My son Jasper

suziko
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:51 am

What a sweet video! Already plenty of good advice here, but as a small woman with small hands, I figured I'd sound in, too. A travel guitar (such as a GS mini or Taylor Big Baby) would certainly work well for you, as would a regular smaller-bodied guitar (such as a parlor-sized or Grand Concert-sized guitar) but as others said, you don't need to have a smaller guitar just because you have smaller hands. Keeping your wrist low is going to fret the strings properly. For me, what mattered more was the size of the body of the guitar. I didn't like having a big guitar on my lap because I felt like it pushed my right shoulder up in an uncomfortable way. Try playing different sized guitars and see which feels best for you. And congratulations on starting to learn! I sure wish I'd started at your age.

best,

Suzi


cosmicmechanic
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:24 am

Pleased to meet you, Jasper ! I didn't know that there was a sequel ("Son of Anton"). Very successful project, Anton :)
It must be great having a father that is a rock star.

I just thought I'd mention that I struggled for years playing an ok acoustic guitar (entry level Washburn), but it had very high "action" (distance between the strings and neck of the guitar) and also heavy gauge strings.

So I wish I had known that getting the "action" reduced and using lighter strings would have made the guitar much more playable ...

Another piece of the puzzle for you, Jasper, I hope.

Pierre


reiver
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:15 am

Hello Jasper

My advice, for what it's worth, is to not worry about the size of your hands in choosing your guitar. As a 14 year old boy I think you'd very quickly outgrow a guitar that isn't full size - and you probably don't want to be having to replace your guitar in 18 months or so. Not only can that end up being expensive - but also, you will find yourself becoming attached to it! This sounds like a great opportunity for you to work on improving your left hand position which will not only make playing now easier but also stand you in very good stead in years to come.

I'd say that both Takamine and Yamaha produce well priced guitars with body shapes that you'll find comfortable now and won't have to be replaced when you get a little older. But as has been said - get out there and play guitars, listen to the advice of the salesmen and your father and pick a style and sound that YOU like. And have fun with it!

Stuart


willem
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 11:42 am

Hi Jasper,,great you begin with the guitar(i heard you play keyboard also) i had the pleaser to meet your father a view times and know he is a great guy and it must be a pleaser to make music with him,well i did..

hope you find your guitar and looking forward to a video from you or you both...


Yamaha48
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:33 pm

nesh16041972 wrote:
Hi Jasper and Anton,

Very nice to meet you Jasper and it's also great that you want to learn the guitar as well, so you've come to the right place! ;)

As for your question, I did kinda expect for you to have big hands as your dad does. I could get into your question of course, but I'm pretty sure that Neil covers it and much more about that in the Beginners-Free-lessons, so check those out!

And your dad pm-ed me with this question wich I answered, I'm sure he'll tell you! :)

Good luck on your guitar-journey Jasper, if you have more questions then fire away!

Cheers

Vanessa
Thanks Vanessa for your reply.
I know my dad has big hands but i have the hands from my grandpa.
And those are quite small.

See you later in maybe my next vid on TG


Yamaha48
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:38 pm

willem wrote:
Hi Jasper,,great you begin with the guitar(i heard you play keyboard also) i had the pleaser to meet your father a view times and know he is a great guy and it must be a pleaser to make music with him,well i did..

hope you find your guitar and looking forward to a video from you or you both...
Hi Willem,
It's a true thing that i play keyboard.
And thanx for you reply.

And well it shouldn't be too hard to find a good guitar with all these tips.
See you later in maybe my next vid on TG
Jasper


Yamaha48
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Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:12 am
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:44 pm

reiver wrote:
Hello Jasper

My advice, for what it's worth, is to not worry about the size of your hands in choosing your guitar. As a 14 year old boy I think you'd very quickly outgrow a guitar that isn't full size - and you probably don't want to be having to replace your guitar in 18 months or so. Not only can that end up being expensive - but also, you will find yourself becoming attached to it! This sounds like a great opportunity for you to work on improving your left hand position which will not only make playing now easier but also stand you in very good stead in years to come.

I'd say that both Takamine and Yamaha produce well priced guitars with body shapes that you'll find comfortable now and won't have to be replaced when you get a little older. But as has been said - get out there and play guitars, listen to the advice of the salesmen and your father and pick a style and sound that YOU like. And have fun with it!

