I was in the guitar store the other day to get a few sets of strings. My kid (7 years old) was with me. He was fascinated by the guitar wall (who wouldnât be) and asked me to get him a guitar. It wasnât the first time he asks for one, but it was the first time they I felt like he meant it. He picks one of my guitars sometimes when I am playing but he never showed real interest in playing honestly.
Anyway I thought about it for a bit, and it has been a while that Iâm thinking to get an Ukelele. So one Idea would be to get one that also he can play and maybe I can teach him simple things and see if it really interests him. But I donât want to buy a kid-specific Ukelele because I want to play it as well.
Looking around I see the soprano size is the most recommended for kids. Is it playable by an adult? Not too small? Does anyone have an experience with this? or a recommendation? Will a concert size be too big for my kid?
The right size of the ukulele depends on personal preference and playing style. Knowing how the size of a ukulele affects playability, comfort, and tone can be a useful way to narrow down your choice. Ukuleles come in four main sizes:
Soprano ukuleles are the smallest and have bright, cheerful sounds.
Concert ukuleles are slightly larger and have a fuller sound.
Tenor ukuleles are the largest and have the richest sound.
Baritone ukuleles are the largest and have a deeper, guitar-like sound.
on CĂłrdobaâs site under ukuleles. I think the size might depend on both how big you & your kid are⌠any of the sizes are âplayableâ by adults, although if you have large hands youâd probably find the Tenor or Baritone the most comfy. My wife (at 5â0" sheâs a petite female) has a Concert uke & I (5â11" average size male) can comfortably play with it!
So, I donât think you can go too wrong whichever size you choose.
Tod
P.S. CĂłrdoba has some getting started videos for how to tune, early chords, etc for the uke. Justin also has some Moms & Dads Beginner uke courses for playing with your kid + songs on his website!
I love ukulele! For me as well as guitar, not instead of. My kids are adult now but I think itâs a great way to start young children in music and playing
I donât think any of the sizes would be too small or big for a child or adults, although a challenge for me when I started was how to hold them, being a lot smaller than a guitar, but itâs just different and something to get used to I guess.
I prefer my tenor and play it most often. It has a warmer sound and also that little bit bigger.
The baritone size is tuned differently to the smaller sizes, DGBE like the top 4 strings of the guitar, which could be an advantage for transitioning to guitar but a disadvantage to follow Justinâs beginner uke courses. The other sizes are usually tuned with reentrant tuning GCEA.
If it were me I wouldnât go for âtoyâ or kid-specific either and get something a bit nicer to play with a richer sound in the size that you prefer. Theyâre all great for adults or kids I think but Iâd personally go for concert or tenor, especially if youâre both going to be playing it.
Great idea. I was playing a gig at an outdoor country market and a family walked in with a 3 year old boy carrying a blue ukulele. The kid was fixated on my guitar playing. Afterwards I sat down with them and let him strum my âbigâ guitar.
Soprano is what Iâd go for in this case. 2nd hand market is good for this, the super cheap ones you get at music stores are pretty poor quality.
Depending on size of your hands, it might be small for you.
Hi Nadim. I started off on a soprano and didnât particularly find it too small to play but found holding it steady a real challenge due to its size and extremely light weight. After a few months I purchased an Alvarez Tenor ukulele and found it a lot more comfortable to hold and play. I also fitted a strap pin and put on a headstock strap, and after a little experimentation with strap length itâs really comfortable to play both sitting and standing. Iâm not particularly big, 5ft 8â with small hands. The Tenor also has a lot more pleasing/fuller sound than the soprano to my ears. I also changed the strings to a fluorocarbon low g set which enhanced the sound further for me. I did post an AVOYP on here a short while ago if you would like to hear how it sounds. Just my experience so far. It would be good if both of you could try out the different sizes and see how they feel and sound. Hope that helps
Yes. Definitely not going for a âtoyâ. The âcheapâ ones over here in Spain cost around 40âŹ. These are sold in proper guitar stores but honestly I have no idea about their quality and I might not be able to judge while holding them.
I think I will find a free day and go to the city to try a few ukes. Not sure if I will take the kid with me because heâll definitely want the one with the most shiny color, regardless of how it plays .
I started on a ukulele and played it pretty consistently for a few months before I switched over to guitar.
I would say your child would probably be fine with any of the sizes since they are all pretty small relative to the guitar. I remember my first guitar felt massive to me when I held it in comparison to the ukulele Although, as @Avalon426 pointed out, the baritone is tuned differently, so you may want to start with one of the other sizes.
I have a concert size and I personally prefer it to the others. For me, the soprano size felt a little too small to hold comfortably and the concert one was just big enough. I also liked the sound better. My daughter also has a concert size and although she is older than your child (13) she has no problem with the size.
Although sound should of course be a top priority, most people are going to be a lot more motivated to practice if they like the way it looks
I should go tune my ukulele. I havenât played it for a while and Iâm sure itâs massively out of tune at this point Ukuleles really are super fun to play and a good stepping stone to the guitar if your child ultimately goes that route.
My kid had his 8th birthday yesterday and I finally got him an Ukelele. But, I abandoned my initial idea of getting a single Ukelele for both of us.
The initial interest that he got when looking at the guitar wall in the store more than a half a year ago was from their colors and how shiny they were. So I wanted to get him one that looked nice and fun (for a kid). Also, I though it would be easier to teach him if I had an Uke of my own (Itâs so easy to convince ourselves we need another toy ).
So I found this local brand who has both ânormalâ Ukeleles and others geared toward kids (not toys) with different colors. It also came with colored strings and a leaning book. I donât know if itâs common to have strings with different colors for easier teaching but I thought it was brilliant.
Anyway, I got him a soprano and concert for me. Both are small and fun to play .
He loved it! Letâs see if he enjoys learning how to play it.
Itâs never too early to introduce music making to a child. I bought my three-year old grandson a ukulele (a legitimate concert model, not plastic toy) for Christmas. He was thrilled for about 28 seconds, then his micro attention span shifted to trucks. Some day weâll play togetherâŚ
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