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Roger:  Yes, I do have a capo, and

alvee: I am playing G, D, A7, etc....

So, I will try to capo it on the second, or wherever it may take me

Russell:  I'm afraid I don't know anything about tuning to another key... and to be perfectly honest, I have broken a couple of strings (when restringing) because I don't know by ear what the notes are supposed to sound like, and I've wound too tightly.. I DO look forward to the day when I can tune to a recording, or even another guitarist, but right now, I'm still a newbie at this. 

Thanks all!  I believe I now have information to help me play along with more songs in my songbook.

anastasia

Hi Nela.

I play acoustic guitar, and the D'Addarios that I have are extra light 80/20 bronze (brass).

By the way, I was pleasantly surprised at the price when I picked them up, but like I said, didn't like the sound.  The Elixirs, however, which I did like the sound, are three times the price, but I figured it's worth the price if I like the sound coming out of my guitar.

I just figured I'm either going to use them, or give them away... no sense in keeping them if I have no intention of using them.

Southpaw: Thanks for the article. Incidentally, when I first got my capo and wanted to learn about it, I came across this article. It didn't make sense to me then.  What I find great about this site (or any forum, really) is that I can ask my question the way I want to ask it, and keep asking till I'm 100% clear, right?

Like jerome so wonderfully understood where my confusion came from... the wording. (thank you, jerome).

I love it when I FINALLY get it! And, as I said before, thanks to all you amazing guitar players sharing your knowledge with me, I now get it too!!

anastasia

I understand this: E to D, +3 semitones, G to F.  Got that!  That takes care of the transposing feature. Great.

What I don't understand is how do I know where to put the capo?

Say I put the Capo on the 3rd fret.  Now which chords do I play? If the song calls for E to D (first 2 chords, for the sake of an example), then a capo on the 3rd fret, what do I play?

Thanks, again, for any info... so far, I'm learning something new every day. And that's good!

A.

Thank you so much!

a.

Thanks Tim! Appreciate it!

A.

Ken, am I to understand that if I transpose a song by 5, that it will give me the chord shapes without a capo on the 5th fret?

Also, if I print up a chord sheet for a song, and it tells me to put a capo on the 5th fret, I can still play the chords that are showing, say the A shape with the capo on the 5th fret, and I will get the proper sound, which is not necessarily an A?

(I hope I'm not confusing you.)

A.

Thank you so much for the lesson on the capo. I imagine because I don't know anything about music theory, that's why it doesn't make sense to me.

For instance, Ken, you suggested that I transpose chords; I have no clue where or how to do that. So that's the limit of my knowledge.

Also, for example, the song "Love is Free" by Sheryl Crow tells me Capo 5. Now when I play the chords A, Bm, E, (etc), the song does not sound right. That is probably because I am now in a different key, right? So that is why I don't understand it, because I don't know what key I should be in.

Anyway, if it's not too much trouble, can someone explain? Otherwise, I may have to take some music lessons,

Thanks All very much. (PS:  I have been practicing steadily for 5 1/2 months, and I can't believe the improvement!!!)

A.

You know what? I figured it out.. it's only because I am still new at this, and I haven't developed any of my own "rhythms", you know what I mean? I am still focussing on chords here, and my strumming is still a simple one-strum pattern. (This is me again, getting waaaaaaaay ahead of myself!)

And by the way, no, I will NOT quit.  This weekend, I started playing "Take it Easy" by the Eagles, and, I am SO getting into it. I will NEVER quit my guitar!

Thank you ALL for your wonderful suggestions, and the discussion opened up my eyes. 

anastasia

PS: Did I mention how much I love this site? If I did, it's worth mentioning again.

Okay, here is my adventure, so that no other newbie will make my mistakes!

First of all, I ended up getting the wrong gauge strings for my guitar. I honestly had no clue that there were so many different gauges. (Please, don't all laugh and point like I'm an idiot, because I feel kinda silly right about now.)

At first, I bought mediums, but when I called the store where I bought my guitar, they said that my guitar takes extra light strings (because it's a beginner's guitar pack). I should have gone there originally, but being a little further away, I opted for the closer store.  Anyway, lesson learned (and I certainly got some practice changing guitar strings!!)

Now, onto yet another learning process:  I'm not so crazy about the sound of these strings.

I mean, they're all in tune, but I don't know, I don't like the sound.  I have D'Addario 80/20 Bronze extra lights, and I'd like to know what others enjoy. I'm pretty sure I'll be changing brands again, maybe several times before I'm happy, but I'd like to start off with some advice from you all out there.

Thanks!

PS: I have posted in another category another question about what songs I like to play, so that might help in deciding what type of strings I should have, if that plays any role.