snarf.rocks
thoughts and musings from the mind of snarf
  • Snarf.Rocks
  • About Snarf
    • Snarf's Gear
  • Snarf's Blog
  • Contact Snarf

3/29/2021

Using a Capo

0 Comments

Read Now
 
I'm at least a little active on 2 or 3 guitar forums.  The older I get the more I think I might officially be the curmudgeon that T told me I was 15 years ago.  Sometimes folks on the various forums just irritate the heck out of me and make me think that I should step away and stay off the interwebs for a bit.  This was one of those occasions.

We got to talking about capos.  One of the other forum participants either doesn't understand how to effectively use a capo or was just ignoring everything that I was saying.  I finally gave up, and bowed out of the conversation before I said something that was going to get me a warning from the mods.  May the other person wallow in their ignorance (although I know they are far smarter than I and definitely a more skilled player).

There are two primary ways to use a capo.  Notice I did not say that there were only 2 ways to use a capo.  I said there are two primary ways.  These would be the two ways that most people tend to use a capo.  You can change the key that you are playing by slapping it on.  Or you can change the chord shapes that you want to play by slapping it on.  It's on this second point where the individual mentioned and I reached an impasse.

There's the first way.  Change the key in which you're playing.  This one is pretty simple and straightforward.  You're playing in the key of A, but the singer (or you) decide that the key needs to be raised to B, so you slap the capo on the second fret, and you have effectively changed the key of the song to B without having to change the chords that you have learned for the song.  I've learned to play the song in one key, but it's the wrong key for the singer?  No problem.  Bust out the capo, find a place on the fretboard they like, and capo like a champ.  Key changed for them and I don't have to learn new chords for the song.  Yes, you can quickly and easily change the key to a song with a capo.

The second way can be a little more confusing to folks just learning to play.  And, since I know the other forum person is anything but a novice player, I still can't figure out why they couldn't seem to wrap their head around this concept.  Change the chord shapes that you're playing. 

In my bluegrass days, this was something I used to do a LOT.  Back in those days, I played primarily in the keys of G, C, and D.  Not that I couldn't play in A or E or some either "weird" chord, but all the little riffs and lines I played were much easier in one of those three primary keys.  So we're doing a song in A?  Cool!  Capo II and I still get to play with the G chord shape.  Or maybe the song was still in G, but the other guitar player wanted to play cowboy chords, so I'd capo VII and play with a C-chord shape as the I.  But the key we were playing in remained G.

And that's where the person I was interacting with was wrong all day long.  They said that by placing the capo on the guitar, you were changing the key that you were playing in.  Specifically, we were talking about playing in the key of Bm.  They said that, if you did the capo VII thing, you were playing in Em.  I tried several times to make the distinction to them.  No, you were not playing in Em.  You were playing an Em chord shape, but you were still playing in Bm.  They disagreed.  Vehemently. 

They were wrong.  And still are.  Whether you played a barre chord at II to play Bm or you stuck a capo on II and played an Am shape or put a capo on VII and played an Em shape or even stuck a capo higher on the neck and played a Dm shape, you're still playing in Bm.  Yes, your chord shape turns into something else as you move around the neck, but the key remains the same.  Chord shape changes.  Key remains the same.

The one thing I erased several times and didn't tell them out of concern that it would come across as overly snarky is this.  The band is playing in Bm, and you slap a capo on VII.  You don't tell the band that you're switching to Em because the key didn't change.  Your fingering and chord shapes changed.  If you told them to stop playing in Bm and switch to Em, you and the band are going to be playing in different keys.

I still can't figure out how they couldn't wrap their head around that one.

Along a different vein, I only use Shubb capos.  I was given my first one back in 1993.  That's still the one that is in my pocket whenever I'm playing.  No tuning issues.  No bending issues.  It works every time.  I've tried some of the other brands, and always find myself back to the Shubb pretty quickly.  They're the best.

Share

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

Details

    Author

    Snarf is a wannabe musician who currently resides in the great state of Texas.  His wife is his favorite.  He believes chocolate milk made from milk that is anything less than whole milk is basically water and deserves to be dumped down the sink so nobody has to suffer through it.  He hates having to shop for clothes. But he has a thing for really cool bags, and, consequently, has more gig bags than guitars and a closet full of messenger bags and backpacks.  He still misses his dog who was taken by cancer 5 years ago.  Check out his Reverb shop and see if he has any gear he's trying to get rid of.  

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    May 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    Categories

    All
    50s Les Paul
    ABY Switch
    Acoustic
    Acoustikar
    Affordaboard
    American Design Experience
    Astronomy
    Axle Grease Delay
    Backpacks
    Back Packs
    BGU
    Bigsby
    Blues
    Blues Breaker
    Blues Guitar
    Blues Guitar Unleashed
    Boss
    Boss Pedals
    Caline
    Capo
    Cork Sniffer
    Creme Brulee
    CruzTools
    Dallas Guitar Show
    Danelectro
    Daypacks
    DIY Guitar
    Dumble Amps
    Effects Pedals
    EHX
    Electric Guitar
    Epiphone
    ES 335
    ES 339
    ES-339
    Fender
    Fender Stratocaster
    Filtertron
    Fort Richardson State Park
    Franken'Tron
    GarageTone
    Gator Gig Bags
    Gator Guitar Case
    Gibson
    Gig Bags
    Greasy Groove
    Gretsch
    Gretsch 5120
    Griff Hamlin
    Griff Hamlin's Blues Guitar Unleashed
    Guitar
    Guitar Cases
    Guitar MultiTool
    GuitarSetup
    Highway One
    Hiking
    Hiking Adventures
    Horseman
    Hwy 1
    Hybrid Guitar Case
    Ibanez Guitar Case
    Incase Gig Bags
    Inspired By Gibson
    Klon
    Klone
    KTR
    Lake Jacksboro
    Lakota Leathers
    Learning
    Les Paul
    Looper
    Mono Gig Bags
    Mooer
    Morning Star
    Multi Effects
    Mustang Floor
    Not Guitar Related
    NuX
    Outdoor Products
    OwnTheTone
    Parker Gig Bags
    Patio Gardening
    Pedalboard
    Pegasus
    Play What Makes You Happy
    Polyfoam Guitar Case
    Probag
    Probag Gig Bag
    Probag Gig Bags
    RC 20xl
    RC-20xl
    Reunion Blues Gig Bags
    Route 66
    Saddleback Leather
    Sonicake
    SoulFood
    Spinning Speaker
    Splattercaster
    Splatter Strat
    Strat
    Stratocaster
    TC Electronics
    Teton Sports
    Texas State Parks
    They're Not Investments
    Tone Bakery
    Tone Snobbery
    Tools
    Totally My Opinion
    Travelite Case
    Tru Arc Bridges
    Tru-Arc Bridges
    TrueTone
    TS9
    TU2 Tuner
    Tube Screamer
    Tumnus
    TwiggyBlues
    Valvetronix
    Visual Sound
    Wampler
    WhatsInYourGigBag
    YMMV

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Snarf.Rocks
  • About Snarf
    • Snarf's Gear
  • Snarf's Blog
  • Contact Snarf