{"appState":{"pageLoadApiCallsStatus":true},"articleState":{"article":{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-28T14:39:09+00:00","modifiedTime":"2016-03-28T14:39:09+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:14:18+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"Music","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33730"},"slug":"music","categoryId":33730},{"name":"Instruments","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33731"},"slug":"instruments","categoryId":33731},{"name":"Guitar","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33735"},"slug":"guitar","categoryId":33735}],"title":"How to Use a Capo","strippedTitle":"how to use a capo","slug":"how-to-use-a-capo","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Using a capo on your guitar raises the pitch of the guitar's open strings, so you can use open chords to play in any key. This video lesson demonstrates how to ","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"<div class='x2 x2-top'><div class=\"video-player-organism\"></div></div>Using a capo on your guitar raises the pitch of the guitar's open strings, so you can use open chords to play in any key. This video lesson demonstrates how to use capos of various kinds: plastic-band, clamp, or screw-on.","description":"<div class='x2 x2-top'><div class=\"video-player-organism\"></div></div>Using a capo on your guitar raises the pitch of the guitar's open strings, so you can use open chords to play in any key. This video lesson demonstrates how to use capos of various kinds: plastic-band, clamp, or screw-on.","blurb":"","authors":[],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33735,"title":"Guitar","slug":"guitar","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33735"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":294505,"title":"Practicing Arpeggios on Guitar","slug":"practicing-arpeggios-on-guitar","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","music","instruments","guitar"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/294505"}},{"articleId":210308,"title":"How to String A Steel-String Acoustic Guitar","slug":"how-to-string-a-steel-string-acoustic-guitar","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","music","instruments","guitar"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/210308"}},{"articleId":210307,"title":"How to Vary Guitar Articulation with Pull-Offs","slug":"how-to-vary-guitar-articulation-with-pull-offs","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","music","instruments","guitar"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/210307"}},{"articleId":210306,"title":"How to Vary Guitar Articulation by Using Hammer-Ons","slug":"how-to-vary-guitar-articulation-by-using-hammer-ons","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","music","instruments","guitar"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/210306"}},{"articleId":210304,"title":"How to String a Nylon-String Guitar","slug":"how-to-string-a-nylon-string-guitar","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","music","instruments","guitar"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/210304"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":true,"relatedBook":{"bookId":296586,"slug":"rock-guitar-for-dummies-2nd-edition","isbn":"9781394159192","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","music","instruments","guitar"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1394159196/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1394159196/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1394159196-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1394159196/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1394159196/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/covers/9781394159192.jpg","width":250,"height":350},"title":"Rock Guitar For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":true,"authorsInfo":null,"authors":[{"authorId":9006,"name":"Jon Chappell","slug":"jon-chappell","description":"","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9006"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/296586"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{"key":"cat","values":["academics-the-arts","music","instruments","guitar"]},{"key":"isbn","values":[null]}]\" id=\"du-slot-632219fa1aa46\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{"key":"cat","values":["academics-the-arts","music","instruments","guitar"]},{"key":"isbn","values":[null]}]\" id=\"du-slot-632219fa1af9b\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Videos","articleList":null,"content":null,"videoInfo":{"videoId":"695031257001","name":"How to Use a Capo","accountId":"622696558001","playerId":"default","thumbnailUrl":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/622696558001/c04c9b30-0f96-4112-89bc-7dbc69db88bd/6dfa02b5-2a00-4dc5-b58a-21c2cb6384fe/160x90/match/image.jpg","description":"Using a capo on your guitar raises the pitch of the guitar's open strings, so you can use open chords to play in any key. 