This past fall I started the Suzuki Guitar Program at the University of Connecticut’s Community School of the Arts.  In creating this program, I had to find a way for very young guitarists to get an instrument that would fit them.  Many of my students will come in with a guitar that was bought for $50 at Walmart or some other non-music store.  It was a Christmas present from Grandma or another relative.  And it is a full size steel string guitar made for adults.  And did I mention this kid is 6 or 7 years old?

I have to admit that this situation isn’t abnormal for me.  And over the years I’ve become less tolerant of it.  Parents or other relatives have a good heart, and are trying nurture an interest their child has for music and on that I commend them.  I contribute this situation to a lack of information.  The parents, grandparents, other relatives just don’t know nor have a place to ask these questions.  More importantly, they don’t want to spend $200-400 on a “small guitar” because who knows if little Johnny will want to continue in 6 months from now?  So they go for the cheap one.  This article is to provide the insight and information for these parents who are interested in getting a guitar for their young child.

Steel String vs. Nylon String

As a Suzuki Guitar Instructor, I teach my young students only classical guitar.  However, what I’ve found over the years is that it doesn’t matter what style of instruction a student is getting, Nylon strings in general are easier to play.  There are a few factors:

  1. The string tension is softer, so it is easier for the left hand to apply the proper pressure needed to fret a note.
  2. Even with a full size Nylon string, the body is generally much smaller than that of a full size Steel string guitar.  These guitars are usually “Dreadnought size”, which means a drastically larger body (Width, Length and Depth).  This size can be quite cumbersome even for a beginning adult!
  3. While the neck of a Nylon string is generally wider then that for a Steel string guitar, it creates the need for a better developed left hand sooner.  The larger string spacing also helps with fingering chords as there’s more space between each string, thus creating less of a challenge in muting out open strings with the left hand fingers.

Short Scale Doesn’t Always Mean the Right Size

Over the years, I’ve seen many different shapes and sizes to guitars that are under the title of “short scale.”  Ideally, a short scale guitar should be proportionally smaller, however most guitars built are concerned with the length of the strings and the spacing of the frets.  They forget about the fact that a smaller person has to get around the body of the instrument themselves.  While dimensions on guitar bodies do differ, there is a “standard”.

Typically, you’ll usually find a full-scale instrument with a scale length of 65cm or 650mm.  Scale length can also be refered to as string length.  The depth of the body is typically between 3.7″ and 3.9″.  Ideally, we’d want a short scale instrument, to proportionally be small, including the shape of the instrument.  For example, if you have an instrument that has a 580mm scale length, you’d want the body to be proportionally smaller, which would be a body thickness of 3.4″ (pr 3.5″). The dimensions of the instrument that I just listed is that of a Cordoba 1/2 Requinto model.

While 1/2 size, 3/4 size, and 7/8 sizes are generally proportioned correctly, the difficulty comes when guitars are smaller.  If you have an instrument with a string length of 440mm, the properly proportioned body thickness would be 2.5″.  However, as the instruments get smaller, the proportions become more awkward.  At times, you may get a guitar that is too thick, a guitar whose shape is too small compared to the scale length, a neck that is too wide for the child’s hands (or one that is too narrow).

The Effects of the Wrong Size

A miss-proportioned guitar or even one that is the wrong size (too big or too small), can have an effect on the student’s ability to learn.  If the instrument is awkward to hold, correct foundation techniques (like how to hold the instrument, Right and Left Hand playing positions, etc…) will be difficult to develop in the student.  This often leads to frustration on the student’s part (the instrument is difficult to play), the parent’s part (their child will not practice), and on the teacher’s part (progress isn’t happening in the lessons).  The difficulty is explaining this to the parents.  I often will demonstrate by having the child hold my full size guitar, and the parents see how “odd” their child looks while holding it.  I’ll ask the student to set up their left and right hands (I may actually position them on the instrument myself if this is the first or second lesson).  I also have a great story about “bad” instruments:

My father’s first guitar was a cheap acoustic guitar.  It was a full size, steel string instrument with horrible action (Note: Action is the space between the strings and the fretboard of the guitar.)  The instrument was barely playable.  His father (my grandfather) didn’t understand why my dad was complaining about practice.  He would say how whenever he played the guitar, his fingers started to bleed.  My grandfather, having no experience in music at all, figured this was normal, and insisted that my dad keep practicing.

Well, needless to say, he didn’t and soon after my grandfather discontinued lessons because my dad wasn’t practicing.  However, it wasn’t because my dad had no interest, but rather the instrument was a bad instrument.  You shouldn’t be bleeding as you practice the guitar.  In fact, the action of the instrument was so high, he had to press down with all of his strength to get a note to come out.  This was why his fingers were bleeding, the steel strings were cutting into them.

These stories or demonstrations make the parent understand that I know what I’m talking about.  And to me, it’s very important to show that we as instructors know what we are talking about.  The above story is one to show that a child can become uninterested due to factors out of their control.  My dad didn’t hate music, or become uninterested, the instrument he was using was causing problems that his teacher wouldn’t rectify.  The last thing that I want to see is a student stop lessons because of an issue that could have been easily avoidable.

Music Stores Are a Blessing and a Curse

In my neighborhood I have a few local music shops that parents can choose from to purchase their instruments.  I have spoken to one local store, and asked them to keep certain instruments and sizes in stock.  Not many, just a few (so that their overhead isn’t huge).  In return, I send all of my students to this store to purchase their instruments and any supplies that they need (strings, books, etc…).  The folks there are great, because they understand what I’m doing and again they profit from the fact that I send people there.  I purposefully picked a small local store for two reasons.

  1. They are local, so students in the area won’t have a problem traveling out to them
  2. They are a small family run store, which means that it is easier to talk to them and set up a system like I have over at the store

Places like Guitar Center or Sam Ash, or in New England they have Daddy’s Junky Music, are good places as well.  There they have a large selection of instruments, even nylon string classical guitars.  However, the salespeople get the in way.  They try to talk the parents into getting other things even though the instructor has given them the requirements.  They take advantage.  They sell instruments that are oversized because “the child will grow into is, so you don’t need to buy 2 guitars” or here’s an electric because the child will want to do that away in the long run.  They do this because every sale is a commission to them, and they are trying to make the largest sales possible.  The best way to deal with salespeople like that is to speak with the instructor before you purchase the instrument.  At both UConn’s CSA and The MusicMakers Academy, I have the office know that if the student needs to buy an instrument, that they get in contact with me first before they go anywhere.  That way, they can go into a store and say, “I need this.”  Even if the store is Guitar Center.  However, I also tell those students/parents to go to the store where I have a relationship with, because they know what I want a student to have for lessons.

In The End…

In the end, do research.  Know what the instructor who you are working with requires for lessons.  Ask them about recommendations, what they’ll need, and even ask them about how the lessons will be structured or what the student will learn.  Typically you can find a very nice beginning nylon-string guitar for around $100-$150.  It might not be as surprising as have your kid open a present for their birthday and be a guitar, but it will save you a lot of trouble in the long run!

Guitar Links

The following are links to guitar companies who make small-scale instruments, and websites that sell them.