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"Reverse" capo chart?

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(@doug_c)
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Joined: 19 years ago
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The page for David Hodge's column on ""The Underappreciated Art of Using a Capo" says to post questions on the GN Facebook page. I did that a few days ago, and wasn't sure it got posted, so I checked today. My post is there, but there's been no response, so I thought I'd ask here.
I've seen numerous charts online that show what chord results when you play a particular chord shape with a capo at various frets. There's one such chart in David's article.
What I'm looking for is a way to tell what chord shape to play to get a particular chord when your capo is at a particular fret. Is there a chart anywhere for that?
In the article, David suggested that at a jam session, instead of everyone playing the "stock" G, D, Am and C of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," that some players could "play in D with capo on fifth fret or in C with capo on seventh fret." I'm looking to be able to write out the new progression of chord shapes that should be played, for whatever players are capoed at particular frets.
I think I read somewhere, maybe in David's column, that one way to figure out what chord shape should be used is to find the chord you want to play, at the desired fret on the transposition chart, and count back the requisite number of half steps. E.g., for the G in "KoHD," if capoed at the fifth fret, you'd play a D shape, D would be played as an A shape, and C would be a G fingering.
Is that right?


   
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oldstrummer
(@oldstrummer)
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Joined: 8 years ago
Posts: 47
 

Perhaps this will help answer your question.

http://don-guitar.com/transpose.html

Duke Ellington said it best: "If it sounds good, it IS good!"


   
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(@doug_c)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 397
Topic starter  

Perhaps this will help answer your question.
Ah ha! That looks to be exactly what I wanted. I'll have to read the whole page over more (I admit to knowing little or nothing about music theory), but I did see the part where a minor chord can be played as whatever "letter" its major equivalent would be.(IOW, if the chart says E, then it would be an Em.) That would be important since "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" has Am in it.
Thanks very much. 8)


   
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