Capo Techniques

It's the same thing. Transposing up by an interval means raising all your notes by that interval. Capo 3 for minor third, capo 4 for major third, capo 7 for perfect fifth.

Take a look at David's lesson the capo: The Underappreciated Art of Using a Capo. I think it might have the info you need.

So if I'm playing a song in G and put a capo on the second fret, I play the same distance down from the capo as I would from the nut to play in G, I will actually be playing in A?

I've read that article but not assured I understood it. Depending on the answer to the above question.... :D .

If you capo up, you 'chord down', and vice versa in order to stay in tune with the recording.

If the original is in standard tuning, C-A-G#-Bb, and you capo up three frets, you'd count DOWN from the original chords, and you'd play A-F#-F-G.

Make sense?

Excerp from capo article:

Now suppose I wanted to play Paul Simon's Mrs. Robinson or America. The sheet music is in the key of Bb, which contains quite a few chords that are likely to cause me to cringe in fear. However, if I put my capo on the third fret I am now playing in the key of G and that gives me no anxiety whatsoever. I can handle just about anything in G. But just to make it seem like a bit of work, I still have to go through the sheet music and transpose the changes.

This is confusing to me. Let's say I start by playing the I chord. I play the Bb but since I've put the capo on the third fret, I would play a G chord as if the capo were the nut and it would sound as a Bb chord?

If I wanted the sound of an Eb chord, I would play a C chord?

Jim

Exactly.

You've capo'd up three, so you chord down three. So now you find an Eb note on the fretboard, anywhere, like 6th string 11th fret. Count down 3 frets, you're at 8th fret = C, so you play a C chord.

The voicing really is the same. If you tune up a half step, to F-Bb-Eb-Ab-C-F you'll sound exactly the same as if you stay in standard tuning and use a capo on one.

The reason it sounds like a mandolin if you capo up to 5 or so is the range of the instrument. A mandolin is tuned the same as a violin, G-D-A-E. The E-string is tuned one octave higher than the guitar's first string - so it's the same as capo at 12.

When you capo up a perfect 5th, B to B, you're closer to mandolin tuning than you are to guitar tuning, so it'll sound more like a mandolin. If you got very thin strings and tuned B to B, it'd still sound more like a mandolin.

Conceivably, increasing string tension can change timbre as well as pitch. I don't know why exactly you are looking for it to sound exactly as if you tuned up. In any case, putting a capo on is as close as you can get.

String tension is a function of three things: scale length, string mass, and tuned pitch. So you CAN keep string tension relatively constant while moving to a higher pitch by changing any of the variables: the scale length (by using a smaller guitar or using a capo - that's the reason violins are smaller than cellos and such), or by changing the string to one with a lower mass. As a result, you can - at least in theory - tune a guitar to any pitch while keeping relatively constant string tension.

The math gets kind of complex, but here it is:

tuned pitch frequency = (1 divided by 2 x (string length)) x square root of (string tension divided by string mass)

So if you want to go from E to B, you're increasing the frequency from about 327 to about 490. That's 50% (the 3:2 ratio defines a perfect fifth), so you've got three options to reach that...

If you don't change any of the variables, tuning from E to B means tension rises by the square root of the pitch change. Tension goes up by about 22-1/2%.

String length is inversely proportional to pitch. You can reduce the string length to 1 / 1.5, or 1/3. That happens to be where the 7th fret is, so you can get B by fretting the 7th with finger or capo.

String length is also related to mass. That can change in two ways - by changing diameter (gauge) or by changing density. Keeping string mass constant, tension is inversely proportional to gauge... so if you reduce the mass by 1/3, you can tune to B in open position without affecting tension. If you're using a .012 for the E string, you'd need to change to a .008 string of the same composition.

Mass is more complex, because pitch is inversely proportional to the square root of string mass. If you can find a string material that's only 45% as dense as what you're using, no change in diameter is needed. Good luck finding one - but it does play a role in the equation, because you can vary more than one element.

If you don't change any of the variables, tuning from E to B means tension rises by the square root of the pitch change. Tension goes up by about 22-1/2%.

Let's say you've got a Fender Kingman acoustic, scale length 25.5". You're using nice heavy strings, Martin SP4250; 1st string is .013. Total tension on the neck will be around 195#. If you could tune that up to B, you'd have about 240# of tension.

If you change to Martin SP4050, you reduce guage to .011 and overall tension to about 150#. Assuming these strings could take an increase in tension to 195#, you'd need to shorten scale length to roughly 22.8" by using an alto (3/4 size) guitar.

You'd then have an alto with .011 strings tuned to B, and have nearly identical overall string tension on both instruments.

If the strings won't take the tension, you could cut the scale length further, to roughly 22.1" - about a 1/2 size guitar. If you can find one built for steel strings, this is definately achieveable. You'd then have LESS tension by about 40#, and no capo.

Most half size guitars are built for nylon strings, and most are tuned up a minor third to G-C-F-Bb-D-G as 'standard' tuning. If the open sound is that important to you, have a luthier build a half-size guitar that will take 150-160# of string tension, and use extra light strings. You should be able to get to B.

My bet is it'll sound just like using a capo on the 7th fret.

Hmmm...

Cmaj open position = C-E-G. Cmaj played with capo at 3 = Eb-G-Bb. You could see the result as a C/Eb polychord = C-E-G-Bb-D# (C7#9).

Cmaj open = C-E-G. Em played with capo on 3 = G-Bb-D. You could again see the result as a C/Gm polychord = C-E-G-Bb-D, or C9.

A lot more typical would be one guitar in Cmaj open (C-E-G) and the other playing Amaj capo at 3 = C-E-G. You'd be doubling these notes:

C (both guitars 5th string 3rd fret)
G (guitar 1 3rd string open, guitar 2 4th string 5th fret)
C (guitar 1 5th string 1st fret, guitar 2 3rd string 5th fret)
E (guitar 1 1st string open, guitar 2 2nd string 5th fret)

and you'd get two other notes:

E (guitar 1, 4th string 2nd fret)
G (guitar 2, 1st string 3rd fret)

So you'd end up with a C chord that sounds a lot 'rounder', more like a 12-string.