Your Classical Guitar Input Here

adult using half size guitar

Hi Sir Trevor,

I've visited Amazon in search of the best classical guitar book which is not teacher-dependent to no avail. Most if not all of the ones which provide free look inside highly recommend buying their book and finding a good teacher.

Is there one you can recommend with an accompanying DVD to serve as my teacher?

Thank you very much and more power to you, Sir!

Hi ;)

I saw a ukulele video on youtube and that got me interested in learning how to play a ukulele.
But when I was browsing the net, I found out about quarter guitar and half-size guitar.

So I thought, why not learn classical guitar instead. The reason I was never interested in learning the guitar is because of the size of it.

So my question is,

1. Is it okay for an adult to use a half size classical guitar? [I'm an adult, 5'3 (163cm)
(I'm not gonna upgrade to a normal size guitar, I prefer to use a smaller one so I can take it with me and practice more)

2. Would the sound coming out of a half size guitar be much different from a normal size guitar ?

3. Would an adult have problem (posture/back/shoulder problem/etc) playing a half size guitar?
(I assume if adults can play a small ukulele, then it's alright with a half size guitar? would a small guitar interfere with the playing technique ? )

4. I'd prefer to play a half size guitar because of the size and portability, but if on occasions, there's a normal size guitar available, I'd like to be able to play it too.
But....
If I'm not mistaken (I read this somewhere)
standard guitar's tuning is EADGBE
and a half size guitar is GCFBbDG or ADGCEA
will this be a problem ? different chords / finger placements ?

Thank you so much :)
Nina

Hi Nina,

It's perfectly alright to play a half sized guitar with no drawbacks. The sound should be much the same but maybe a little softer.

Adults shouldn’t have a problem in terms of back or shoulder problems because the guitar is much lighter. Technique might be a problem if your hands and fingers are too large for the fret board.

Also, the size of the guitar doesn’t affect the tuning but you can change the tuning if you want.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Trevor M.