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Category","mainCategoryUrl":"/category/articles/level-0-category-0"}}},"navigationCategoriesLoadedStatus":"success"},"searchState":{"searchList":[],"searchStatus":"initial","relatedArticlesList":{"term":"210305","count":5,"total":325,"topCategory":0,"items":[{"objectType":"article","id":210305,"data":{"title":"How to Use a Capo","slug":"how-to-use-a-capo","update_time":"2016-03-28T14:39:09+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"Music","slug":"music","categoryId":33730},{"name":"Instruments","slug":"instruments","categoryId":33731},{"name":"Guitar","slug":"guitar","categoryId":33735}],"description":"Using a capo on your guitar raises the pitch of the guitar's open strings, so you can use open chords to play in any key. This video lesson demonstrates how to use capos of various kinds: plastic-band, clamp, or screw-on.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":150825,"data":{"title":"4 Reasons for Using a Capo on Your Guitar","slug":"4-reasons-for-using-a-capo-on-your-guitar","update_time":"2016-03-26T11:08:58+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"Music","slug":"music","categoryId":33730},{"name":"Instruments","slug":"instruments","categoryId":33731},{"name":"Guitar","slug":"guitar","categoryId":33735}],"description":"A capo is a device that clamps down across the fingerboard at a particular fret on a guitar. Capos can operate by means of elastic, springs, or even threaded bolts, but they all serve the same purpose — they shorten the length of all the guitar strings at the same time, creating, in effect, a new nut. All the \"open\" strings now play in higher pitches than they do without the capo.\nHow much higher? A half step for each fret. If you place the capo at the 3rd fret, for example, the open E strings become Gs (three half steps higher in pitch than E). All the strings become correspondingly higher in pitch as well — B becomes D, D becomes F, and A becomes C. (By the way, you can't play anything below the capo — only above it on the neck.)\nTo correctly set the capo, place it just before the fret (toward the tuning pegs), not directly over the metal fret wire.\nWhy should you use a capo?\n\n A capo enables you to instantly change the key of a song.\n Say you know how to play \"Farmer in the Dell\" in the key of C and only in the key of C. But you want to accompany a singer (maybe yourself) whose vocal range is better suited for singing \"Farmer in the Dell\" in the key of D.\nNo problem. Put your capo at the 2nd fret and simply play the song in C as you normally do. The capo causes all the strings to sound two half-steps higher than normal, and the music sounds in D! In fact, you can move the capo to any fret, sliding it up and down the neck, until you find the fret (key) that's perfect for your vocal range.\nOf course, if the notes and chords in the song you're playing have no open strings, you can simply change positions on the neck (using movable chords) to find the best key for singing. Use a capo only if the song requires the use of open strings.\n \n A capo gives the guitar a brighter sound.\nJust place a capo on the neck (especially high on the neck). The guitar will sound more like a mandolin (you know, that teardrop-shaped little stringed instrument that you hear gondoliers play in films set in Italy).\nCapos can prove especially useful if you have two guitarists playing a song together. One can play the chords without a capo — in the key of C, for example. The other guitarist can play the chords in, say, the key of G with a capo at the 5th fret, sounding in C. The difference in timbre (that is, the tone color or the quality of the sound) between the two instruments creates a striking effect.\n \n A capo allows you to move, to any key, certain open-string/fretted-string combinations that exist in only one key.\nSome people refer to capos as \"cheaters.\" They think that if you're a beginner who can play only in easy keys (A and D, for example), you need to \"cheat\" by using a capo to play in more difficult keys. After all, if you're worth your salt as a guitarist, you could play in, say, B flat without a capo by using barre chords.\nBut in folk-guitar playing, the combination of open strings and fretted ones is the essence of the style. Sometimes these open-string/fretted-note combinations can become quite intricate.