Hey, I was wondering if there was a way you can setup your guitar to make it easier for people with smaller hands to play with ease.

I've been playing for about a year now, and ive become comfortable with holding down chords and everything.

But, recently i was trying to play some  john mayer songs and i found out that my hands cant play some of those chords properly because i cant reach some of the strings, or when i hold down the chord my fingers mute some of the strings that shouldnt be muted.

there isn't really a way to adjust your guitar for that problem, but if you try to play the chords differently than most people would, then maybe that will help. my little brother had that same problem (i tease him by saying he has unusually short pinkies). he told me that you should get a coustum made guitar. i told him that would cost alot of money. maybe that could be your choice, or you could get a ucalaley. what chords exactly are you playing in these songs?

possibly your technique ?
The part where you say fingers are muting the strings leads me to believe that you are reaching the frets.

It will come with practice. Ive seen some kids on youtube just smoking their guitar, Ive seen them do things that make me want to kick my guitar.

A couple things I can think of without actually seeing is moving your elbow farther away from your body. This helps with a better "attack" on your fretboard. Keeps your fretting fingers more straight to your fretboard instead of angled.  mmm... lets see.... long fingernails are bad. keep em short..


Or, you just might possibly have abnormally short fingers

another suggestion about reaching the frets and all, i think that if you move your thumb down a bit farther than usual, it might help. and trust me, i've seen some pretty rediculous kids on youtube, and i've wanted to kill myself just seeing it...

I seen a couple of those kids that are 7 & 8 yrs old on youtube the other day. They were surprising. Wish I could play like they do...

ya, they're pretty awesome....IT'S NOT FAIR!!!!

this takes alot of practice but sometimes it helps me if i fret any notes on the low E string with my thumb which frees up my other 4 fingers for the rest of the notes. Also make sure if your standing that your guitar is up at your chest, it may not look cool but it is the best position to aid in fretting strings. One more point, check with you guitar manufacturer for setup specs. The neck should curve ever so slightly away from the strings and gradually flatten as it approaches the body and strings that are closer to the frets require less effort to fret.

fretting with thumb = bad technique.

and gives less manouverability for your other fingers.

What is the difference between a 24 scale, and a 25.5? Would the 24 be better for "smaller" people?

Paul,

That question can get abit complicated,  but heres a link that may help explain it better that I can..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_length

My Jaguar is a 24 in scale.  but the same pysical size as a strat or jazzmaster etc..

Jim

guitarfreak wrote:

fretting with thumb = bad technique.

and gives less manouverability for your other fingers.

I wouldnt recommend fratting the low E all the time with a thumb, only suggesting it could help for some chords. For example, Pinball wizard, I suppose you could play it as a barre chord but to fret, mute, skip 2 strings, fret, then open is awfully hard on 1 finger.

e--------------0-------------------------
B--------------7-----------------------
G--------------9--------------------
D--------------9----------------------
A--------------X----------------
E--------------7---------------