Your views 3/4 Guitar

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Following on from the previous threads my ongoing questioning of this forum ( please excuse me ) 

I want to pick your brains re the 3/4. From my perspective I find it almost I possible to get my 4th finger, except my first onto the 6 string E. and 3/4 seems an option

my hands are small and three neck of the guitar is too round for me to get to the 6th string. Even if I manually place it up there it’s just not comfortable. 

I have been reading about 3/4 and they do have advantages for peeps like me, but. They aren’t really the way to go long term. 

I have, and do warm up, finger extension and various scales. But to be honest I don't really see which way is best.


As a side note  I have been trying to master the instrument for a year on and off. And I am determined not to give up. I quite enjoy playing but would like to step up. I can barre but not quite hit the full F Major down just yet
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Comments

  • soma1975soma1975 Frets: 6627
    edited January 2020
    F Major is a dick and it certainly took me over a year to get to pulling it off properly. 

    Unless you have mega super super small hands, like a weird pygmy hand medical condition, I would persevere. Stretching can be sore when you start out but it all works itself out. 

    A lot of what you do when you start out is not comfortable; the reason why most people give up. All I can say is it gets better. 

    A great exercise I was shown when I started was to put your fretting hand up and to alternate between the Vulcan hand greeting - stretching the index and little finger - and then doing the same but only with the little finger. Keep going back and forth between the two.
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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    I have fancied getting a 3/4 bass for a while; I have enough issues with playing a normal guitar to even consider a guitar version, though.
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  • kinkin Frets: 1015
    Lots of different ways to play a chord, so unless the song requires a full on barre chord strum just play the notes of the chord in a way that is comfortable for you.
      If you ever play in a band with another guitarist or even more so a keyboardist the overall sound will be much better if you play a simple inversion rather than everyone filling up the same space bashing out full chords.
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  • Have you thought about getting a Jaguar, with its 24" scale or something else at the shorter, thinner end of standard rather than a 3/4 version?

    The other thing is how are you holding the guitar? If you have it so the neck is quite low then the amount of access you have to the fretboard will be more limited than if it's higher up - try it so that you can put your thumb comfortably in the middle of the back of the neck all the way up (for me that's with the guitar at around the bottom of my ribcage). That gives the most access to the strings and neck in my experience. 

    Generally speaking the principle for developing anything is working out where you want to get to, then where you are now (in terms of comfort) and then how you can move in small steps from one to the other.  So, where would you need to place the guitar so that you can comfortably put all four of your fingers on each of the first four frets on the low E string? 

    In order to stretch further, it's important that the hand is relaxed - make sure you're not using more pressure than you need to, and also that the guitar is set up to be comfortable (F barre can be a bugger to play if the action is too high at the nut). 

    The other thing is that the fingers are actually longer than we think they are - the bottom of the finger bones is where the knuckles are, not where they seem to meet on the outside, and anyone's hands stretch a lot further than we initially think. The main thing is getting used to it and, as I say, relaxing the hand and arm. 


    I seem to have typed a lot. This is probably because I had too much coffee to combat the too much alcohol I had last night. I hope some of it makes sense and is helpful. 
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    My son had a 3/4 size nylon string acoustic when he was at primary school. So naturally I played it quite a lot. I had a student with a 3/4 size steel strung acoustic which was similar to my Les Paul, but with a wider neck. What I took away from this was that the 3/4 size was a little easier to play, but not by much.

    Several people have mentioned partial chords. These aren’t a cop out. Most experienced guitarists don’t use full 6 note barre chords. They know what they are, but choose to play just the notes which are relevant to the music. 

    Another thing to think about is finger independence. There’s a tendency with barre chords to clamp them on, and hold all of the strings down, even when you don’t need to. A useful exercise (which I guarantee you won’t be able to do without practice) is to finger pick an Am over a descending bass line.
    x02210 use fingers 2,3&1
    3x2210 use 4,2,3&1
    2x2210 use 2,3,4&1
    1x2210 use 1,3,4&2
    0x2210

    There’s no barre, which makes it easier to get your 4th finger onto the 6th string at the 3rd fret. You can then release it as you play the other notes in the chord. As you change between the other chords one finger stays on the fretboard, but it’s a different finger each time. 
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • CeeJayCeeJay Frets: 455
    edited January 2020
    It took a few months toil to get the E shape barre chord down for me. Now I can play a full barred F Major, I rarely use it preferring the fingerings below to go between C and F Major. Am is right there under your fingers too so you've got half the key of C nailed without breaking a sweat.

    F Major - x12331  mute high E with finger 1. Thumb takes care of Low E string at 1st Fret

    C Major - 010233  I know it has a G bass but I prefer the sound to the regular open C, and a breeze to get to F Major


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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1756
    I don't have the biggest hands and with the Arthritis these days I have been enjoying the shorter scale guitars especially my Taylor Koa Mini which is 23-inch scale. I still play full-sized but it's getting harder. 

    As for yourself unless you have really tiny hands you should be able to build up the strength you need. 
    As others have said you go through learning all the full bar chords but as your skills advance you wont usually be playing them as full bar on most occasions. 

    In the end its just practice I would also make sure the guitar is well set up as that makes a lot of difference. Also at this point you need to find time for daily practice. 

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  • ModellistaModellista Frets: 2039
    Get one.

    These are excellent.  Use it to learn on and if you need to sell it when you've finished with it, you'll get pretty much all your money back.  

    https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/190426342779008--dangelico-premier-utica-natural-spruce?gclid=Cj0KCQiA6IHwBRCJARIsALNjViV9DxUnw4iN4fNWvV4H1D6VzdTOY35r1PiKjm9BmuR8yrZEorXhMXEaAnNOEALw_wcB
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    My main guitar is a 3/4 classical.
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • viz said:
    My main guitar is a 3/4 classical.
    Same here.  I tried out a new Fender "Classic Design" 3/4 classical just for fun and took it home.  I've played full size classical guitar for years, my Takemine has a 2" nut and very flat fret board, the Fender 3/4 has a 1 3/4" nut and a visible radius.  I can't put it down even though it's worth about 1/8th the cost of the Takemine.  It just makes me want to play.

    “Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay


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  • Alex_MAlex_M Frets: 3
    I would say that with time and some stretching exercises you’ll be able to manage on a full size. What is it that you currently play? 
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