Most parents want to provide their children with the best possible opportunities, and this begins by exposing them to activities that will help them grow.
Learning a second language is an impressive skill for the modern world, team sports help children develop life skills and stay healthy and learning to play an instrument has numerous benefits for a developing mind.
When it comes to choosing good instruments for small hands, studies show that learning how to play a music instrument has various benefits, such as relieving stress and making you smarter.
Learning an instrument at any age has shown to make your brain bigger! In 2003, researchers at Harvard University found that there was more grey matter in the brains of musicians.
But what instrument should you pick? Some users need to find instruments that are easier to handle and more comfortable to play. Also, some instruments are way harder for small hands to learn than others.
But don’t despair! There are so many great smaller-sized instruments out there, and choosing the right one isn’t too hard.
In this article, you’ll find some brilliant suggestions for good instruments for small hands. Hopefully it helps you make the right choice.
Table of Contents
- What To Look For When Choosing an Instrument for Small Hands?
- 1 Recorder
- 2 The Harp
- 3 The Ukulele – Is the Ukulele a good instrument for small hands?
- 4 Guitar
- 5 Harmonica
- Conclusion – Good Instruments for Small Hands
What To Look For When Choosing an Instrument for Small Hands?
There are a few things to keep in mind when looking for a great small-sized instrument, depending on your playing style.
One important consideration is whether the instrument is comfortable to hold. While it’s great to be able to play for hours at a time, you also don’t want to feel pain in your hands or arms.
The second important consideration is to pick an instrument that is easy to learn on. Some instruments work better for certain styles of music, so do factor that in when making your final decision. Be sure to look into a few different instruments to figure out which one you like best.
1 Recorder
The recorder has a poor reputation for making some parents shudder, but it’s not always going to sound incredible when players pick one up. When the recorder is played well, it can be a really soothing and melodic instrument to listen to.
One of the most popular instruments for children, is the recorder. This instrument makes a great first step into learning music because it’s so easy to learn. One can easily teach kids how to read music and understand concepts like pitch and tempo through this instrument.
Another reason recorders are great for kids is because they don’t require a lot of breath capacity to sound good. They come in wood or plastic and are relatively easy on the wallet. Recorders come with three different pitches: tenor, alto, and soprano.
The recorder is a good instrument for people with small hands – it’s an instrument that, if you get the hang of it, will quickly lead you to better ones like the saxophone and clarinet because the finger placement on these instruments is very similar.
2 The Harp
I bet you weren’t expecting to see the harp on a list of good instruments for small hands!
When most people think of the harp, they probably picture it as an incredibly complicated instrument that takes years to master, which is why we only see them on TV or at concerts or hired especially for lavish weddings!
The truth however is that the harp is actually one of the easiest string instruments one could learn ESPECIALLY if you have small hands.
Harps have been around for thousands of years, long before there was a solid framework to learn musical instruments the way we learn them today.
Harps also come in many different shapes and sizes with very different sound qualities; one example is the Celtic harp which can be small enough to sit on your lap!
Check out our 10 Best Harps for Beginners article
Harps are much easier to learn than violins because there’s no bowing or frets. All you really have to do is pluck the strings, and you get a beautiful sounding note! Harps can also be an excellent first choice for someone who wants their own musical education, creating that memorable ethereal sound.
3 The Ukulele – Is the Ukulele a good instrument for small hands?
The ukulele is one of the most popular starting instruments for people who want to get started learning an instrument. Mainly because they’re relatively inexpensive, so it won’t be a huge investment if you find out that you don’t like playing the instrument and also because theyre so easy to learn and learning the ukulele gives you a solid grounding to then move on to another string instrument such as the guitar or mandolin.
Learning the most common basic chords on the ukulele are pretty easy too. Once you have a few, there are literally thousands of songs available to you and not just old time songs, modern songs too – many people buy ukulele’s for children because whatever artist your child is into, there will be ukulele versions of their songs ready for discovery.
4 Guitar
The guitar is trickier than the rest of the instruments on this list, but it’s an excellent instrument for any student to learn because it gives much faster results.
Learning to play a couple of chords and strumming patterns is pretty easy, and once you do it, you can quickly learn to play songs.
The guitar is a great instrument to learn because it also teaches students about other ways of reading music, such as tablature. Transposing written instructions into real-life movements and exercising reasoning skills are just some of the benefits you will get from learning how to read tablature on guitar.
If you want to get started with guitar, it’s a great idea to start on nylon strings. Steel string guitars are usually uncomfortable for people just starting out and may be tough on little fingers (something they’re often proud of).
You need to take into account the size of the guitar also. You need to make sure that your hands or the players hands are big enough for them to reach all strings with ease.
Encouraging your child to learn the guitar is a great way to exercise valuable skills, but it can also create an enjoyable life-long habit for them. It is also a good way for you and your children to share musical passions together!
5 Harmonica
Last but not least on our list of good instruments for small hands is the harmonica
The harmonica is not just an instrument seen in cartoons played by characters who are sitting in jail!
The harmonica has the power to be heard in just about any musical genre today, not only blues and bluegrass. It’s a versatile instrument that can last for years when taken care of properly.
Harmonicas are much easier to learn than many other instruments, mainly because the main principles of how they work can be learned in a few hours. After that, it’s all about practice!
The harmonica is a compact instrument that will allow any child to grasp musical notes and how they sound very well. It is an instrument that will teach the basics of reading music, which can be translated through the instrument.
Check out our Best Harmonicas for Beginners here
Conclusion – Good Instruments for Small Hands
No matter what kind of musical journey your child is about to go on, the most important thing is that they enjoy it. Children get the most out of experiences where they feel like success comes from their own efforts and interests. They engage with learning more when it’s a satisfying experience – either because there are laughs involved or because you’re getting something done together as a family unit. So keep that in mind.
Hopefully this article has helped you make a decision!
