Am I "big" enough for a tenor?

Hi all,

Well, my username is "weeshan" for good reason. Im an adult female blessed with my Japanese father and petite mother's size. Seriously...I know a lot of women are small but think like the size of a 10 years old. 4'11" tall with hands so small that both of my tiny daughters had larger hands than me by the time they were 9 or 10. LOL

I own sopranos and love them all. They are the perfect size for me and even with the small size, I still struggle with some chords. But I also know I want to get something larger to add to my herd at some point. Mainly so that I have one larger instrument with more volume etc.

So I guess my question is...am I big enough for a tenor? Ive heard people say some chords are a stretch. Im stuck between just going with a concert, and worried I will regret it because there isnt a lot of size difference between it and a soprano...or getting a tenor and maybe regretting it because my hands wont reach.

I live in a small town without music shops so trying before I buy is likely not an option.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Shannon

weeshan said:

Hi all,

Well, my username is "weeshan" for good reason. Im an adult female blessed with my Japanese father and petite mother's size. Seriously...I know a lot of women are small but think like the size of a 10 years old. 4'11" tall with hands so small that both of my tiny daughters had larger hands than me by the time they were 9 or 10. LOL

I own sopranos and love them all. They are the perfect size for me and even with the small size, I still struggle with some chords. But I also know I want to get something larger to add to my herd at some point. Mainly so that I have one larger instrument with more volume etc.

So I guess my question is...am I big enough for a tenor? Ive heard people say some chords are a stretch. Im stuck between just going with a concert, and worried I will regret it because there isnt a lot of size difference between it and a soprano...or getting a tenor and maybe regretting it because my hands wont reach.

I live in a small town without music shops so trying before I buy is likely not an option.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Shannon

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There will be some chords (some of the more unusual ones) that you won't be able to play on the tenor. There are some chords that I can't play on my tenor, and I have fairly average-sized hands. However, it won't stop you from playing most things and it's nice to have the option of getting that deeper tenor-sound, not to mention the extended fret board for finger-picking. Personally, the concert is my favourite size, but if I already had a soprano and was comfortable playing it, I'd get the tenor for variety.

Jake, Aldrine, Kaleo (so?), just to name a few. They play tenors. You can too. There are also excercises you can do to stretch your reach.

I'm an inch taller than you, though my hands might be larger than yours, (hard to tell from your description, though.)
I can play tenor overall, but have to be somewhat selective in what I play. OTOH, I've also had some hand injuries that act up, too. (All my fingers were smashed, as one example.)

But, I find that a 16" concert size is comfortable for me, and a good compromise between concert and tenor. I'm perfectly happy with concert size, too, though, and think that some concerts can really hold their own against a tenor, maybe depending on the strings and style of playing as well.

So, I think you have a lot of options, from standard concert, to 16" concert, and tenors.

My guess, based on your description, is that you'll have more success with a concert, but could possibly handle a 16" concert, too. A regular sized tenor might present difficulties.

sukie said:

Jake, Aldrine, Kaleo (so?), just to name a few. They play tenors. You can too. There are also excercises you can do to stretch your reach.

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I don't think that Jake, Aldrine, and Kaleo are as petite as the OP, though, are they? Are they 4'11" with small hands?

I wouldn't necessarily go by height or frame to determine if an instrument will be too big or small for you. I am 6"+ and wear an XL glove and find the tenor scale uncomfortable. I am much more comfortable playing a concert or soprano. I would guess that many people on this site have smaller hands than I and tenor is their scale of choice. I would suggest you try to play both a concert and a tenor. I know you mentioned that you live in a small town without the ability to try before you buy, but do you ever go to a larger city with music stores? Even a Guitar Center with low end ukes would suffice to try them out and see how your hands feel on the longer scale.

I'm not short, but I do have the hands of a preteen so I can sympathize! I have 3 concerts and 1 tenor. I do like the tenor as it gives a little more room (I also play guitar and sometimes wind up feeling squished on the uke), but I love the concert size! No wrestling with crazy stretches, and any chord is playable for me!

