Best Guitars For Small Hands - Guitar Buyer’s Guide and Comparison

Small hands or large hands, there's a guitar for everyone! We're often asked if small hands will hinder guitar playing, and our answer to that is "no!" Many famous players and virtuosos have small hands and that one trait hardly stopped them from picking up an instrument and progressing! Play A Note, Change Your Life!
#bestguitar #smallhands #buyersguide #guitarreview #topten
Baby Taylor → www.alamomusic...
Taylor GS Mini → www.alamomusic...
Taylor Academy → www.alamomusic...
FenderCC-60SCE → www.alamomusic...
Gretsch G9531→ www.alamomusic...
Squier Contemporary Stratocaster → www.alamomusic...
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[@GRJ-uz7kf]

People with large or average-size hands ALWAYS say it's no big deal. They are wrong.

[@GRJ-uz7kf]

Small hands/fingers not only affect reach; they also affect hand strength, requiring more playing effort.

[@jessebarrera159]

I do not have small hands, but I am a short person and have find that smaller guitars are easier to play and a lot more comfortable.

[@0000song0000]

in theory, we do have smaller hands than people who are way taller than us.... and then there are steve Vai's giant hands

[@DMCSEWS]

What are the brands?

[@GRJ-uz7kf]

Yes, particularly if you're not a professional needing booming volume, small guitars are much more player-friendly.

[@machinecode1388]

Why is it people who make these "small hands" video always have fingers and a thumb that wrap around the entire fretboard....so annoying.

[@Bedroomrips]

I have such small hands if I do anything close my fingers can’t touch the top string. Take my advice. A deep c fat neck guitar is key. I have 2017 fender American pro strat and it feels great to me

[@machinecode1388]

@@Bedroomrips thanks...I'll investigate that.

[@Bedroomrips]

Machine Code if a chunky neck isn’t good try a thin one. It’s weird cuz I feel the width matters but idek why they don’t make them smaller. I saw a bass with the neck so small at the but I easily wrapped my thumb and index around it

[@DavyHulme]

@@Bedroomrips Interesting what you say about the width of bass guitar necks; I have a Westone Concorde 1 Bass 1983 model that I haven't played for years but I measured it a couple of days ago (for comparison in trying to find a comfortable guitar), it's a slightly odd 32 inch scale but the thing that surprised me most was the narrow width of the neck; 39mm at the nut, 45mm at the 5th & 54mm at the 12th and has a heck of a radius on it, it feels quite tightly curved and quite chunky by about the 8th I found it still felt comfortable tho soon remembered is it suffers from head dive

[@generalawareness101]

I disagree with some of what he was saying because I can't reach around the neck and I twist my wrist to make it happen to the point of cutting my blood flow off. As a teacher once told me that with the neck in hand and all fingers flat on the fretboard they should all be able to touch string 6 (the low E). Welp, not me on my Squier. Not happening, no way never.

[@calliopenation3174]

If can comfortably wrap your thumb over the top and cover the E AND A strings, you DON'T have a small hand, and can't understand some of the limitations of having small hands, which is mostly about chord rhythm playing, not lead playing.

[@sunsetyellow]

I'm a tall skinny man with small hands and thin fingers - my hands are much smaller than most men. I have been playing for thirty years and have gigged pretty solidly during that time, so I am not a beginner, nor someone who just needs to develop their technique. Frankly I'm pretty annoyed that that's the stance you take at the beginning of this video - that I'm not working hard enough. As you have average hands and are an average-sized man maybe you are the wrong person to be taking this video, primarily because there are a lot of people with much smaller hands than you wanting information on the topic rather than searching the specs of a multitude of manufacturers. I have frequently found buying an acoustic a nightmare because of the insistence on 25.5" scale lengths and wider and wider necks, so this was an opportunity to spread some useful information and you start it off by telling me to work harder? Maybe you should try to be less patronising in future.

[@twonaughtychihuahuas3699]

I'm 55yo and my New Years Resolution in 2021 is to learn the guitar, as I've a lot more time on my hands now. Today I bought a Baby Taylor because of this video. Wish me luck! Thanks for the recommendations.

[@kaushalsuvarna5156]

How are you doing?

[@paulagardner3218]

You have small hands *for a man.* They are still probably larger than most women's hands. This is a real issue and it really seems as though you're not taking it seriously.

[@paulagardner3218]

@Google IsFascist Yes, maybe if I could really play and had something of value to offer, but, God knows, I haven't figured it out yet.

[@Feverm00n]

Agreed. I tried for years to learn on full-size instruments, but chords caused me the bad kind of pain (I have connective tissue/joint issues and small hands). Figured I just sucked in some irredeemable way. Then I got a tenor ukulele and quickly learned. That’s when it really dawned on me that size and scale of the neck makes a huge difference. I don’t like when people who don’t experience a problem personally try to act like it doesn’t exist.