\nThink, for example, of the introduction to \"Fire and Rain,\" by James Taylor, which he fingers in the key of A. James plays it, however, by using a capo at the 3rd fret, causing the music to sound three half-steps higher, in C, because that key best fits his vocal range. So why not just play the song in C without a capo? Because the fingering makes that option impossible; the necessary open strings that James plays don't exist in C — only in A!\n \n A capo \"moves\" the frets closer together as you go up the neck.\nPlaying with a capo requires less stretching in the left hand, making some songs a little easier to play.\n \n\nAny halfway serious guitarist should get a capo and experiment with it. See how you can use a capo to find the best key for your vocal range. Place it at various frets to see how that placement affects the guitar's timbre. You're sure to like what you hear.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":198127,"data":{"title":"How to Use a Capo on Guitar","slug":"how-to-use-a-capo-on-guitar","update_time":"2016-03-26T22:28:09+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"Music","slug":"music","categoryId":33730},{"name":"Instruments","slug":"instruments","categoryId":33731},{"name":"Guitar","slug":"guitar","categoryId":33735}],"description":"A capo is a device that clamps down across the guitar's fingerboard at a particular fret. Capos shorten the length of all the strings at the same time, creating, in effect, a new nut. All the “open” strings now play in higher pitches than they do without the capo. \nHow much higher? A half step for each fret. If you place the capo at the third fret, for example, the open E strings become Gs (three half steps higher in pitch than E). All the strings become correspondingly higher in pitch as well — B becomes D; G becomes Bb; D becomes F; and A becomes C. You can’t play anything below the capo — only above it on the neck.\nSometimes, engaging or disengaging a capo causes the strings to go out of tune. Remember to check your tuning and make any necessary adjustments whenever you attach or remove the capo.\nUsing a capo to instantly change the key of a song\nSay that you know how to play “Farmer in the Dell” in the key of C and only in the key of C. But you want to accompany a singer (maybe yourself) whose vocal range is better suited for singing “Farmer in the Dell” in the key of D.\nNo problem. Put your capo at the second fret and simply play the song in C as you normally do. The capo causes all the strings to sound two half steps higher than normal, and the music sounds in D! In fact, you can move the capo to any fret, sliding it up and down the neck, until you find the fret (key) that’s perfect for your vocal range.\nOf course, if the notes and chords in the song you’re playing have no open strings, you can simply change positions on the neck (using movable chords) to find the best key for singing. Use a capo only if the song requires the use of open strings.\nCapos can operate by means of elastic, springs, or even threaded bolts. To correctly set the capo, place it just before the fret (toward the tuning pegs), not directly over the metal fret wire. The following figure shows a capo set correctly on the guitar at the third fret. \nA capo on the guitar neck. Notice that the capo sits just before the fret — not directly on top of it.\nUsing a capo to brighten the tone of the guitar\nPeople also use a capo for a reason that has nothing to do with vocal ranges. If you place a capo on the neck (especially high on the neck), the guitar has a brighter sound. It can even sound more like a mandolin.\nCapos can prove especially useful if you have two guitarists playing a song together. One can play the chords without a capo — in the key of C, for example. The other guitarist can play the chords in, say, the key of G with a capo at the fifth fret, sounding in C. The difference in timbre between the two instruments creates a striking effect. In folk-guitar playing, the combination of open strings and fretted ones is the essence of the style. Sometimes these open-string/fretted-note combinations can become quite intricate. \nOne more advantage of using a capo: Because the frets get closer together as you go up the neck, playing with a capo requires less stretching in the left hand, making some songs a little easier to play.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":144865,"data":{"title":"Using a Capo on Your Guitar","slug":"using-a-capo-on-your-guitar","update_time":"2016-03-26T08:05:41+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"Music","slug":"music","categoryId":33730},{"name":"Instruments","slug":"instruments","categoryId":33731},{"name":"Guitar","slug":"guitar","categoryId":33735}],"description":"A capo, which is short for capotasto, is a device that attaches to your guitar fretboard to raise the pitch of the open strings. A capo allows you to play in different positions and keys, but keep the same familiar chord fingerings you use at the end of the neck in the open position.