 2018

Classical guitars, which are usually strung with nylon, typically have wider necks that are harder to reach across with small hands. Folk-style acoustics (usually strung with bronze or steel) are narrower, and electrics are usually the narrowest. Also, cheap guitars often have an unpleasantly high action which gives the fingers a tougher work-out. But go into a local music store and try a bunch of stuff out!
posted by agentofselection at 3:39 PM on April 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

A Guide To The 10 Sizes of Guitar

Is the half-size guitar the smallest one I can get that still has the "normal" guitar sound?

Yup. With, as people have pointed out, the caveat that nylon-string guitars are mostly used in classical music, some ethnic folk musics and by a few pop artists looking for a different sound. The "normal" sound of an acoustic guitar (examples: Wonderwall or Bob Dylan) is, for most people, that of a steel-string instrument. Of course, as a beginner, this might not matter much to you, which is totally fine. Play the guitar you're comfortable playing.

Also, I would second the two other caveats mentioned, namely 1) nylon strings (and it's usually only the highest three strings that are completely nylon, the lower strings are nylon wrapped with metal) are not necessarily easier on your fingers; and 2) they tend to have wider necks , wider as in from the highest to the lowest string. The extent to which these come into play even on an half or 3/4 size guitar is hard to say, which is why I will strongly second agentofselection and say that you should go to music stores and try a bunch of different ones out to see what feels comfortable and what doesn't.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:42 PM on April 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

I agree with everyone who suggest that you go to a music store with a decent selection, and randomly strum different instruments, and follow your intuition. It helps if you can go with a friend who plays some guitar. Don't commit to anything if don't feel like it, you can go home and ponder. Support your local music store rather than buying online because it's better if you have questions or issues.

My personal opinion, I really like some inexpensive 3/4 nylon string guitars, and I still have fun playing them. I find nylon strings more comfortable than steel strings, which are meant to be louder and clearer. (Electric is a different thing, and I wouldn't go there unless you find the idea intriguing).

You do have the option of going the Ukelele route instead. Learning 4 string chords is a bit easier (the chords are different on guitar, you'd have to start over, kinda). I like the sound of the tenor Ukelele more than the littlest one. (I personally didn't like the sound of the guitarele that I played, but that's my view).
posted by ovvl at 5:45 PM on April 23, 2018