[@iammorrison2925]

I agree with machine Codes, and Lala Lapras comments below. If anyone posted on here cares to look at my video about small hands/ short fingers they will see that I can speak with authority. My fingers are about the same size as Mr Average -MINUS THE TOP FINGER JOINTS !!! Imagine your fingers were one joint shorter! That's what I have. My longest finger is 60mm and my thumb is 50mm. No way can I reach F using my thumb. I have to barre it and can just make it. . I have the shortest fingers of anyone I ever come across. I have a Baby Taylor and the neck is not the thinnest

[@lynnepennock6484]

My longest finger is 57 mm and I have the added disadvantage of needing a left hand guitar. I can play across 2 frets and sometimes stretch 3 depending on the situation. I can sort of play a scale. I have a full sized Fender as that was the only left hand guitar in my area that was reasonably priced. What recommendations would you make for future purchases? It seems like you might understand my predicament. Is an electronic easier to play than an acoustic?

[@fred4664]

Wow, I agree with these comments. It’s just physically impossible to deaden the low E with your thumb if it won’t wrap over the neck. Medium and large handed players just don’t get it.

[@morsl47]

What I've never see in any of these youtube videos on this subject is someone showing the back of a guitar neck. There is talk about scale length and nut width but never the thickness of the neck. The shape is sometimes talked about but never shown with this context in mind. Guitar teachers are all like oh you can do it just stretch. Yeah, their pinkies are longer than my index finger. Just for future reference maybe show the profile or side of the neck and the back. That might help me decide I need to drive over and feel the neck made by a certain company.

[@CJZM7777]

A Yamaha Pacific 612 is a s-style electric with very nice quaility, seymour duncan pickups that sound great and it has a smaller neck. It 1.61 wide and the depth at the nut and at the 12th fret are on the small side for even an electric. It is 25" scale so toward the headstock, you'll notice a very very small difference compared to a shorter scale gibson. PRS also has a pattern regular neck that is 1.65 wide at the nut. A lot of the S2 line and a few of the custom PRS guitars have the "pattern regular" neck

[@themightyHP]

he says he has small hands and here i am 4'10 with baby hands..... okay sir

[@GRJ-uz7kf]

Obviously there are some good small-handed players. That doesn't erase the difficulty posed by small hands. The brilliance of a Django Reinhardt does not change the fact that having only two fingers is a disadvantage.

[@rlews1531]

I know this is old but I need to comment. It's not just about small hands but small hands create two problems, strength and length. It simply requires more strength to play with small hands because of leverage and I'd be careful about thinking otherwise. Who said give me a long enough lever and I can pick up the earth? It double downs the challenges of playing. I have a beautiful Martin guitar that I've had the action lowered and I basically can't play it even though I've been playing a strat for 30 years. You might be short with short finger but you have a lot of muscle bulk and strength.

[@generalawareness101]

I disagree with some of what you are saying because I can't reach around the neck and I twist my wrist to make it happen to the point of cutting my blood flow off.

[@francescocalvanese6235]

As a beginner with tiny hands, things are A LOT easier on my 3/4 than on the full size. It really makes a difference.

[@DblakeDeathMetal89]

3/4 meaning the entire body is smaller or just the fretboard length is shorter?

[@mikkikas6821]

I've played many years. But because I am a very short person with small hands and SHORT, fingers I have never been able to do bar chords. I found a thin neck allows me more range and is easier to reach notes.

[@DblakeDeathMetal89]

What type of guitar did you get that helped? I’m trying to find a fretboard/neck where the frets width are smaller because I can’t play certain chords without my fingers hitting strings and blocking it from ringing out. I heard certain SG’s were made with smaller fretboard/neck that’s also thinner which is why Angus Young loves them

[@greggorsag9787]

I generally love your videos, and the guitar part of this one is typically great. I have to push back a bit on the intro. In a way, what you say about practice and discipline is true, but small hands are a huge impediment. I know. I am male and tall (6’1.75”) but have small hands. When I started, I knew this, and resolved to play anyway, no matter what, no matter my limitations. Thirty years down the road, I’ve played hundreds of gigs, recorded three records, played on the radio, etc. But the fact is, there’s a ton of stuff I just can’t do, and yeah, I practiced til my fingers bled, mastered the instrument, etc. Small handed players just have to approach it that way in my view. Yes, you are limited, but just get what you can do down 100%, and then use that. Sorry, you’ll never be a great Travis picker, though, or to be able to play Robert Johnson tunes close to the original. And yeah, I’ve always played Taylors. My advice: Do anything and everything to make the guitar easy to play. Thinnest neck, shortest scale, lightest strings, lowest action. There are more options now than there used to be (as this video shows) but we need all the help we can get. If you think about it, the sound quality is not a big deal-you’re usually through a PA, outside somewhere, in a loud bar, or in a studio where you can manipulate the sound. And after all, Hound Dog Taylor played a $50 guitar. My 2 cents: Low expectations, endless tenacity, strategic choice of model/make. Enjoy.

