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1. 

   Mike on March 4, 2017 at 12:15 pm

   Hi Brianna

   Thanks for the question. Using a Capo is not as mystifying as people think. Essentially most people use a Capo for the following 2 main reasons

   • To change keys i.e. to create a different sound or to have the music suit a singers voice
   • To make playing chords easier. transpose music

   A capo is also used to help change the sound of an existing song for example lets say you have the following chord progression C Am Dm G7 (key of C) and if you place the capo on any fret and play the same chord shapes you’ll hear a different sound. This is great to experiment with however by doing this be aware that you are no longer playing in the Key of C (changing key) nor will you be playing the same chords. To help understand this I’ll expand on the two points mentioned above

   Using a Capo to change Key

   If you look at the Capo Chart below you can see how placing a Capo on any fret will change the key of the song for example if we look at the chord progression mentioned earlier C Am Dm G7 all of which are chords in the key of C if you place the Capo on the second fret voila you’ve now gone from the key of C to the key of D. If you place the Capo on the fourth fret you’re now playing in the key of E. You can see how this can be very useful to not only change the sound of a song you’re playing but also when playing with singers who want a song in a different key

   

   Using a Capo to make playing a song easier

   Ok, You’ve got a song that you really want to play however there are a couple of crazy chords you know you’ll struggle with. Well guess what? You can use a Capo to help change the chords of the song you’re trying to play still have it sound the same.

   to start lets look at the Chromatic scale

   

   Going from A to A# means we are going up half a step. Each time move the Capo up the guitar Fret we are going down half a step on the chromatic scale. For example Let’s say you don’t like playing the A# chord. If you put the Capo on the first fret of the guitar you’ll take down that A# half a step and can now play A. If you put the Capo on the Second Fret that A becomes G# and if you the the Capo on the third Fret that G# becomes G. Starting to get the drift?

   Let’s look at another example.

   Say you have the following chord progression D# – Cm – Fm – Bb

   If you start with the Capo on the 1st fret, you’re essentially moving down half a step of the chromatic scale, from right to left. The chord progression now becomes:

   D – Bm – Em – A

   Say you find the Bm chord still somewhat difficult to play just move your capo another fret up the neck to the 2nd fret.

   Again, with the capo on the 2nd fret move a half step down from the chromatic scale

   D – Bm – Em – A (capo 1st fret) becomes:
   Db – Bbm – Ebm – Ab (capo 2nd fret)

   This chord progression is not really easy so continue to move your capo to the 3rd fret. Move a half step down the chromatic scale

   The chord progression now becomes:

   C – Am – Dm – G (capo 3rd fret)

   You can see this progression is much easier to play and it sounds the same.

   You can also play the new chord progression C – Am – Dm – G (capo 3rd fret) With another musician playing the original chord progression and it will still sound fine and give a twist to the chord progression. Try it with two guitars and see what happens

   Using a Capo to play the same chords up the fretboard

   Lets say your playing in a band and are playing in the key of E. You want to make things more interesting so decide to use a Capo to vary the sound. As the band is playing in the key of E you’ll want to stay in that key. If you put the Capo on the second fret of the guitar you’ve gone up one tone meaning that in the open position what is normally the D chord is now an E. Therefore a way to think about it is every time you go up 2 frets with the Capo you’re going down a tone in this case E to D. Check out the Capo position chart

   

   Hopefully this makes sense and gives you enough to get started

   Cheers

   Mike

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