Playing Guitar With a Capo

You’ve no doubt seen one clamped on the neck of a guitar before: a capo. Also known as a capodastro, this handy little tool typically features a metal, plastic or rubber-coated bar that, as soon as the device is clamped on, holds down all six strings at the preferred fret to change the pitch, essentially changing the key the guitar is in. Never used a capo before? Then read on to learn all about it.

Choosing a Capo

There are capos available for many different stringed instruments:

» Acoustic Guitar Capos
» Classical Guitar Capos
» Electric Guitar Capos
» Ukulele Capos
» Banjo Capos
» Mandolin Capos
» All Capos

Need a little help picking out the right capo? Check out our Capo Buyer’s Guide for answers to frequently asked questions.

Playing Guitar With a Capo

Using a Capo to Play in a Different Key

Sticking on a capo is not only the easiest way to change the key of your guitar, it also allows you to continue using the same chords. After all, shifting the pitch without a capo means grabbing totally different chords. If you’ve only just got to grips with your first couple of open chords, a capo opens up the possibility to play countless songs in the original key without the need to master tricky barre chords right away. Nevertheless, a capo will continue to be useful long after you have barre chords down.

Why You’d Want to Play in a Different Key

When you like to sing while you’re playing guitar but the chords you can play don’t match your vocal range, you can either tune your guitar to a different pitch, or you can simply fit a capo. The same goes when you’re accompanying vocals, no matter if you’re backing up vocals in a higher or a lower register.

How to Use a Capo

If you’re not sure which key you should be in, start by fitting the capo just before the first fret. Once it’s in place, strum the strings to make sure it’s fitted correctly so there’s no string buzz. Try out the chords and if having it at the first fret sounds right, great, don’t change a thing. If not, shift it down to the next fret and try again, but without going past the fifth fret for now (I’ll explain why in just a moment).

Don’t Forget to Tune Up

It’s a good idea to tune up your guitar after every capo shift. This way, your chords will always sound in tune, even if the required tuning tweaks are miniscule. If any of the strings are way out of tune, then it’s best to remove the capo before you start turning the machine heads.

High-Pitched Sparkle

While most guitarists usually don’t place their capo beyond the fifth fret, examples of a capo placed at the seventh or even the ninth fret aren’t that hard to find. In these registers, the guitar starts to sound less and less like a standard guitar, and also leaves less room for your fingers. That’s why I would recommend only ever using a capo past the fifth fret if you’re specifically looking for that sparkling, high-pitched sound, which makes your guitar sound more like a ukulele or a mandolin and can work really well in combination with a guitar tuned to a lower pitch.

Tip for Keeping the Pitch in Check

If you need to be in a different key but you don’t want your guitar to sound like a ukulele, then your best bet is to convert the chords to match a different key. This is known as transposing chords. Say you want to play a song that’s in the key of C in the key of G instead. In this case, you’d need to place your capo fairly high up the fretboard. You can counter this by playing the song in D or E instead, which would allow you to place your capo much closer to the headstock. If you don’t know how to transpose chords, simply google ‘song title + chords’. Websites where you can find chord sheets and tablature, such as Ultimate Guitar, often feature a built-in transpose function.