[@Feverm00n]

I know this is old but… this intro is kinda whack. No offense dude, but as a 5’2” ish, 100 lbs-soaking-wet, petite woman with hands small enough that every “small”-sized glove is too big (and joint issues, some specifically in my hands, to boot), your hands don’t seem very small to me. I love your content (you and Cooper are a riot) but I feel like the intro discounting people whose hands may literally be too small for full-sized guitars and essentially implying it’s strictly just a cushier choice for people with less tolerance for discomfort or challenge you are seriously overlooking just how varied adult human anatomy is, and the many joint, connective tissue, and pain conditions that exist out there in the world. What’s the resistance to people playing smaller guitars anyway? Like, genuinely. Cause I’m assuming the whole dismissive Your Hands Aren’t Really Too Small, You Just Need To Practice More bit was to make sure you’re discouraging as many people as possible from trying a smaller sized guitar. But if we zoom out from your own personal anecdote about believing your hands are small, and include people whose hands may actually be very small… What’s wrong with accommodating your anatomy to allow you to do something at the same scale that most average-sized people are used to? I am SO CURIOUS how you’d manage with a guitar made to the same size ratio as a full size guitar is to me. Can some-hell, even many-very small-handed people manage to learn and play full-size guitar anyway? Of course, and more power to ‘em. BUT, acting like the people who can’t manage to do it (or don’t want to injure themselves trying) are just impatient wimps who can’t stand a little discomfort or difficulty or aren’t putting in the requisite blood sweat and tears is one of the most annoying attitudes to have about it. Anatomical limitations and struggles are a real thing. Interestingly, it’s almost always average-sized & structured people who blow off my occasional mentions of struggles and limitations because of my size or joint problems and essentially tell me it’s just some failing on my part or because I’m “not trying hard enough” (never mind the fact that being very small with iffy joints often means needing to put in more physical/logistical effort to accomplish “average” things, so half the time I’m trying *harder* than normal to accomplish the same thing). I recognize that I might sound overly sensitive about it, and I apologize if my reaction is disproportionate. I’m just super DUPER tired of people who don’t have substantial limitations making assumptions about or brushing off people who do. Or pretending we don’t exist by saying that “everyone can do it you just have to practice.” It just makes the world an unfriendlier place. I get that it’s apparently your opinion that no one’s hands are too small for a full-size guitar, but as someone who can still fit into children’s sizes at 31 years old, I’m gonna have to disagree with your opinion there. After many years of not being able to learn on my full-sized guitars, I bought a tenor ukulele and realized just how much of my struggle was a size issue. I came to this vid bc I realized I might *finally* be able to play guitar without hurting myself if I can use a smaller one and your content is usually fab. Anyway, looking forward to checking out your recommendations!

[@moonfall6978]

My response is really late but I understand the struggle, im a 5'3 woman and just for measure, my index finger is like 2.4 inches, I have a hand that's smaller than the average, I can barely play some bar chords, so yeah hearing the famous "anyone can play, just practice" over and over again is annoying, yeah, technically everyone can play, but in the same conditions? No, people with small hands can't do every chord and that's a fact, no matter how much your hand stretch is, it's physically imposible to play some, people with longer and thinner fingers have it easier, the sad truth is us people with short fingers aren't as capable (and I didn't mention the strength needed). Anyways, I've had 4 guitars, a Les Paul, a Ibanez Gio, a G&L Fallout and a Jagmaster, Les pauls have a chunky neck, it's so weird to play them, regular 25.5 inch scale are normal but some chords are really weird to pull off, Ibanez has some thin necks, which helps a lot even if its a 25.5 scaling tho, and 24 inch scale is a heaven for us people with smaller hands, there's also some horrible chords, but most are manageable if you have short fingers buy a Mustang, Jaguar, Jagmaster or a Jagstang, sadly I haven't been able to try all of them since in my town there's only one music shop and there are only Stratos, teles and les pauls

[@hellzz8585]

5"8 is average male height, you might not have large hands for a man but you don't have small hands, most likely average sized for a man. Your hands are huge compared to a woman's, young adolescents or small man's. The average woman is 5"3 so you are a huge person in comparison and will have significantly larger hands. This would be better if someone who is actually a small person with actual small hands made a list and demoed, some sized between 5"0 and 5"5 for example.

[@Jockeylotforfun]

I agree completely! I've been playing since elementary school MANY decades ago and have small hands. Having a slim neck and small radius makes A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE for me to be able to achieve my musical goals. Some bar cords are just literally out of my reach on baseball bat necks. Fenders modern slim C and Gibson/epi 60s slim profile are wonderful for me! Try to Avoid the V, and soft V profiles, and 12 radius (its like trying to play on an ironing board...) Hope this helps ✌💕🎶

[@Jockeylotforfun]

@JRG2733 I hope you'll be very pleased with your Martin! Best wishes to you and yours.