\nAnother reason guitarists use capos is to take advantage of favorable chord voicings that occur only as open forms.\nTransposing up to new keys with a capo is as easy as it gets. If you know how a song is played in the open position, add a capo at some other fret and duplicate the same fingerings ahead of it, as if the capo were the nut. Voilà! New key.\nTaking advantage of favorable chord voicings is easy, too. If you want a song in the key of A to use the chord voicings found in the key of G, then add a capo to the second fret. Now you play the key of A’s three main chords — A, D, and E — using the fingerings and voicings of G, C, and D. If you want to stay in the key of A, but you prefer the chord voicings found in the key of E, place the capo at the fifth fret, and using fingerings for E, A, and B.\nGetting back to transposing, if you want to move to a lower key, you have to work out the changes with different chord forms, as if you were playing in a different open-position key. For example, if you want to transpose down from the key of G, but still play in a key that utilizes open strings, the next key to play in is E, which is a change of three frets or one-and-a-half steps. If the key of E transposes the music too far down, add a capo to bring it up. At the first fret, an E chord becomes F. At the second fret, it becomes F#. If transposing down to E is not far enough, move backward from it to D. The key of D works well in the open position, and if it’s too low, you can always bring it up with a capo.\nThe keys that work best in the open position are C, A, G, E, and D. These are the same chord forms that make up the so-called CAGED system. Their relative minor keys are included. Other keys can be partially played in the open position, like F and B, but require more use of barre chords and so are not typically considered for capo use.\nAs you use a capo, you should know where the root is located in every open-position chord you play. Likewise, you should know the notes up the neck, a least on the strings where chord roots lie. For example, when you play G in the open position, you should know that the root, G, is under your finger at the third fret of the sixth string. When you use the same fingering two frets higher with a capo, you should know that the root, which is now at the fifth fret of the sixth string, has changed to A. Positioning a G-chord fingering at the seventh fret is B, eighth fret is C, and so on. Likewise, you should know that the root of an open-position C chord is under your third finger on the fifth string, and know the notes on the fifth string all the way up the neck. Transposing a D-chord fingering is a bit trickier because its root lies on the fourth string, which is a string that guitarists don’t learn the notes on as well as strings six and five; however, you can easily use octaves to trace any note on the fourth string to the sixth string.\nWhenever a capo and familiar open-position chord fingerings are in use, always look at the roots in each chord shape to determine their actual notes. For example, if you use the fingerings for G, C, D, and Em with a capo at the second fret, you should know that you’re actually playing the chords:\n\n A (root on sixth string, fifth fret)\n \n D (root on fifth string, fifth fret)\n \n E (root on fourth string, second fret )\n \n F#m (root on sixth string, second fret).\n \n\nIf it helps, first play the chord roots without a capo in their actual locations; then add the capo and rehearse the real notes again before playing the chords. Finally, play the familiar open-position fingerings and keep in mind the actual chords.\nCapos are also great for avoiding unnecessary barre chords that result in flat and sharp keys. If a piece of music is in Ab, a key with no open-position chords, rather than play it using barre chords, arrange to play it with a capo using open-position fingerings. Remember from the previous example that placing a capo at the second fret and using chord fingerings from the key of G actually produces the key of A. Move the capo down one fret and this key of A becomes Ab. Move it up and it becomes A#, or Bb, and so on.\nRefer to the following handy chart to get to know your options when using a capo to play the three main chords in the key of C. The chord names in parentheses reference the forms that you use in each position, but the actual chords remain C, F, and G throughout.