Using a capo

A capo is a cool little device that allows you to play a chord progression in different keys while retaining the same chord shape. It acts like a sort of artificial barre on the guitar strings, much like your finger does when playing a barre chord.

The capo fits around the guitar's neck and raises the pitch of all six guitar strings. The fret that it's placed in determines the amount by which it raises them. If you place the capo on the first fret, you will raise the open string by one semi-tone; put it on the 2nd and it will be raised by two semi-tones; and so on. What this translates to is that an open chord of C major played with a capo on the first fret becomes C# major, and the same shape with the capo on the 2nd becomes D major. Basically, the fingering remains the same, but the notes are different.

Let's say you wanted to sing a melody to go with a fingerpicking using the chord progression of Am-G-F-E but the key in which it is written is too low for your voice. You would feel more comfortable if it were raised a semi-tone to the key of Bb minor. A capo allows you to change the key and continue to be able to play pretty easy chords without having to re-tune your guitar. If you placed the capo on the first fret of the neck of your guitar, the same sequence would now be Bb-Ab-Gb-F. Since these four chords can only be played as barre forms, which (without a capo) would become much more difficult - especially during finger picking, the capo provides an easy solution. But, the finger positioning wouldn't change from the original key as it was in the key of A minor. This makes the fingering much easier.

How to fit a capo

The capo is clamped over the fingerboard of the guitar just behind the chosen fret so that it raises the pitch of any chord you play.

I found a cool video on You Tube by ivideosongs that demonstrates a little more about the use of a capo.



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