I think there is more to consider than just the size of the fretboard. The body of the tenor is much, much larger than a soprano. I only had a soprano for years...and then impulsively bought a tenor. I love my tenor, but the body feels just a little too large for my right arm. I put a low g string on the tenor, and will use it mainly for playing in a group. My main ukulele is a concert which I bought after the tenor. The size feels just right for finger-picking and strumming. You might consider a concert with a low g, if you want more volume (That is what my husband has, and he loves the sound of it). But ultimately, get what you think you really want.

weeshan said:

Im an adult female blessed with my Japanese father and petite mother's size. Seriously...I know a lot of women are small but think like the size of a 10 years old. 4'11" tall with hands so small that both of my tiny daughters had larger hands than me by the time they were 9 or 10. LOL

...

So I guess my question is...am I big enough for a tenor? Ive heard people say some chords are a stretch. Im stuck between just going with a concert, and worried I will regret it because there isnt a lot of size difference between it and a soprano...or getting a tenor and maybe regretting it because my hands wont reach.

I live in a small town without music shops so trying before I buy is likely not an option.

Click to expand...

Hi Shannon, I'm a little taller than you - a towering 5'2"! - but my hands are probably about the same size as yours, my ex's kids had bigger hands than mine at ages 8 and 10. Additionally I've got a weird bent-pinky thing called fifth digit clinodactyly in which my pinky bends inward toward the ring finger, making my reach even shorter (my pinky looks just like the photo in the link!). And my fingers are short - the longest one is 2.5" from the tip to where it joins the palm.

When I started playing uke I tried a concert scale at first and actually found it too big, so I played strictly sopranos-only for years. But I always preferred the tone and sustain of a tenor, and eventually I tried that and ended up injuring my left hand trying to make a Bb chord. So tenor is out for me, but I'm happy to say that I've found the happy medium with concert scale! Once I had been playing for a while, the chords I found challenging at first on concert scale became no big deal. So yes, with practice and time you can stretch your reach a bit, but there are still limits. It's not simply a matter of "do some exercises" - even now, after playing for 8+ years, I still have to modify the way I play some chords to fit my little hands.

So my recommendation would be to go for a concert scale, and to buy from a dealer who will accept a return or exchange if you don't like it. While there are plenty of small adults who play tenor, it's not so much a matter of small stature as small hands specifically that is the problem. I'm not familiar with the hands of the aforementioned Aldrine or Kaleo, but I've seen Jake play and his hands are enormous compared to mine - not to mention he has long fingers. It's just not a realistic comparison to make.

I have two bits of advice:

1) Is there anyone in your area that will let you play a tenor?
2) If you're really worried, and don't want to take a big risk...$39 for a shipped Caramel laminate Tenor is a pretty cheap way to find out, and chances are you could sell it for close to that on Craigslist if you didn't like it.

I wear men's size L gloves, and am pretty comfortable on tenor and concert; I own one soprano (have two more for the kids) and can play it...but gravitate towards the bigger instruments, partially because of tone.

That said, there is a Martin soprano at the local dealer that just SINGS every time I play it. There is always a risk that I will bring it home with me. There is no price on it...which is probably good.

Five foot tall small handed person here:

I am almost exclusively a soprano player. I bought the Outdoor Ukulele tenor and love, love the size. No problems playing it at all.

Bought a Mainland tenor and love it, too, but have to be more conscious for fretting and the body does seem huge in depth. My muscle memory seems to default to soprano spacing on the fretboard on this uke. But, if I play the Mainland tenor for a day, and go back to it the next day without touching a soprano, then I am fine.

If it was my only uke, I would be able to play it much better. Then, I pick up a soprano and just love that size much more and love the different sizes for different sounds.

Perhaps you could try out a travel thin body tenor.

Just another perspective might be hand flexibility versus size. As a teen, I played piano and guitar. I had little difficulty fretting a guitar and could easily span over an octave on the piano - could not do that now.