[@dawnshadow16]

Completely agree. When he said he didn’t have small hands I was like “what?” I am 22F and my hands are infamously small. Smaller than all of my friends hands. They are slightly bigger than my 8 year olds cousins hands. This dudes hands are like 2x the size of mine, he doesn’t know the struggle! Great video though lol

[@3cardmonty602]

Great topic Chris. I have normal sized hands but I'm restricted by muscle tension from a long history of weightlifting and farming, so I look for guitars that are shorter scale.

[@DblakeDeathMetal89]

I’m not sure how a shorter scale can help with that, I have a similar issue in that I broke my forearm bones clean in half as a teenager and my tendons and some nerve damage stops me from my full capabilities. Especially when it comes to dexterity in my ring and pinky fingers on my fretting hand (my right hand) and plus I’m not the most coordinated with anything to do with my right side, I’ve always envied the players with spider fingers those skinny long fingers and they can move all their fingers fast as heck and can stretch their fingers far apart and makes it look easy, then I try to do it and it’s straining and hard to do. I’m sure I need more exercise practice with precision and speed ontop of focusing on my picking hand but half the battle is finding a guitar that helps you with comfortability and playability I’ve mainly played Strat styles guitars

[@camgreer]

Yeah, that whole throwing your thumb over the low E string thing always escaped me, it ain't never gonna happen.

[@adc4836]

camgreer have you seen john Mayer play his song Neon live? You'll have nightmares and insecurities about your thumbs while watching

[@nataliebolden5696]

🤣🤣

[@valentinkovshik]

I do not understand why someone needs that thumb over low E. It slows you down and it is definitely a wrong technique for an acoustic.

[@StarDarkAshes]

Sure, there probably are things that people with small hands can do better than people with large hands, especially when it comes to playing cords way up the neck, but there are certain things that people with small hands definitely have more trouble with such as using your thumb to either press down on the top, strings or mute, while you’re doing a chord. If you can’t physically get your thumb over the top like Jimi Hendrix, then you can’t so to say that small hands don’t matter is totally untrue in certain situations. I’ve got small hands and eventually I learned to do things a little bit different, but there are certain things that I will never be able to do. When it comes to stretchy cords, I don’t really have too much of a problem with that but certain Barchords were definitely challenging because when you have small hands you just don’t really have the weight or the mass that somebody with larger hands has. When you have larger hands, you don’t really even have to press. You just kind of lay your hand on the guitar and it holds down the bar and sure that’s the way you want to do it with small hands to rather than like pressing, super hard but still I think people with larger hands have an easier time with it for sure. And personally playing lead guitar people with smaller hands and stubby fingers definitely are at a deficit when it comes to playing lead. It’s just a matter of physics, if you have a longer fingers, it requires much less movement to go from one string to the other. Most of the monsters of guitar that are really good usually have pretty large hands and sure there are exceptions, so I’m not saying that it’s impossible to play good lead with small hands but to say that it’s just as easy is a complete lie. Ideally, in a lot of cases it’s better to play more with your thumb and first finger, then with the stiff wrist and the movement all coming from the wrist and if you have big huge long fingers, you’re gonna have way more capability and reach. It’s just a matter of math, so just say that you can play lead just as easily with small fingers just isn’t true. You can still become a great guitarist for sure, but there are going to be a lot of things that you come up against that you’re just not gonna be able to do as well as somebody with large hands.

[@GRJ-uz7kf]

Martin's little LX1 is about the best I've found. Not a beauty but easy-playing fretboard and neck, and bulletproof construction. The slightly larger Eastman ACTG1, with its solid wood top, back, and sides, is also nice, although I'd prefer a thinner neck profile.

[@mboyer68]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Angus Young. His hands are tiny! And he's in my top 3 guitar players.

[@edwardwilliams2438]

Thank you very much for your tutorial....we novices are so hesitant to ask a saleperson...who always seem to be a bit condescending. You come across as genuine and experienced...Kudos!!

[@iangonzalez6478]

Love these buyer guides! Keep em coming Chris 😄 you rock! 🤘 🎸

[@stephaniehavoksen1761]

I wish my hands were bigger. It’s annoying since I’m actually a pretty tall person but my hands and feet are ridiculously tiny

[@Tigerex966]

I am the opposite my fingertip takes up a whole fret and makes it almost impossible to do chords with to fingers that are close. Almost.

[@michaelbalog8998]

I have been playing guitar for 4 years now and I play on my church worship team. When I first started out on guitar lots of people gave recommendations for what guitar to buy. I listened and bought multiple 14 fret full size dreadnoughts. I struggled playing and didn't know why. Then I bought a smaller "scale length/nut width" guitar Taylor GTE mahogany and all my playing struggles went away! Know your limitations. Find out what works for you.

[@lisavento7474]

i have a taylor 200 series and STRETCHING for a 4-net chord is EXTREMELY hard, and i'm not sure if that taylor acadamy being 5/8TH smaller in scale length would make a huge difference in smaller fret spaces?

