Capo: Why do you use one and is it cheating?

Capo: Why do you use one and is it cheating?
Capos are commonly used in acoustic styles of guitar playing, but can also be used on an electric guitar. A capo acts like the nut at the end of your fretboard and holds down the strings – so if you clamped a capo onto the 3rd fret you could play these notes without fretting them with your left hand.
They are a useful tool for when you would want to tune your guitar higher than standard tuning but your strings would most likely break before they got to the note you wanted.
Is there more than one type of capo?
There is different types of capos but the most common and easiest to use is the clamp style capo. You can move these around very easily and you can be using it within seconds. They also tend to hold down your strings more reliably than some other types of capo.
Before you go out and buy any old capo make sure to check it will suit the guitar you want to use it on. As a general rule you will want to use a different capo for acoustic guitars and electric guitars (both 6 string varieties) as they have different width necks.
If you have a specialist guitar such as a 7-, 8-, 9-, or 12-string guitar, you will also need to get a special capo for that. These capos all work the same way but the widths will be different.
What does a capo do?
By clamping your capo onto a fret it gives the same result as tuning the guitar up to the notes on that fret.
You won’t want to tune your guitar higher than standard tuning for a couple reasons. The two main ones is that it is much harder to play as there is a lot more tension in the strings and two… they are very likely to break!
So by leaving your guitar tuned to standard tuning but adding a capo to your second fret, you get this tuning when playing the open strings:
No Capo open strings | Capo on the 2nd fret open strings |
E | F# |
B | C# |
G | A |
D | E |
A | B |
E | F# |
That’s great but why would I want to do that?
Capos can be useful for several reasons for guitar players. As we looked at above, capos can help to use tunings higher than standard which wouldn’t be possible on a guitar without breaking the strings.
The biggest advantage that is used by most guitar players when using a capo is that you can now reuse the open string chord shapes higher up the neck and get ‘new’ chords.
No Capo open chords | Capo on the 2nd fret open strings |
Am | Bm |
C | D |
Dm | Em |
Em | F#m |
G | A |
Now that your capo is on your second fret, you will no longer be able to hear the notes at the open string or the 1st fret. From this point on your open string is your second fret.
So when you make an Am shape chord (your fingers will be on the 4th and 3rd fret now as the capo is on the 2nd fret) you are playing a Bm chord.
Many songwriters use this technique so that they can move around common open string shapes but also write songs in different keys.
Isn’t this why you have to learn barre chords – isn’t this just cheating?
Barre chords are an essential part of guitar playing. To be able to play a large range of songs you will need to add barre chords to your list of skills. That being said, have you ever tried to play a barre chord? They’re not the easiest things to use!
Personally, I use barre chords much more than I use a capo… but that doesn’t mean that capos aren’t a useful tool.
You will be able to play along with many songs before learning how to play a barre chord with the use of a capo. Playing more guitar will also help to strengthen your fretting hand, which will make barre chords easier in the future.
There’s also a completely different sound when using a capo compared to playing a barre chord. Even if you prefer to play barre chords it is always worth experimenting with the capo to see if the sound of the chords played in this way works better for the song.
Don’t think of a capo as a replacement for not being able to play barre chords. At the same time, don’t discount the uses of a capo because you can play a barre chord. They are both ways of adding variety to your guitar playing.
Capos let you play different voicings of chords
You may already know that you can play more than 1 version of a chord on the guitar (such as more than one Em chord).
To understand why you can do this you need to learn a small amount of music theory, but you can more than likely hear them just by playing them.
Try these chord shapes above the different capo positions:
Put your Capo on this fret | Play this open chord shape above the capo |
No capo | Em |
2nd fret | Dm |
7th fret | Am |
All the above 3 chords are Em chords, but different voices of this chord.
Another example of this could be:
Put your Capo on this fret | Play this open chord shape above the capo |
No capo | C |
3rd fret | A |
5th fret | G |
The above chords are all C chords but they are different voicings of the chord.
Capos can help you to transpose songs easily
Are you a singer?
Even if your not, maybe you have tried singing along with a song and some notes are just too high (or too low).
By using a capo you can transpose the chords that you have already learnt and move this song into a new key. This means you don’t have to relearn the chord sequence but you can now sing along with the song in a more comfortable way.
Recap of the uses of a capo
- Using a capo can help you to play in different keys without using barre chords
- You can play different voicings of chords using a capo
- Transposing a song into a different key is easy with a capo, making it easier to sing along
- You will be able to play more songs more quickly by using a capo
Don’t be put of by the idea of using a capo, but also don’t be put off from learning how to play barre chords. Rather than being a substitute for one another they are really just different tools you can use to help your overall guitar playing.
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