"The midgie guitar in question only has a 21 inch string length." -- That's a bloody ukulele!

Seriously, short-scale guitars, like the Requinto, do very well at giving good tone when tuned higher (the short scale means "higher" isn't "tighter"). I have a short-scale classical that tunes to F# instead of E (1&6 strings). So I play a C position and get a D, etc. So the A position, uncapoed, gives a B key (pretty useless for most musics; the keys I find in my church tend toward the flats -- F, Eb, Ab, and even Db-- and when they don't, the music director changes them to those keys to suit himself).

Leeneia says she's a keyboard player, and used to certain reaches, making use of a capo "odd." But guitar use frets, which have differing spacing -- it's how fretted instruments work -- so she'll have to get used to it. With a capo, and practice, practice, practice. There's no other way. It's the nature of the instrument.

Bob