[@djarcforceable]

I bought a Les Paul (Epiphone version) to start learning to play. It was fun but I frequently had cramps in my left hand and it was pretty uncomfortable. I gave up on it eventually assuming that the issue was that I have small hands/shorter fingers than most guys do. But I've been considering giving it another go. Trying to find a nice electric that is designed for people with smaller hands.

[@Darkhalf0115]

Ive child like hands. Try Squire Bullet. Bought one and loved it. Sold my Squire Standard and Epi Lp Standard afterwards.

[@winterwillows2056]

I love to listen to you play, Chris! One of your reviews influenced me on buying my Cordoba Fusion 12 Natural CD, too. Just what I was wanting, even though I didn't know cross overs existed, until then! Thank you for making these videos!

[@stephensmith60]

Help: It would be more helpful if you could play some chords that reach-out across 4 or 5 frets, as this is where most of the problem is.

[@JR-pr8jb]

The Alvarez RS26, sold as a "student" acoustic and VERY inexpensive is a very nice package, smaller but not too small, with a 1-5/8" nut (the reason I bought it). Sadly, I bought mine online, and the quality was crap: viciously sharp protruding fret-ends, rough neck finish, literally a cracked bridge. But I liked the overall guitar enough to spend $320 for a luthier to make things right, including shaving down the fat neck profile.

[@cindyantulov8797]

My hands are smaller than my six year old grandson’s. Unless you have tiny hands you really can’t tell me that my bones can lengthen with better technique and practice. My carpal tunnel syndrome flared up badly because of believing advice from people who do NOT have tiny hands! Please limit your advice to what you DO know!

[@tkenglander6226]

I agree with you that stretching our hands and practicing can only do so much. If our bones lengthened with 'better technique and practice,' I'd be doing that stuff with my legs so I could be taller!! LOL

[@tkenglander6226]

I agree with you! I have two guy friends who are near 6 foot who disagreed with me when I suggested I needed a smaller guitar because I have small hands - as though I just need to practice more or do more stretching exercises and THEN a standard-sized guitar will be fine!! What a crock!! Why shouldn't I need a smaller guitar??? I can't lengthen the bones in my friggin' hand to be more like theirs, geeez!!! I wish I could rent a guitar that's a few inches larger than a standard guitar and tell them to play it EXACTLY the same as they play their standard-sized guitars - and see how they like it when they can't play scales and chords as easily as usual!!! Maybe then I could say, "You just need to practice more or do those stretching exercises you told me about." So yes, I'm going to hunt down a smaller-scaled guitar so I can finally play barre chords and scales more easily!! Hope you treat yourself to a smaller guitar too!! :-)

[@Feverm00n]

Yes!!! This is so similar to my story. Small hands and joint issues are serious biz. I had given up til I got a tenor ukulele and realized that it wasn’t that I just can’t play for crap, but that full size guitars are way too big for me. Now I’m looking for a smaller scale guitar. I’d love to see him manage a guitar that had the same size ratio as a full size guitar is to me & my hands. I bet he’d struggle with it, too.

[@andreapasillas8478]

Only men are surprised by this topic. Almost all guitars are designed for men with large hands.

[@Healmyheart68]

Exactly

[@Tigerex966]

No there not they are for women with medium hands and small fingertips

[@hellzz8585]

I have yet to find a video on this topic which is actually done by an average height woman with average woman sized hands or by a man who is actually small. It's really annoying, it doesn't matter how much effort you put in with stretching and exercises you will have an absolute max reach which will be far less than an average sized man's. Someone who starts as an adult won't be able to achieve the flexibility of some of these child prodigies who are shown as examples to prove your hand size doesn't matter. I'm sure people with larger hands would like guitars designed for smaller people once arthritis sets in too.

[@Feverm00n]

This is how I felt looking for motorcycles too. Most streetbikes are humongous and have a stupid-tall seat heights (especially if you want something that isn’t a cruiser or ultra reclined). I’ve only found two motorcycles in all of my searching I can comfortably reach the ground from as a 5’2” woman with chunky heeled boots that put me at 5’4”. It’s a bummer. Why is everything made for big people??? 😢😩

[@darkest-hero]

his hands are 3x bigger than mine -___-

[@candicehwt6375]

"I don't have very large hands"

[@darkest-hero]

@@candicehwt6375 wish i did chords are extremely hard for me

[@ipurpleyu]

Lol

[@tothemoon4776]

History of humanity I guess. Rich people: money's not that important. Good looking people: looks aren't important. Homeboy in this video has bigger hands than me and I'm 5"10.

[@darkest-hero]

@@tothemoon4776 HAHAH

[@scouser2230]

Chris, I have to somewhat disagree with you. I have arthritic fingers and therefore when fingering chords I find having extra wide string spacing helps me avoid string buzz. I am able to form cleaner chords. I also think this is helpful for people with fatter fingers. I believe when selecting a guitar string spacing is very important, if not critical. This is particularly important if you play finger style where you end up plucking individual strings. I believe guitar sales staff should help new customers understand this critical component in advising them on the right guitar for them. I find in practice they don’t do this.

