How to Use a Guitar Capo
A capo is a device that allows us to raise the pitch of the open string notes. It clamps across the strings on the guitar fretboard to fret all strings at a given fret, acting as a movable nut on the guitar. As you’ll see in this lesson, a capo can be very useful for transposing songs while maintaining the ability to use open chord shapes.
Uses for a Capo
A capo is useful in that it allows us to play in the higher registers using simple open chords. In cases where we’d normally have to rely on barre chords and variations, we can now access these open chord shapes, making it much easier to play in keys that normally wouldn’t lend themselves to these chords.
For example, let’s consider Small Town by John Mellencamp. If we play the song in the key of G, we’d have the following chords for the main part of the verse.
This is pretty straightforward as it’s just using open chord forms. However, the song isn’t in the key of G, it’s in the key of B. But if we try to play the chords in the key of B as it’s played on the recording, we’d have the following:
While this works, it certainly isn’t the easiest way to play this straightforward chord progression.
However, by using a capo at the 4th fret, we can transform this progression into simple barre chords.
A capo greatly simplifies this chord progression and makes it much easier to play.
Capo Placement
Capos can be a little tricky to use at first because the placement can have a big impact on the pitch of the notes. Also, every capo is different and the tension in each can vary. Capos that provide too much pressure can easily cause the notes to be sharp. I’ve found the best location for the capo is as close to the upper fret as possible. Placing the capo in the middle results in over compression of the strings, causing the notes to be sharp. With the capo close to the fret, it reduces the amount of string bend and results in more consistent tuning.
When clamping the strings, you want to make sure the capo is depressing the strings straight down. It’s easy for it to pull strings sideways, particularly the 6th string. This will results in inaccurate tuning and possibly fret buzz.
The best way to do this is, with the capo open, slide it onto the guitar neck with the capo touching the back of the neck. Allow the capo to then close and depress the strings. Applying the capo to the string-side first often results in pulling once the capo closes on the back of the neck.
Adjusting the Tuning
If you find the tuning is still off regardless of where you place the capo, you may want to ensure your intonation isn’t off.
If your intonation checks out, you can adjust the tuning a bit by bending the strings in front of or behind the capo to create more slack where needed. If the note is sharp, bend the string in front of the capo (toward the bridge) to loosen the string and lower the pitch. If the note is flat, bend the string behind the capo (toward the nut) to tighten the string and increase the pitch. The pressure of the capo will help keep the strings in place.
Songs that Make Use of a Capo
There are a ton of songs that utilize a capo, but here are a few of the more popular songs you’ve likely heard before.
- Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty
- Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
- Into the Mystic – Van Morrison
- Closer to Fine – Indigo Girls
- Small Town – John Mellencamp
Chord Notation Relative to the Capo
One thing to be aware of when using online resources to learn songs that utilize a capo is a lot of times you’re going to see the chords referenced as open chords relative to the capo as opposed to the actual chord that they are.
For instance, take our Small Town example from above. You will likely come across versions where the chords are notated as G, D, and Cadd9 instead of B, F#, and Eadd9. This notation is relative to the position of the capo rather than the actual chords. Typically, you’ll also see the use of a capo noted along with the fret in which the capo should be applied, but this isn’t always the case.
Because we’re so accustom to treating this open chord shapes this way, it’s usually not an issue for learning the chords of a song. However, once you move away from open chord shapes it gets a bit confusing to treat chords this way when using a capo.
Wrap up
Capos can be a useful device to help play music in different keys while affording us the ability to use simple open chord shapes. It can be used with acoustic as well as electric guitars. It’s a little tricky use at first and you have to be careful with the tuning, but if you take the approach described in this lesson it’ll make using a capo much easier.
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