Joyful Uke said:

I don't think that Jake, Aldrine, and Kaleo are as petite as the OP, though, are they? Are they 4'11" with small hands?

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Not quite, no. But they are not huge men. And man, you should see the reaches they can do. I play a tenor neck. I think it's possible to play if somebody really has their heart set on it. The frets get closer together as you go up the neck, too. But there sure is an adjustment period.

It's all personal preference anyway. Just enjoy whatever OP gets.

Another shrimp here....Extra small gloves size!
I thought I was better suited with concert. What a mistake!
I only play tenor now. The fret height are more comfortable.
I even graduated to baritone and that's even more comfortable to fret.
I have learned to adjust challenging chords by using finger position that is comfortable to me instead of following the rule !
Tenor is really not that big ! Go for it!

Have you ever seen young children playing full size six string guitars.......I have......all the time. As Solorule says above a tenor uke is really not that big, go for it. The difference in sound is worth it if that is what is appealing to you.

The standard string length of a nylon strung guitar is 65 cm's. A short scale is considered to be around 63 cm's. A really short scale is 61/60 cm's.
A tenor uke is around 45 cm's. The comparison just does not stack up. Not only that but you also have to factor in fretboard width because there is the stretch along the strings (frets) and also across the strings. It's far greater on a nylon guitar.
Now I'm well aware that some adults have tiny hands. I myself play a short scale guitar. Even the hands of the average 9 or 10 year old should be able to cope with the tenor scale, even the baritone scale. This is about learning to increase your stretch. My hands are small (for a male) but I have good stretch between the fingers. That stretch developed over many years. I didn't force it. You can develop your stretch by careful and considered practice, no need to spend hours at a time on this. In fact you should only spend a few minutes per day on it. Rather like some of those yoga exercises, a bit each day over a long period of time and you'll be surprised just how much you improve.

She is Japanese ukulele singer song writer Kotori. I don't know how tall is she, but I think she is your size and her ukulele looks tenor.

Get a Kanile'a or Islander concert, the bodies are a bit larger than normal for a concert. The fret board is also a bit wider though, 1 1/2" as opposed to the normal 1 3/8".

I'm not small by any means and don't like tenors myself, concerts and sopranos for me!

If a tiny Sungha Jung can play a full size guitar... I think you can handle a tenor uke

DownUpDave said:

Have you ever seen young children playing full size six string guitars.......I have......all the time.

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I have no idea how old the OP is, but as someone who started playing ukulele in my mid-40s I'm pretty sure making the comparison to a kid learning guitar isn't really a fair one. Kids generally have both a lot more time, and a lot more physical flexibility than we do as we get older. Take it from someone whose tenor-playing experience landed her in the doctor's office (with the advice that if I didn't want to damage my left hand permanently, I'd better stop, so I did).

The advice to *try* what is appealing and see how it goes is sound, but the chorus of "you can do it if you try!" from people who have NO IDEA what it's like to be on the smaller side of the spectrum just doesn't seem all that helpful to me. Think of it this way: could all of those folks who find a soprano too cramped get used to it if they practiced and stretched and bought special snake oil?? Probably not.

As for SoloRule's ability to play tenor as a small-handed person - I am in awe and you are my hero Bottom line, though - some things just aren't possible, but the only way to know is to try.

If your primary interest is more volume, size isn't the only variable - there are ukes out there that are known for volume. Here's a few that I'm aware of:

- Blackbird Clara - this is concert size, so a little bigger, but I've heard Blackbird dealers say it is as loud as their full size guitars. Not cheap, but will last a lifetime. Mine is louder than any tenor I've played

- Koaloha Opio - no firsthand experience but Koaloha in general is reputed to be loud. The new spruce tops are likely even louder and HMS has a soprano for sale right now.

- Pineapple shaped ukes - read around first, but pineapples often have a bigger sound for the same basic size due to more internal volume.

- Banjoleles - the tone is definitely different, but if you really want to be heard without amplification a banjo is the way to go.