[@roadkingrocks5067]

I found the shorter scale guitars make it much harder to make barre chords and don't give you much fret room for multiple fingers farther up the neck. 1 11/16" nut width and a comfortable neck make the difference for me....

[@GRJ-uz7kf]

True that a short-scale squeezes out chords in the upper range, but in the low-medium range, barre chords are generally easier. My experience.

[@piano2873]

Thanks for the most informative discussion on guitars for small hands. You explained everything clearly and honestly.

[@GRJ-uz7kf]

Small-hand folks should be cautious about "parlors." They have small bodies, but often wide, flat fretboards. Plus, they're usually 12-fret instruments, meaning greater distances between frets.

[@zeniktorres4320]

I highly recommend the smaller body Yamaha FS800 (spruce top) and the FS850 (mahogany top, very nice sound) ranges. It has a normal scale length but the smaller body makes it alot more comfortable to play. Very good quality and sound and nice neck shape, good playability. I think scale length is the same (or almost) as the Baby Taylor, but for me the Yamaha sounded better (I have the Yamaha FS850).

[@toomanyhobbies4713]

This is a good video, thanks for the information. I am self taught, have small hands and struggled to learn the guitar. At the time I did not know how physically different guitars can be and how buying the right guitar is essential to continued practice. However, I believe one point that was missing here, is the simple act of stretching the tendons in the hand, thereby keeping the hand more flexible. All athletes stretch before a workout. Guitar playing is no different. Just google how to stretch the hand and see if it works for you.

[@scoobydoo4087]

I have very short fingers and even with a 3/4 size guitar there are many chords I can’t play because my fingers don’t reach that far. I can do the blues shuffle with barre chords either. So there are many songs I can’t play due to short hands.

[@ojsojs6004]

I have short fingers too. My middle finger length is 6.5 CM long. How about you?

[@debasishsharma8639]

@@ojsojs6004 same length brother . Btw i also want to buy a guitar and my fingers are also small , my middle finger is just 6.6 cm . Can you please give me some names of guitar which i can play with my tiny hands , plzz brother can you help me out .

[@ojsojs6004]

@@debasishsharma8639 I am just curious, can you play now open C chord and G chord?

[@debasishsharma8639]

@@ojsojs6004 no brother i haven't played guitar before and don't have much idea about it . But i want to buy a guitar and want to learn coz i love music very much . I'm just worried wheather i will be fit to play a guitar because my fingers are small . I want to buy a guitar with thin neck so that it will be possible for me to play comfortably with my small hands .

[@debasishsharma8639]

Btw I'm a dwarf person 😔

[@nicolasmith1460]

Fabulous helpful video for a head scratching issue for me. Thanks.

[@hartcons]

i enjoy your channel. i'm not very good yet but now that i have 3 guitars (1 acoustic and 2 electric) i think that playability on the neck is the most important thing about a guitar. i can only get A major to ring out well on one of my guitars. i think that a shorter scale length can actually be a problem if you have fat fingers. on one of my guitars my fret hand quickly gets tired and cramps up and it's definitely harder to reach for a G major (i believe the nut width is longer). and i can sometimes mute the low E by touching it with the side of my thumb but i can't get my thumb to wrap around. i'm not buying any more guitars online -- have to play them in person. i see videos of folks playing effortlessly and they usually have long, narrow fingers. so based on my experience i would say this issue is legit. not a reason to quit but doesn't make things any easier either. and it's not just size of hand, length of fingers, fatness of fingers but also how much stretch you can get out of them and whether you can even straighten them to do a barre chord. maybe it's like learning a language where it's better to start as a kid so your hands can get all stretched out.

[@Aloysius1966]

I have the Sterling short scale (24") Cutlass. I think it's the best compromise on the market.

[@MikeScofieldComposer]

Very helpful and well done

[@loverfromlove]

So just to clarify.... its not about the short hands persay it's hand dexterity. So this should help with people have less scale mobility.

[@roscmon]

Anyone else click on a couple of the links in the description to see a price on one of these guitars here's talking about? 14k.. 8k... I sat here through 3/4 of this video and should have checked out a link from the start.

[@paulv8453]

Amazing playing on the GS mini Chris 🤩

[@ipullthepork]

Im 5'3. what is literally the smallest nut width and scale length of a guitar and any recommendations with those specs would be appreciated.

[@bigbarkingdog2010]

Very informative video on small guitars.

