Using The Capo
You may have run
across sheet music which talks about something called the Capo. This lesson will briefly
discuss the capo, and how it is used.
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This is a
picture of a Kyser Capo on the guitar neck. We see an
example of a "Capo
3".
A capo
literally clamps onto the guitar neck and acts as a
moveable nut on your guitar. This particular capo is called the
Quick Change, for obvious reasons.
There are many types of
Capos, but Kyser makes the best. If you
purchase a Kyser, it will probably
be the last Capo you'll ever buy.
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The Capo acts as a
barre. When we do a "Capo 3rd", we are barring the 3rd frets, and can
therefore play a G Major Barre chord simply by fingering an E Major chord.
Normal - G Major
Barre Chord
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Capo 3rd - G Major
Barre Chord |
E||--3--------||
B||--3--------||
G||--4--------||
D||--5--------||
A||--5--------||
E||--3--------||
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E||--0--------||
B||--0--------||
G||--1--------||
D||--2--------||
A||--2--------||
E||--0--------|| |
The first chord is a
normal G Major Barre chord. The second chord shows how a G Major Barre chord is played
with a Capo on the 3rd. It looks like an E major chord, but if you listen to it, its
definitely G Major.
Here is a simple
capo chord chart. The 'No Capo' column refers to the original chord. 'Capo 1' means a Capo
is placed on the first fret, and so on. The chords in each column tell you what the
original chord will now be, with a capo on that particular location.
| No Capo |
Capo 1 |
Capo 2 |
Capo 3 |
Capo 4 |
| A |
Bb |
B |
C |
C#/Db |
| Am |
Bbm |
Bm |
Cm |
C#m |
| B |
C |
C#/Db |
D |
Eb |
| Bm |
Cm |
C#m |
Dm |
Ebm |
| C |
Db |
D |
Eb |
E |
| D |
Eb |
E |
F |
F# |
| Dm |
Ebm |
Em |
Fm |
F#m |
| E |
F |
F# |
G |
Ab |
| Em |
Fm |
F#m |
Gm |
Abm |
| F |
F# |
G |
Ab |
A |
| G |
Ab |
A |
Bb |
B |
For example, we saw above how the
E chord played with a Capo on the 3rd fret is actually a G Major chord. If we look at E in
the 'No Capo' column, and follow it to the 'Capo 3' column, we see that it is indeed a G
chord.
CALL
973-785-0896
tom@newjerseyguitarlessons.com
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