Isaac's Guitarlele!

We got Isaac his first REAL guitar today!! It was a "Yamaha Guitarlele"... its approx two-third the size of an actual guitar... We were amazed when we saw the name imprinted within the guitar, as Isaac's last chinese name reads "Le" and we've been calling him "Lele" for short...so, we took it as a sign that we've got to get that guitar for him! : )

Let us first do an intro on the Guitarlele...This is the smallest guitar that Yamaha makes. Its manufactured after the Ukelele, which itself is a stringed instrument resembling a miniature guitar, usually strung with 4 nylon strings tuned GCEA (left to right). The ukulele is a uniquely Hawaiian instrument, although its popularity has spread worldwide. Its name consists of two words in Hawaiian, most commonly translated thusly; Uku- "flea" and lele- "jumping". The Guitarlele on the other hand has six strings just like a normal guitar and the one that we've got is a classical guitar (no metal strings...which would not have been suitable for Isaac!).

This guitar, is probably the most expensive non-necessity thing that we've got for Isaac thus far...Yamaha was selling for $128 but thankfully, it has a 10% discount for Yamaha members, plus an additional 5% discount due to the ongoing Great Singapore Sale! : )

Honestly, we've been considering hard on whether to invest in a proper guitar that has a body sized right for him. He's definitely got some kind of music talent in him, as he can easily sway and clap to the beats of music. Apart from having also been playing with this stringless toy guitar that we've found abandoned for him, he has been of late also taking out Yuan Liang's full-size guitar and trying to play it...Given the relatively huge full-size guitar in proportion to Isaac's little body, the kid's hand could only touch the first two string of a full size guitar, and he has been plucking them as if he is playing a base guitar! : )

So here are some images to show the joy and excitement that a 19.5 months Isaac had when he played his guitarlele tonight... In some of the images, you can also even have a glimps of how seriously he takes playing his first real guitar!

Interesting observations about Isaac and his guitar-playing style:

a) Instead of strumming down, he tends to strum up with the base tips of his fingers;

b) He is able to press on the fret, but given his small hand, only manages the first two frets;

c) He holds the guitar like a pro - at least he's got the look and style!!

d) Given that he is left-handed, at times, he tries to hold the fret on his right hand and use his left hand to strum the guitar. YL is trying to coax him not to do so...we don't want to have to invest in a left-hand guitar for him in future, when he can get to inherit all of YLs's right hand guitars (the last we counted, there is at least 4 guitars and two violins at home...)!

Future Rocker... !