It opens up your fretboard, means you can learn lots of songs without learning complicated chords, and makes transposing songs into different keys a breeze.
Capos are great for making guitar playing simple. But, figuring out which fret to place your capo on can sometimes be confusing.
That’s where guitar capo charts come in! They’re a handy resource for working out where you need to place your capo to get the sound you’re going for.
What Is A Guitar Capo & How To Use It? — Lauren Bateman Guitar
The first, our capo chord chart is a concise, handy guide for transposing chord shapes that’s great for beginners, as well as for quick reference.
Our capo key chart meanwhile, is a more complete resource for those that want to go a bit deeper. Click either chart to get a PDF for easy printing or downloading.
Your guitar capo chart has two main functions, both of which will help you get the most out of your capo in your guitar playing.
Chord Shapes And Capos: How To Decode A Guitarist's Hands — Jam With Lauren
If you’ve ever wanted to learn a song, but have been thwarted by the array of complex chord shapes you’re presented with, then this is the function you need.
From there, it’s easy to play classic songs in the original recording key. You won’t be referring to a chord dictionary every five seconds to learn an obscure, one-time-use chord shape. In short, you can get on with the most fun part of guitar playing; the playing itself.
As we’ve talked about in a previous post, your guitar capo is an amazing creative tool when it comes to unlocking new sounds. But, while it’s all well and good coming up with a new and exciting riff while using your capo, communicating that riff to capo-less band mates/jamming buddies is sometimes a challenge.
How To Use Capo On Guitar: What Styles & When To Use It
Now that you’ve worked out what you’re actually playing, you can communicate that information to the other musicians you’re with, making the process of jamming much more fun!
For one thing, it helps keep our ears and minds fresh. After listening to tons of guitar-based music, you do hit a saturation point where you do want to listen to something else. It can be possible to have too much of a good thing. Sometimes, a trip into another genre is all you need to clear your mind.
Many, many years ago, while perusing the pages of a guitar magazine, there was an article with various pro players offering various tips to improve one’s playing. One that stood out for me was a tip from the great Steve Morse (of the Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple), who had a tip about soloing over changes.
How To Use A Capo To Tune A Guitar
People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers. I don't want 6 tour buses, 15 tractor trailers and a jet. I don't want to play stadium shows, I don't want to be in the spotlight. I wrote the music I wrote because I was suffering with mental health and depression. These songs have connected with millions of people on such a deep level because they're being sung by someone feeling the words in the very moment they were being sung.The last blog post I wrote gave suggestions on how to figure out the key you’re in by using your ear and a little theory knowledge. This post is a guide to a common tool/tip/hack: watching the guitarist’s hands and understanding their chord shapes. Of course, you want to use this skill as a confirmation to what you’re hearing, and not rely on it completely. Why? Because what happens if the guitarist doesn’t know the chords? You’ll want to use these shapes and fingerboard knowledge in tandem with your own growing skill set of hearing and understanding chord progressions.
As a quick reminder, westernized music is based on three chords: the one, the four and the five. We find these chords by understanding that they are built on the first, fourth and fifth notes of the scale/key the tune or song happens to be in. If you’d like a refresher on how to build a scale, you can download my ever-so-popular Major Scale Workbook.
Guitar players (and banjo players, too) often learn how to play a one, a four, and a five chord in two keys, and then use their capos to transpose the chords to a different key.
How To Find New & Interesting Guitar Chords Using A Capo
As I mentioned earlier, it will be helpful if you can memorize those three chords as their chord names AND as their number names.
Chances are high that you know a lot of tunes or songs in the key of G. It’s nicknamed ‘the people’s key’ because it is so friendly on most instruments and is usually a nice key for most people to sing in easily.
Here’s a video of a classic Carter Family song with a very clear view of the guitarist’s hands and chord shapes: Bury Me Beneath the Willow in G shape.
Your First 9 Guitar Chords Are Easy When You Know These Tricks — Guitar Nutrition
See if you can spot the three chords: one, four and five in the key of G. When you’re ready, grab your instrument and play along with Eric.
Once a player is comfortable moving through these three chords, the guitar is easily transposed to different keys by using the capo. The capo squeezes the strings at a fret tightly enough that it alters the pitch of the instrument’s original tuning. Depending on what fret the musician places the capo determines what pitches the open strings will now produce.
Each fret on an instrument is a half step. If a musician placed a capo on the first fret of the guitar and played the same three chord shapes of G, C and D, the notes the instrument produces would be one half step higher. So even though it feels like the guitarist is playing G, C and D, we’re actually hearing G#, C# and D# (alternatively known as Ab, Db and Eb). This isn’t a super common key, so I didn’t find a great example video with a clear view of the guitarist’s hands.
Using A Capo
But let’s practice this idea with the capo on the second fret, an incredibly popular place to put the capo. The second fret means two half steps. Remember, we originally started in G. Two half steps above would be G# and then A. With the capo on the second fret, our G, C and D chords now sound like A, D and E (the one, four and five of the key of A!) Here are pictures to help you:
These two versions of the G chord with the capo on the second fret now sound like an A chord. Still the one chord.
You can practice recognizing these three chords at capo 2 with this video of “Nine Pound Hammer”. Play along with Chris Eldridge in the key of A.
How To Use A Capo And Why
When we move the capo to the third fret, we move up three half steps from G. That would be G# (aka Ab), A, Bb. Now the G, C and D chords will sound like Bb, Eb and F. Here are pictures of these chords.
These two versions of the G chord with the capo on the third fret now sound like a Bb chord. Still the one chord.
This video of Dailey and Vincent performing Bury Me Beneath the Willow in G shape/Capo 3 will help you practice in the key of Bb. Hopefully you’ll see and hear the similarities between the two Bury Me Beneath the Willow videos: the chord shapes and chord progression is exactly the same - it’s the capo placement that changes the key from G to Bb.
Ultimate Guide To Reading Chord Diagrams (tips And Pdf)
The capo on the fourth fret moves the pitch up four half steps. From our original G chord, that would be G#/Ab, A, Bb, B. Our G, C and D chords now sound like B, E and F#.
These two versions of the G chord with the capo on the fourth fret now sound like a B chord. Still the one chord
You can play in B with Michael Cleveland and Flame Keeper as they play Blue Night. You’ll see the guitarist use the second version of the G chord. Notice his capo is on the fourth fret.
Capo Chart (learn Every Chord Instantly!)
For more practice in the key of B, try picking with Vince Gill as he and his band play Blue Moon of Kentucky. Again, G shape/capo 4.
Now that you’re getting more comfortable with recognizing chords and understanding how the capo placement changes the pitch/key, let’s use these skills with another common key and hand shape: Key of C/C shape.
Again, we’ll build these chords based on the first, fourth and fifth notes of the scale. The first note of the C scale is C, the fourth note is F, and the fifth note is G. So the one, four and five chords in the key of C are C, F and G. You already recognize the C and G chords from the key of G, so the work here will be learning the F chord and renumbering the G and C chords. Not so bad, right?
Essential Ways To Use A Capo On Guitar And How
Here’s the C chord for you to look at again. This time we’re going to call this chord one, because we’re now in the key of C.
Here’s the G chord
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