Gitarlele, guitalele, guitarlele, ukitar. This small guitar has many names.
Soprano guitar and octave guitar are two other terms for the same thing. 1/4-size guitar is yet another. There are certainly more.
So, what is a guitarlele and what is its history?
The history of the guitarlele is not entirely simple and obvious. On the one hand, guitars of this size have existed for as long as guitars have existed. The guitar, as we know it today, has existed since the 13th century and has its roots in Spain. Hence the relatively common term Spanish guitar. The most common size is sometimes called a 4/4-size guitar. For small hands, there are 3/4-size guitars and 2/4-size guitars. Such guitars can be found in most well-stocked guitar stores. There are also 1/4-size guitars. But these have been uncommon.
In 1997, Yamaha, which at the time was a well-known guitar manufacturer, launched a 1/4-size guitar named GL-1 and called it a guitarlele. Or possibly guitalele. The GL-1 is still produced today, by the way. Yamaha's intention of blending the words ukulele and guitar was probably mostly a PR trick. But it became a new word, a new concept.
I, personally, don't like the word guitarlele. I have a bit of trouble putting my finger on it, but I'll try. The word is problematic in the same way as the word ukulele bass. Many ukulele players, who don't know any better, buy guitarleles believing it's some kind of ukulele... when in reality it's just a small guitar – and discover that they can play guitalele just as little as a regular guitar. Similarly, many guitarists reasonably refrain from buying a guitarlele because they think it has something to do with a ukulele. Sometimes guitarleles are also called 6-string ukuleles, which is incorrect, as 6-string ukuleles are something else.
It's like a ukulele, but with 2 extra strings, they say. But this is where the confusion arises for many. I'm guessing that many people who play both guitar and ukulele agree with me that it's not just two extra strings that make the difference between a guitar and a ukulele. The playing style differs. A lot. Not least because the two strings we're talking about are bass strings.
Let's say a ukulele player, who has never played guitar, starts playing a guitarlele and learns according to the principle that it's just "two extra strings." This ukulele player will find it quite confusing when they get to play "a real guitar" with standard tuning, because it's tuned differently than a guitalele. I'm not saying this will be a problem for everyone, but in some way, I imagine that the transition from ukulele to guitar will be easier and clearer if you choose a regular guitar.
But at the same time... Just like with the ukulele bass, a kind of overlap is created, two worlds that otherwise live quite separately meet. And many more people know what a guitarlele is compared to a 1/4-size guitar and a soprano guitar.
Different Guitarleles
Yamaha's GL-1 was like a tenor ukulele with 6 strings. The similarity to the tenor ukulele was both the size and shape of the instrument, but also the scale length, which was 17". As the ukulele grew in popularity, so did the guitarlele, and more manufacturers began to make guitarleles. Like the ukulele bass, the boundary of what can be a guitarlele has been pushed forward. Today, there are guitaleles with a scale length of 20", meaning with the same string length as baritone ukuleles and ukulele basses. There are also steel-stringed guitarleles. So there is no real boundary between a guitarlele and a small guitar.
Tuning a Guitarlele
The most common way to tune a guitarlele is 5 semitones higher than a traditional guitar. This is called A-tuning. Like a guitar with a capo on the fifth fret. This corresponds to a C-tuned ukulele, tuned in low G, but with 2 extra strings.
However, just as with ukuleles and for guitars for that matter, guitarleles can be tuned differently. Tuning it to E, like a regular guitar, is entirely possible with the correct strings. In fact, with the correct strings, you can both tune a guitalele exactly like a regular guitar and like a guitar, but tuned an octave higher. But anything between A and E is naturally possible. Tuning a guitarlele to B is also possible. Which tuning you choose depends on playing style and many other factors.
The advantage of the guitarlele, which is simply a smaller format guitar, is that you can use all alternative tunings available for guitar. What is typically referred to as open tuning, for example. This opens up a whole world of possibilities.
Playing a Guitarlele
If we disregard the connection to the ukulele, the guitarlele is an excellent travel guitar. An A-tuned guitarlele is, as you know, like a regular guitar with a capo on the fifth fret. This is relatively common among singer/songwriters. Guitarleles usually have the same neck width and string spacing as a regular guitar.
What you need to consider is that on an A-tuned guitarlele, your guitar chord C becomes an F and a G becomes a C. With a little practice and exercise, this is not a problem to transpose in your head.