Stuart
Hello Stuart,
Thanx for you tips and recommendings.
I will listen to the salesman and my father even it's quite hard for me.
And it wouldn't be a problem to have fun with playing guitar.
You know it's great fun to play music.

See you later in maybe my next vid on TG
Jasper


Yamaha48
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:52 pm

cosmicmechanic wrote:
Pleased to meet you, Jasper ! I didn't know that there was a sequel ("Son of Anton"). Very successful project, Anton :)
It must be great having a father that is a rock star.

I just thought I'd mention that I struggled for years playing an ok acoustic guitar (entry level Washburn), but it had very high "action" (distance between the strings and neck of the guitar) and also heavy gauge strings.

So I wish I had known that getting the "action" reduced and using lighter strings would have made the guitar much more playable ...

Another piece of the puzzle for you, Jasper, I hope.

Pierre
Hello Pierre,
Thanx for your tip.
I guess it will help playing the guitar much easier.
And you are right my father is quite a rockstar.
(Well country star......)

I'll speak you later.
Jasper.


Yamaha48
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:58 pm

suziko wrote:
What a sweet video! Already plenty of good advice here, but as a small woman with small hands, I figured I'd sound in, too. A travel guitar (such as a GS mini or Taylor Big Baby) would certainly work well for you, as would a regular smaller-bodied guitar (such as a parlor-sized or Grand Concert-sized guitar) but as others said, you don't need to have a smaller guitar just because you have smaller hands. Keeping your wrist low is going to fret the strings properly. For me, what mattered more was the size of the body of the guitar. I didn't like having a big guitar on my lap because I felt like it pushed my right shoulder up in an uncomfortable way. Try playing different sized guitars and see which feels best for you. And congratulations on starting to learn! I sure wish I'd started at your age.

best,

Suzi
Hello Suzi,
Thanx for your tips and recommandings.
It should help a lot in choosing the right guitar.
And thanx for congrats.

Speak you later after maybe my next vid on TG.

Jasper


Yamaha48
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:16 pm

michelew wrote:
Hey Jasper, hi from Sydney.

Well it's sure nice to meet you. For starters ignore what Tony said about the Taylor 914, he's just teasing your Dad. I'm sure that your Dad shows you he loves you every day, not the least of which is sharing his love of music with you and starting you on your musical journey by showing you some basics about guitar and introducing you to TG.

Check out the free 2 week beginners' course as Vanessa has suggested. That will kick start your playing, tell you what you need to know right now and give you lots of chords to get started with. You'll be making music before you know it.

Don't be worried about small hands. Lots of women have little hands and they get on just fine. It's about practice and practice and practice and more practice. Take Muriel Anderson for example. She is one of the most phenomenal players in the world, a real musicians' musician, and she doesn't have huge hands, especially compared to Neil's. Besides, chances are your hands will grow as you do, so things that might seem tricky now will get easier as you grow and especially as you practice them. Everyone, no matter how big their hands are, finds that they can reach further as they just keep reaching and trying to reach further and learn what they need to know.

If your Dad or someone else is able to get you a guitar that's great. You're a luck young man. To find out what works for you, go to a music store and try all sorts of different guitars until you find one that feels good for your size and sounds good to you. It might be a 3/4 size or it might be a full size guitar. Ask the sales people in the music store about the type of guitar that they would recommend for new players like you too. Once you've found the type of body shape, neck width, scale length (that's how long the neck is) and the sorts of string you like (steel strings or nylon) then you and your Dad can think about a good way of finding a guitar like that for you.

How exciting!!

And man your English is FANTASTIC.

Have fun. That's the most important thing. It's important that you enjoy the whole process, that will help you stick with.

You have a fabulous fun journey ahead of you. I can't wait to hear you play something.

Keep us posted about how you go.

Anton - you're a prince among men. You have a wonderful son. Gee I wonder who helped to make him into such a sweet and gorgeous young man.

Michele

++Added later - Andy - mate I just read your post. We must have been typing at the same time. Gee I can't believe I took so long to get mine up. But great minds think alike right.

Hello Michelle,
Thanx for your info and tips.
And it's right my father does love me a lot and he doesn't have to show that off in something that is not falueable as money.
The love of your parents is the best you can have.
And all the things you've said are very usable.
It should be easy now to chose a good guitar.
And thanx about your compliment about my English. (I had a good teacher last schoolyear).
But the sad story is i dont see my father often.

Well speak you later.
Jasper


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