[@gmoder100]

Been learing guitar for 3 months now, got a squier telecaster for myself as my first, I’m soon gonna look into trying out a mustang or a jaguar because i feel like the shorter scale length would feel better for my smaller hands

[@moonfall6978]

Hell yeah I've got a 25.5 scale guitar and bought a squier jagmaster just to see if I liked 24 scale, just buy it, it's a big difference, not only the spacing between frets is shorter, but also the strings are really light and loose, great for bends, however the sustain and tone isn't the same as 25.5 scale, but if you ask me, it's worth it

[@bynauchiha]

When do we start considering hands as being small

[@smallnuts2]

So if I wanted a dreadnought or a grand auditorium guitar. What is the lingo to ask for a smaller fret spacing and neck thickness guitar? I can do chords but not the F chord or B chord. Fingers to small.

[@thebgt1254]

nice presentation! although I think those a bit expensive for beginners with small hands!

[@Jakalia]

good video. very informative and points of view. I definitely am more aware of the curve on the neck. Thanks for the awesome info man!!

[@diegofiorillo6412]

I have been trying to learn the intro mriffs to orion for 3 years and still cannot do it without accidentally muting strings so please don't tell me that hand size means nothing. i can play a lot of other things sure but there are limitation to what I can play.

[@motoputz3201]

angus just plays his guitar, pretty damn well too and he has child's hands. fat necks are actually easier to play by the way

[@emmawickman1196]

Maybe this topic could be covered by a woman with a small hand? I have small hands, I can’t even by gloves for adults as my fingers are to short. The size of the hand does matter.

[@amoghshirodkar4655]

Can you revise your best beginner acoustic, classical and electric guitars from 2017 for 2018.

[@T5Zplayer]

clearly missing the point. At best I can stretch 4 frets, nothing to do with stretch, you need to learn techniques that allow you to get 5 frets. How to position the thumb and bounce the little finger. Les Pauls, Mustangs with shorter scale length help. If you want the Strat sound regardless, replace the neck with a scale conversion neck. Of course you can get a Luthier to build a guitar to your requirements, $1500 to $3500, but you get what you pay for. A surprise to me was the Martin Dreadnought Junior, its the easiest to play, great build and quality sound. For electrics I find Gibsons perfect, although still cant play a shuffle lower down the neck, Fenders I used Warmoth converters necks.

[@jeffpair764]

AndyT , thanks for this video, I’m very interested in beginner bass guitars for hands on the the smaller side that are affordable and sound great.

[@kcw4502]

Looking for a guitar for my 90 year old mom who has had surgery on her hand so would like more focus on ease of play. and yes she has small hands......

[@ChrisBryanAllones]

I think the playability of guitars are based on the size or string gauge. Smaller guitars will tend to have less tension on the strings which will be similar to a lighter gauge strings.

[@kbchef9205]

Chris… is there a way to measure your hand to find what size/shape of neck would be best for a beginner/first time guitar player??

[@joq702]

I like the Yamaha FS800 series. They are extremely comfortable for smaller people.

[@crumpledpaper8897]

im lucky that despite having small hands, i have ,any years of violin experience behind me so my hand is used to contorting weirdly, but even still i have small hands and my dads guitar which im trying to learn on is kinda big.

[@haleysyra5053]

Bruh I'm 4'11" and I stopped growing in 5th grade. I can play on regular guitars but that shit ain't comfortable! I'm 23!!

[@saina6171]

I am 5”2 and I have similar problem

[@gescheitine]

Hi, I am 5’ and playing guitar since 6 years now. If I can talk about electric guitar, I bought a Fender “squire”. That is better than my old E335, but not even perfect for I am frustrated with things like “Johnny B Goode” : I can play the intro, however I can’t play the lower chord from 5 fret to 9 fret. And some barrée chords give me hard time. That could be fun that companies think of us when they are doing guitars, because I would have wish a small telecaster instead of Stratocaster. Thanks for your advises. I will check it out. Thanks

[@sarasuarez5529]

2:06 This is so annoying... like dude... I've been playing ukulele, clarinet and piano for years. No problem. But the guitar is physically too large for me. Like dude some people genuinely have hands that physically cannot play a chord.

[@BradfordHills]

Thanks great video.

[@roykurian72]

No Martin DJR in the list ?

[@alfredoromero8859]

I have small hands and I really want to play the guitar but I just wanna quit cause I cant play any acordes

[@larryzink8978]

The point is to play with other people. Thats where the incentive lives, Your comfort or not will become less important.

[@nelson850]

So what's a good guitar for small hands

[@moonfall6978]

@S.R. Sinclair if you're still looking, I would recommend Squier, G&L or Ibanez guitars, even some Epiphones could be lightweight, but those would've like the special II or the LP-100, for Squiers, their Strats are pretty lightweight, Mustangs are a good option too! There's also semi-hollow Squiers that are really light, G&L also makes guitars similar to Fenders, but I would highly recommend the Fallout Tribute :D

[@stogies3]

@@moonfall6978 he is telling you he has small hands and you are ranting about light weight guitars 😞😭😝

[@moonfall6978]

@@stogies3 oh shit I must've been high or sth or I read another comment and answered this one instead lmao

[@reginarena8001]

5’3

[@eodchop]

Chris love you man but you really should include the Dreadnought Mini and the little Martin. Five Taylor Guitars makes you look biased.

