# The Capo



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

A capo came with a guitar I bought recently. I have never use one before. I was watching a simple lesson on YouTube and decided to grab the Fender Parlour guitar. I have it tuned to D, just because I like the sound. so I put the capo on the second fret thinking it would be in standard E tuning,.... doesn't work that way. Moved it to the first fret and found that put in standard E tuning. I guess changing the scale length doesn't work that simply. Think I will google using the capo.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Okay. I just read that if you put the capo on the first fret, everything should go up a semitone, which is what I originally thought. So I should put it on the second fret to go from D to E. Not unless the person in the lesson had their guitar tuned to Eb in the first place. Confus


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## Woof (Jan 13, 2010)

Odd, it should work the way you expect. It's pretty much just a fixed bar chord root.


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## bigboki (Apr 16, 2015)

Robert1950 said:


> I have it tuned to D, just because I like the sound. so I put the capo on the second fret thinking it would be in standard E tuning,.... doesn't work that way. Moved it to the first fret and found that put in standard E tuning.


It should work exactly like described. So if you got standard E on the first fret that means guitar is tuned to Eb (or D# whatever you prefer).

yours Bojan


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Duh on my part. Next time I used the little Korg Chromatic Tuner - Wear My Reading Glasses !!!


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## Jim9guitars (Feb 15, 2016)

Capos are generally used to facilitate a quick key change for vocalists, like if you could play Zeppelins "Tangerine" off the record but that key was too low for your voice. Putting a capo on whichever fret brings it up to a key that you are comfortable with, and just play it like you already do. I have come across a few instrumentalists that use one on either the first or second fret just to give them a slight edge due to the tiny difference in the action, mostly nylon string acoustic players doing flamenco style leads like Paco de Lucia. I have used one here and there just to get a different sound, like at the 7th fret on an electric, but them I'm weird that way....


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## bigboki (Apr 16, 2015)

Jim9guitars said:


> Capos are generally used to facilitate a quick key change for vocalists


Absolutely.
one other very frequent usage is during guitar setup, and adjusting neck releif. You "capo" the first fret, press string on the last and measure action on the 8th fret. 

from:
Stratocaster® Setup Guide | Fender Support

hope this helps

yours Bojan


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## flyswatter (Apr 6, 2016)

Capoing on the higher frets is also a good way to get quasi-mandolin/ bouzouki type voicings on a normal acoustic. A good example of it's that way (Capo 7) is on "John Barleycorn" by Steve Winwood/ Traffic.


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## bluesician (Mar 14, 2007)

deleted


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

flyswatter said:


> Capoing on the higher frets is also a good way to get quasi-mandolin/ bouzouki type voicings on a normal acoustic. A good example of it's that way (Capo 7) is on "John Barleycorn" by Steve Winwood/ Traffic.


I remember suggesting that to a another guitar player--and he was skeptical--but tried it & loved it


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Hotel California is a great example of capo'd multiple chord voicings.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but...
Key of Bm
12 string intro bit capo'd 7th fret
Leads standard
Acoustic constant strumming Capo'd 2nd fret.
Rhythm electric standard.

4 guitars listed because the live version I saw had the lead player playing a double neck SG, the 12 string capo'd 7 and 6 string standard.

It creates a sound which just can't be captured without capos.


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## bluesician (Mar 14, 2007)

deleted


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I use a capo quite a bit. It brings songs into the range I'm most comfortable singing in. It can be a playing comfort thing also. Sure you can always transpose a song to another key but they always seem to end up with some god-awful chord shapes you've never used before and will probably never use again. The two artists that really stand out in my mind as big capo users are Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot. Really helps when playing with a piano who's music is written in some bizarre key (bizarre for guitar that is).


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

You might find this interesting.

The Sterner Capo Museum

Peace, Mooh.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Mooh said:


> You might find this interesting.
> 
> The Sterner Capo Museum
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Just lost 20 minutes - and barely scratched the surface... MJF$#


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I think capos are cool, though I have no idea what happened to mine.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

right from guitarworld

Capo Classics: 15 Essential Guitar Songs Played with a Capo


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

I checked that list and most of them I already knew were capo songs. There were a couple of surprises though.

The Real Me was an eye opener. I've always loved that song, never associated Townsend with a capo, and I love the key of A power patterns (Townsend's wheelhouse). It had never occured to me that he's more or less doing all the same Pete Townsend stuff...just with a capo.

I found the 2 capo positions of 1 and 3 on Free Falling enlightening. There are certain capo positions that seem to work particularly well together, 2 and 7 for example. 1 and 3 never occurred to me.


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## flyswatter (Apr 6, 2016)

bluesician said:


> I use a capo in a slightly different way in order to get different chord voicings. For example, if I was playing with another guitar player and the other player was playing in standard tuning without a capo, I might put the capo on the second fret. Then if you play a C shape chord on the third fret it is actually a D chord, a D shape chord on the 4rth fret is actually a E chord, a G shape chord on the 5th fret is actually an A chord etc. Great when playing with another guitar player to get a fuller sound...there's something about all of those open strings ringing out I think. Give it a try.



Seen this done by a lot of Nashville players, and by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers when I saw them live. It does sound goo.d


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

bw66 said:


> Just lost 20 minutes - and barely scratched the surface... MJF$#


Cool, eh! My old friend Charlie Johnston (RIP) has a capo there. He made them one at a time in his shop, and hand delivered them as far as he could. A dealer in Nova Scotia told me he showed up there once, just to restock his display, having driven from Ontario. Charlie lived just a few miles from me and often asked me to test his designs. Some interesting folks in the guitar world.

Peace, Mooh.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Mooh said:


> Some interesting folks in the guitar world.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Some interesting folks in the... world.

Great story! In a way, the interesting folks get to outlive the rest of us.


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## bluesician (Mar 14, 2007)

Just bought a new Shubb Deluxe S1 capo. A real quality piece of equipment.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

One of my fave tunes that uses a capo.


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