\n\n\nPlaying in the Key of C Using a Capo\n\n\nChord Fingerings\nCapo Placement\n\n\nC fingerings (C F G)\nNo capo\n\n\nA fingerings (A D E)\nCapo 3\n\n\nG fingerings (G C D)\nCapo 5\n\n\nE fingerings (E A B)\nCapo 8\n\n\nD fingerings (D G A)\nCapo 10\n\n\nNotice that the fingerings from position to position follow the order of the CAGED system. All keys connect positions in this order C, A, G, E, D, C, A, G, and so on — they just start at different points in the loop. In other words, if you start off in the key of A, the next position is based on G-chord fingerings, then E, D, and C as you move up the neck with the capo. If you start out in the key of E, the next position is based on D, and so on. You know your capo is in the right position when the chord root notes match the chords you’re intending to play.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":198036,"data":{"title":"How to Play E-Based Major Barre Chords on Guitar","slug":"how-to-play-e-based-major-barre-chords-on-guitar","update_time":"2016-03-26T22:26:36+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"Music","slug":"music","categoryId":33730},{"name":"Instruments","slug":"instruments","categoryId":33731},{"name":"Guitar","slug":"guitar","categoryId":33735}],"description":"Unlike the guitar's open-position chords, barre chords can move all around the neck of your guitar. A movable barre chord contains no open strings — only fretted notes. You can slide these fretted notes up or down the neck to different positions to produce other chords of the same quality. \nOne of the most useful movable barre chords is the one based on the open E chord. Barre chords get their names from the notes that you play on the 6th (low E) string. The best way to get a grip on this barre chord is to start out with an open-position E chord.\nAs you play a barre (pronounced “bar”), one of your left-hand fingers (usually the index) presses down all or most of the strings at a certain fret, enabling the remaining fingers to play a chord form immediately above (toward the body of the guitar) the barre finger. Think of your barre finger as a sort of movable nut or capo and your remaining fingers as playing certain open-position chord forms directly above it. \n\n Play an open E chord, but instead of using the normal 2-3-1 left-hand fingering, use fingers 3-4-2.\n\nThis fingering leaves your first (index) finger free, hovering above the strings.\n \n Lay your first finger down across all six strings on the other side of the nut (the side toward the tuning pegs).\n\nPlacing your index finger across the strings at this location doesn’t affect the sound of the chord because the strings don’t vibrate on that side of the nut, but it does give you the “feel” of a barre chord position. \n \n Take the entire left-hand shape and slide it up one fret.\n\nYour first finger should be barring the first fret, and your E-chord fingers should all have advanced up a fret as well. You’re now in an F-chord position (because F is one fret higher than E), and you can press down across all the strings with your index finger.\n \n Try playing the notes of the chord one string at a time (from the 6th string to the 1st) to see whether all the notes ring out clearly.\n\nThe first few times you try this chord, the chances are pretty good that some of the notes aren’t going to ring clearly and that your left-hand fingers are going to hurt.\n \n\nBecause you can play an F chord as a barre chord, you can now, through the miracle of movable chords, play every major chord — all 12 of them — simply by moving up the neck. To determine the name of each chord, you simply have to know what note name you’re playing on the 6th (low E) string — because all E-based barre chords get their name from the 6th string (just as the open E chord does).","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null}]},"relatedArticlesStatus":"success"},"routeState":{"name":"Article4","path":"/article/academics-the-arts/music/instruments/guitar/how-to-use-a-capo-210305/","hash":"","query":{},"params":{"category1":"academics-the-arts","category2":"music","category3":"instruments","category4":"guitar","article":"how-to-use-a-capo-210305"},"fullPath":"/article/academics-the-arts/music/instruments/guitar/how-to-use-a-capo-210305/","meta":{"routeType":"article","breadcrumbInfo":{"suffix":"Articles","baseRoute":"/category/articles"},"prerenderWithAsyncData":true},"from":{"name":null,"path":"/","hash":"","query":{},"params":{},"fullPath":"/","meta":{}}},"dropsState":{"submitEmailResponse":false,"status":"initial"},"profileState":{"auth":{},"userOptions":{},"status":"success"}}Using a capo on your guitar raises the pitch of the guitar's open strings, so you can use open chords to play in any key. This video lesson demonstrates how to use capos of various kinds: plastic-band, clamp, or screw-on. About This Article
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