Topic: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
i found this site earlier today and i swear i remember reading where to put my capo ? or maybe that was on another site.. but anyways. how do you know where to put it ?
Re: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
ps. i just started playing the guitar
Re: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
Certainly not an expert but I'll take a stab at it, depends on what you mean. To change the key you place the capo on the desired fret to match the key you want. Standard tuning on a guitar is E if you place it on the first fret you raise that to F. That's one half step. There are no sharps or flats between E and F. If you now play an E shape chord you get F. If you place it on the second fret you raise the the key to F#. Play the E shape and you get F#. Third fret G, play the E shape you get G and so on. Remember when you get to the B position the next half step is C, there are no sharps or flats between B and C.
Its kind of like playing barre chords without having to bar across the strings. The capo takes the place of the barring finger.
The good thing about the capo is that you can now use all those open chord fingerings and get different chord sounds.
For instance capo on second fret play the open G shape and you get A. PLay the C shape and you get D. Play the D shape and you get E.
Theres lots more to it and there are many folks here that will explain this better than I can and correct anything I get wrong.
If you you were just wanting to know where in the fret box to put the capo, most people suggest puting it as close to the fret wire as possible but trial and error will be your friend on this. I have big fingers so I have to move it back a little so my finger will fit.
One more thing, it is probably a good idea to retune your guitar once the capo is in place.
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Re: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
Quote>If you you were just wanting to know where in the fret box to put the capo, most people suggest putting it as close to the fret wire as possible but trial and error will be your friend on this. I have big fingers so I have to move it back a little so my finger will fit.
Thats what I do. My fingers are not that big but I just need all the room I can get.I don't read music so deciding just what fret to use is an experiment to get in my voice range.
BTW I never have to re tune after placing the capo.
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Re: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
Welcome to Chordie! Try this out: http://www.chordie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=15164
It's a capo conversion chart to help you understand what key you're changing to when you use the capo. May be what you were looking for?
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Re: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
This maybe repeating some above, but here's my $.02.
As with your fretting fingers, it goes right behind the fret wire. If the song your playing says "Capo 1" that means capo right behind the 1st fret wire. And I mean right behind. No gap if you can play it that way (Deadstring's notes not withstanding). And you absolutely have to have your guitar tuned dead nuts on before using a capo, because it will amplify any out of tune condition. This is where you find out just how good your guitar is made and how good your intonation is. Also, the farther you put the capo up the neck, the more likely it will have the strings out of tune as it really yanks the strings down to the fret board vs your fingers which use just enough pressure to eliminate the buzz. And yes, you can retune with it on, but a good guitar with proper intonation wont need this. Still, you got what you got, just make whatever adjustments you need to make it work and play!
Re: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
Love my capo. Useing the capo conversion chart songs that seem imposible to play become easy. F#'s and B's become E's and A's when the capo is on the second fret, etc!!
8 2011-01-21 14:36:14 (edited by cameronkl7 2011-01-21 14:40:32)
- cameronkl7
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Re: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
Ok I'm a little confused now, while I knew that using the capo on various frets changes the pitch and even the chords I was mostly using it to try to accomodate my voice without much luck. So as I'm reading this now I wonder if I need to rethink everything about the capo, for instance,
Lets take the song Curtis Lowe
http://chordie.com/chord.pere/www.linde … s_loew.crd
which uses the chords A B D E E7 F#
So now if I use my capo on the 2nd fret should I still play these chords or should I transpose these chords 2 semitones with the chords above to become A C D D7 E G
So the song would then become
http://chordie.com/chord.pere/www.linde … anspose=-2
Hope this makes sense, also would this be true for any song?
Cam
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Re: where do i put my capo !! please help :(
Cam,
If you're using the capo for transposition (eg to accommodate your voice), capo up and play the same chord shapes. That will raise the key of the song by the number of 1/2 steps equal to the fret you have the capo on. So for your changes above, capoing on the 2nd fret would transpose the song to B C# E F# F#7 G#... but you're still playing the shapes for A B D E E7 F#. Make sense?
And yes it's true for any song.
That all said, one of the best ways to really start to understand music theory and chord structure is to teach yourself to transpose without using chord shapes. Read a song that is written in D and transpose it to C, G, E, A, F or whatever. Start with simple tunes (I-IV, I-IV-V type stuff) and work your way up to more complex stuff.
If you rely on the capo all the time, all you learn is shapes. If you teach yourself to transpose you start to understand relationships between chords and harmony.