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what does a capo actually do????

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(@amira)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 78
Topic starter  

I often find that a capo is recommended for a particular song - but when i play it i prefer to play it without the capo and it's perfectly ok (just a little "lower" or whatever the right phrase is) and in fact it's better for my voice to sing along to... and if i try to sing along to it with the capo on where it's meant to be it sounds too high and i can't reach the notes... or it simply sounds too pinky perky (it's possible no one except the Brits on this site understand that comment!) and i don't like it... other times i try the song without the capo on and it just sounds all wrong without it...

also... i dont even know what a capo actually does... ok ok - i realise it makes a "barre" but what does it actually do to the chords?

can someone explain please...... in really really really simple terms.... what's going on?

:)


   
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 lars
(@lars)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1120
 

lets see
what does it do? - a capo moves the nut of the guitar higher up the neck.
Why? - 1) you can use the same chords as you are used to but you play in a different key. Let's say you have read David's lesson on wish you were here, but you are not able to sing along (well who is anyway?). Slap a capo on fifth fret, play the same chords and riffs, but you can sing along in C instead of in G. 2) A capo make the guitar sound different. Lots of Dylan's songs (particulary on the John Wesley Harding album) is recorded with a capo. Its probably not because Dylan does not know how to play an open G chord, but becasue he preferred the erh... brigther sound of a C chord on the 7th fret (sounding G). Or listen to Here comes the Sun - you need a capo to get that sound.

Clearer?

LaRS

...only thing I know how to do is to keep on keepin' on...

LARS kolberg http://www.facebook.com/sangerersomfolk


   
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(@elecktrablue)
Famed Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 4338
 

Exactly. The capo changes the key of a song. There are also capoes that only cover three strings and these are used for alternate tunings when you don't want to have to have another alternately tuned guitar or take the time to re-tune to an alternate.

..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-

"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

And by playing it the same way without the capo, you're just transposing the song into a lower key that suits your voice. Nothing wrong with that at all. There's nothing sacred about the particular key some band recorded a song in.

And those partial capos are NOT the same as an alternate tuning! They only work on the open chords. I think their usefulness would be very limited.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@amira)
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Joined: 18 years ago
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Topic starter  

ok... at the risk of being rude... i think i knew this much... (well almost) ... but i still don't understand how the capo works it's magic... is there any way of explaining or pointing me in the right direction of a suitable webpage article, without my needing to go insane in order to understand the answers? :D

or am i asking the wrong question? :?

do you think if i understood more about how keys and open chords and barre chords relate to each other first it would all click into place?


   
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(@rparker)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5480
 

I think David Hodge had some info in his Happy lesson in the beginning songs that covered some open chord basics and I think capo as well, as that song uses both. https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=80

Other wise, I'm in blissful ignorance as I use it for a 1/2 dozen tunes whenever I can find where I set it last.

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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 lars
(@lars)
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Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1120
 

ok... at the risk of being rude... i think i knew this much... (well almost) ... but i still don't understand how the capo works it's magic... is there any way of explaining or pointing me in the right direction of a suitable webpage article, without my needing to go insane in order to understand the answers? :D

or am i asking the wrong question? :?

do you think if i understood more about how keys and open chords and barre chords relate to each other first it would all click into place?

- well I didn't mean to underestimate you ;)
But, how it works... ? It works like a barre, only that you don't need to use up your index finger. Don't try to make it complicated. It works the way you know it works, there is no magic involved (guaranteed ;)) , once you have used it for a while you will stop wondering - probably

LaRS

...only thing I know how to do is to keep on keepin' on...

LARS kolberg http://www.facebook.com/sangerersomfolk


   
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(@tim_madsen)
Prominent Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 724
 

do you think if i understood more about how keys and open chords and barre chords relate to each other first it would all click into place?

Yes a rudimentary understanding of music theory and how it relates to the guitar neck would help a lot. the capo is basicly a movable nut, by placing it on the guitar neck you change the tuning of your guitar.

Check out this site it may help.

http://www.hotfrets.com/guitartheory.asp

As for what it does to a chord. Say your playing a open G chord and you place the capo at the second fret. If you play that G form in the same relation to the capo as you did the nut your now playing a A chord.

Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.

"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe


   
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(@amira)
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Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 78
Topic starter  

As for what it does to a chord. Say your playing a open G chord and you place the capo at the second fret. If you play that G form in the same relation to the capo as you did the nut your now playing a A chord.

yeah you see this is the bit i don't get.... i'll check out the links and report back. :wink:


   
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(@nexion)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 525
 

I think you are confused on how it is different than just moving the nut closer to the bridge.

Well, it shortens the length of the strings, that is how it changes the key.

"That’s what takes place when a song is written: You see something that isn’t there. Then you use your instrument to find it."
- John Frusciante


   
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(@fretsource)
Prominent Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 973
 

As for what it does to a chord. Say your playing a open G chord and you place the capo at the second fret. If you play that G form in the same relation to the capo as you did the nut your now playing a A chord.

yeah you see this is the bit i don't get.... i'll check out the links and report back. :wink:

Amira, do you know about moving chord shapes up and down the fretboard? Such as, if you're holding a B minor chord and you slide every finger up one fret higher, you're now playing C minor? Did you know that already? If yes, then that's similar to what a capo does. If you didn't already know that, then no wonder you didn't understand how a capo works.


   
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(@tim_madsen)
Prominent Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 724
 

As for what it does to a chord. Say your playing a open G chord and you place the capo at the second fret. If you play that G form in the same relation to the capo as you did the nut your now playing a A chord.

yeah you see this is the bit i don't get.... i'll check out the links and report back. :wink:

This is because of the genius of the person that came up with standard tuning and the uniqueness of the fret board. Because of these two factors notes fall in patterns on the fret board that allow the properties of the capo to work the way they do. One thing I think every guitarist should be able to do is map out all the notes that can be played on the guitar in standard tuning. One of the lessons on the link I posted earlier will teach you how to do that. That helped me to better understand how and why things work the way they do on the guitar. I hope it helps you as much as it did me. :)

Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.

"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

This is because of the genius of the person that came up with standard tuning and the uniqueness of the fret board. Because of these two factors notes fall in patterns on the fret board that allow the properties of the capo to work the way they do. Yeah, standard tuning's unique, just like every other tuning. All alternate tunings work with a capo, in exactly the same way standard tuning works with a capo.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@amira)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 78
Topic starter  

well i think i'll need to start at the beginning of music theory and getting to know the fret board and work my way up to understanding this...

playing the flute when i was a little girl was much easier. :wink:


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Learning just about anything's easier when you're a little girl. :wink:

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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