#Whats a capo how to

Just add the capo and tada! Instant key change.įor female singers, usually adding a capo at the 2nd, 3rd or 4th frets can be enough to make a song that’s too low fit right into their vocal range. For singers, using a capo makes changing the key of a song very easy without having to transcribe and modulate a bunch of chords like we did above. Now, while you can use a capo on an electric guitar, they are more commonly used on the acoustic. Uses For A Guitar Capo: Change Pitch Quickly For Singers So a C chord at the second fret is actually a D chord. If I played a C chord at the open position (fret 0), it would be two notes up from C. In this case we are playing a G chord so two notes would be G# and then A. So whatever chords we are playing are on the open strings (think fret 0)īecause we went from fret 0 to fret 2, we need to the chords to go up 2 notes. The other way to look at it is, the capo is on the 2nd fret.

The ‘111’ represents a barre or in this case, our capo. If we were to play a G chord as picture below on the left, it is actually like playing an A chord. But to figure out what chords you are playing with a capo, let’s take the example of the 2nd fret again. It’s slightly complicated if you don’t know much about theory. So depending on what chords you play and where your capo is on the guitar, will determine what key your guitar is in. The thing is, the average guitar is not really in a key until you start playing chords. This is actually a very common question that I get asked. If you were trying to capo your acoustic guitar at the 2nd fret, you would want to place the capo towards the front side of the fret box or directly behind the metal of the 3rd fret. This will prevent buzzing on the strings.

When it comes to capos, the most important thing to remember is to place it towards the front of the fret like you would with your fingers when you make a chord.

#Whats a capo how to

Before we get into the different things a guitar capo can be used for, you first need to know how to use a guitar capo correctly.