[@thomasgittelson8321]

what model was that Taylor Academy guitar? There are more than one on the Taylor website. Thank. you,

[@zachelmquist4932]

Thank you for this video!

[@terryglenweaver]

I have small hands vs My hand spread is 8.5." The first one tells you Jack-squat. The latter gives us a reference point. So why do all these people REFUSE to start with a reference point, concerning the topic? And yet they will tell you the distance from one E- string to the other E-string down to 1/16 th of an inch. Oh yeah 1/3 or more of you time trying to learn is spent listening and watching them play guitar - thus providing ZERO information.

[@squiz56]

Thanks very helpful

[@yongyitan2458]

Hi Chris, big fan of your video. I already have a rosewood guitar and a mahogany guitar. I want to add a maple one to my collection. Can you do a maple guitar video? There seems no video on this topic on youtube. THX

[@josuefox]

They shouldn't call these guitars with words like "baby", "mini", it's like they say " here a guitar for your baby hands" .. can hurt feelings ^^

[@gauravkashyap3410]

So ultimately its true.... 'size does matter' 😝

[@irmaztamal21]

17:24 that squire it awesome. Beautifully arrange color Red body & headstock White pickguard Light color neck Black & white pick up 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@lukegleeson2134]

I’m just a tiny bit taller than Chris here, but I guarantee my hands are smaller! My dad was a small guy, and so was my mom.. not like I can take a pill to grow my fingers :P I’ve just made a promise to myself not to let having small hands interfere with my enjoyment of the guitar.

[@cardi60]

You can teach me some of the strumming technical please

[@rogercabrerazafra8697]

Hey Chris ! Could you do a review about the Gretsch G5422TG ? Greetings from Peru !

[@leascaart]

The Gretsch is BEAUTIFUL!! But difficult to find!!

[@Jockeylotforfun]

Love my Gretsch! Try guitar center on line. I like my Gretsch g5120/ older model their top model electromatic i think their top model now is Gretsch g5420. Hope that helps.

[@leascaart]

@@Jockeylotforfun Yes. It does. Thank you very much. I am ordered the 2655 Village Amber. I love how lightweight it is compared to my Gibson. I think the Gibson is hurting my back. If I like the 2655, then I will most likely move up to a better Gretsch. So thank you for that.

[@Jockeylotforfun]

@@leascaart Ooooo! I just looked up the Gretsch 2655 in amber and that's a gorgeous guitar, I'm so happy and excited for you! I think you'll fall in love the quality and tone of a Gretsch! Please let me know how it goes. I just ordered a limited edition Fender Player Stratocaster HSS in Candy Apple Red, to celebrate a milestone birthday and valentines day wedding anniversary. Its supposed to arrive on Monday! ✌💕🎶

[@Jockeylotforfun]

@@leascaart The fender player stratocaster/( on sale too!) with the modern C profile neck is surprisingly VERY comfortable for my smaller hands! I'd estimate it to be about 1/2 the weight of my Gibson ✌💕🎶

[@leascaart]

@@Jockeylotforfun I'm finding that my Gibson is too heavy. The semi hollow body Gretsch are much lighter. I'm sure the Gibson hollow bodies are light too, but the price is too high.

[@9jmorrison]

Get a nylon guitar Stubby. Apostle Mark was nick named for the same reason.

[@DMCSEWS]

I'm 4'10" and have very short fingers.

[@1959LP4U]

Long scale Fender guitars (25.5" scale length) is an idiotic suggestion! It shows you don't take this seriously!!! When you showed the size ( huge wingspan) of your hand I knew you weren't going to be any different than some of these other idiots with large hands who say having small hands isn't a problem!

[@Markusong38]

tq, its very helpful

[@davidgearardo1788]

I know some people with narrow nuts.

[@Christopher-xn8qk]

And big balls:)

[@dcamron46]

Your hands aren't small dude...wtf...just tell us what we wanna know

[@rofmo]

Having small hands, can’t play frets with thumb. So annoying.

[@deniseconn2003]

Thanks

[@Tigerex966]

What about large hands and double thick fingertips😩😕?

[@AlamoMusic]

Jumbo guitars.

[@Tigerex966]

@@AlamoMusic haha. ok. Now to get a jumbo paycheck. Here are some more good tips I never though about like getting a 12 string but only put 6 strings on it😏 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaLTZoWel9tlisk

[@AlamoMusic]

That tip is gold!

[@abbeyna01]

Great for barre chords! Lucky you!!!

[@davidmhuey]

Hey Fellas, love the videos, How about a 12 string buyers guide? Maybe under $1,000?

[@AlamoMusic]

Great suggestion. Maybe we can tackle this one early next year!

[@davidmhuey]

Thanks for the reply. Enjoy watching these videos.