Guitars come in various shapes and sizes, each serving their own purpose in the holistic music world. You may be used to the full size, three-quarter and even the half size small body acoustic guitars available on the market, but then there are the ukulele’s and the travel guitars as well. Lets have a look at the purpose of each of these and why they are used.
Why a small body guitar?
Well, they each serve their purpose don’t they – lets have a look.
- The smallest – Ukulele
I know some musicians opt to travel with a ukulele just to have an instrument with them, but there are a few fundamental differences between the ukulele and an acoustic guitar. First of all, the ukulele has only four strings compared to the acoustic’s six, and has a completely different tuning than a normal acoustic. In fact – its almost a reverse tuning similar to a violin. Unless this is what you are specifically looking for – the ukulele will sound and feel strange to play if you are used to an acoustic.
So, the ukulele serves a specific sound purpose.
- One size up – the quarter size or travel guitar
The purpose of the quarter size is very simple – it is so much easier to travel with and it plays just like a normal six string. So the chord structures you play will remain the same – naturally a big advantage. Built with the normal six strings and a body small enough that it allows you to travel with it in carry-on luggage easily, this guitar is barely larger than a ukulele, but allows you to play it just like a standard size acoustic.
There are a couple of differences between the small body, also known as the guitalele (i.e. a cross between a guitar and a ukulele) and the normal acoustic that you should be aware of though. Firstly, the small body acoustic has a higher tuning – similar to when a capo is placed n the fifth fret of a normal guitar. So the sound will not be exactly the same as your normal acoustic.
Secondly, these small guitar have a thinner sound than normal guitars, so if full volume and full tone is not such a big issue for you, then these travel guitars will definitely do the trick. Although they may help you write your next hit – booking a gig with these guys may just not be the best idea.
- Third in the list – the half size and three-quarter guitar
Naturally, the half and three quarter sizes are great for kids, as they can actually hold the guitar and reach all the frets! It plays and sounds very similar to a standard size acoustic and is thus great to practice and learn on, while being easy to carry and handle. Its reduced size purpose is thus purely functional. They do have a slight disadvantage in that they don’t sound quite a full and loud as a standard size, but then again they are much cheaper.
