I kinda know what they are.
They clamp onto the neck and depress the strings at various fret locations.
But why would you want to use one?
What effect do they have on how I play chords?
Lenny
It's like a movable nut. Put the capo on the first fret and you have changed the tuning of the guitar to F, A#, D#, G#, C, F. Now play an Emajor chord, as if the capo were the nut. You're playing an Fmajor chord, just the same as if you had played a barre Fmajor.
What effect does it have? It allows you to change the key of songs, which were written using open chords and still play open chords!
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It's my understanding that the chord will also sound different if you're using a capo as opposed to using a barre.
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It's my understanding that the chord will also sound different if you're using a capo as opposed to using a barre.
Slightly, a capo can mess up your intonation slightly, but note-wise, it won't sound any different. If you do a barre E form on the third fret to play a G, it will sound the same as if you put a capo on the third fret and then played a standard open E form on your new open position. Both chords will sound as G.
In both forms the Exact same frets will be depressed.
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You can also tune down to accommodate your voice for singing.
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ok guy's bare with here i'm a rookie. so if the capo goes on the first fret.does that mean that second fret is #1 and so on .. if that is so seems like that would be a little confusing??... help me see the light
Cash is cool
ok guy's bare with here i'm a rookie. so if the capo goes on the first fret.does that mean that second fret is #1 and so on .. if that is so seems like that would be a little confusing??... help me see the light
You would play it as though it were, if a tab was made with that disclaimer. You have to use your imagination sometimes, pretend you're capo is the nut, but it's usually not too bad.
Most of the time when you're using a capo, you'll be playing mostly "open" chords anyways and taking advantage of the capo as a permanent barre. Your sheet will say "G" and you'll fret a G just like you usually would, only relative to you're capo.
Not to confuse matters here, but if you capo first fret and play your open G relative to the capo, you'll actually be playing G#. All of this will fall into place once you fully understand the concept of barre chords.
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You learn a song, nice simple 3-chorder, A D and E....then you find it's a litle low for your voice....hmmm, I'll try it in B E and F#.....all you have to do is put the capo on at the second fret, and play the A D and E chord shapes....it really is that simple.
"Wonderwall" by Oasis is a great example of a song recorded with a capo....capo on 2nd fret, you need to play Em,G,D and A7sus4 chords for the verse.....B7sus4 is a horrible chord to put on with a barre, which is what you're playing with the capo on....
and if you want to use extended chords (9ths/11ths/13ths etc) in a key like Bb, you really will need a capo!!!!!
Vic
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