What is a capo and do you need one?

Capos often seem misunderstood. While some argue for the indispensability of a quality capo for any guitarist, others dismiss them as a crutch that a good guitarist should have no need for. So what’s all the argument about? What is a capo? And should you use one?

What is a capo?

A capo is a device that clamps down the strings of a guitar or other stringed instruments in order to change the length of the strings in their open position. This has the effect of raising the pitch of some or all of the open notes on the instrument. Musicians use a capo to change the key in which they are playing a song without the need to learn different chord shapes for that song.

Change the song’s key to match the vocalist’s range

There are times when a guitarist will use a capo mainly to alter the sound or timbre of the instrument. However, by far the main reason guitarists frequently use capos relates more to the vocalist than to the sound of the guitar.

What is timbre?

Timbre (pronounced as “tamber”) is a somewhat esoteric attribute of a sound that describes the sound’s tonal qualities. It’s a sound’s timbre that makes a note played on one instrument distinguishable from the exact note played on a different instrument. On some instruments–the guitar for example–timbre also describes the different tonal quality of a note played on a low fret but a higher string as compared to the exact note played on a high fret but a lower string

Whether the vocalist is the guitarist herself or a different person, sometimes the key the song was written in doesn’t comfortably fit into the vocalist’s range. The song may be too high or too low for the vocalist, but either way, placing a capo on the strings can put the song into the right key.

For instance, say you as the guitarist know the chords to the song in the key of E. The song uses the chords E, A, F#m, and B. You’ve studied these chords and know how to play through the progression of the entire song flawlessly.

But then you get together with a vocalist. You think you’re completely ready for the gig, but once you start playing it quickly becomes clear that the vocalist can’t hit the high notes. He sounds more like a cat whose tail’s been stepped on than a singer. He says, “I can’t sing this in the key of E. Let’s do it in G instead and I’ll sing an octave lower. That’ll fit my range perfectly.”

To play the song in the key of G you’ll need to play the chords G, C, Am, and D. Now you have two choices.

Skip the capo and instead use different chord shapes

First, the hard way to proceed involves transposing all the chord changes with different chord shapes. This means that as you’re reading along with the chord chart, every time you see an E chord written on the chart, you have to remember to play a G instead. When you see F#m on the chart, you need to remember to play Am instead.

That might not sound too difficult. After all, you know all of those chord shapes in the new key, so how hard can it be? Well, it can be harder than it seems. All you need to do is forget just once to play the C instead of the A and you’ve ruined the performance. That’s a lot of pressure.

Besides that, sometimes the chord shapes you use play a critical role in your guitar part. The tonal quality of an A chord can be noticeably different than the C chord of the new key. The embellishments you play when holding an A chord shape don’t work the same when holding a C chord shape.

In other words, changing the chord shapes you play could drastically affect your performance on the piece. Especially if you’ve worked up many complex parts to go along with the chords you’re playing, you could be in big trouble now that you have to play new chord shapes. Not only do you have to play different chord shapes, but you’re now dealing with a different scale and potentially different fingerings of your lead lines and solo patterns.

You can see how quickly things can get quite complicated when you change the key of the song by changing the chord shapes you play.

The ability to change the chord shapes on the fly like that and still nail all the changes, lead lines, and solos would be pretty badass. Still, it’s just not practical for most of us. It’s an admirable but extremely specialized skill. So, if you have the desire and grit, by all means learn to do it. But remember, it’s probably simply not appropriate in many situations where it changes the sound of your playing drastically.

Use a capo and stick with your familiar chord shapes

So instead of changing the way you play and the shapes you use, a capo provides a different alternative. You can use a capo to change the song’s key. This has tons of advantages. And it’s the most appropriate approach for probably 90% of us guitarists.

You have very little to think about once you’ve figured out where to set your capo. For instance, in our example we know that the G note on the E string is three frets up from the open E position. So, we can quickly clamp the capo down on the third fret.

Now when you play the open E string, it actually plays a G note. The E string has technically been transformed into a G string. The A string is technically now a C string, the D an F string, and so on. But you really don’t have to think of it that way. Instead, all you have to do is play exactly as you did in the key of E.

When you make an E chord shape with the capo at fret 3, you’re actually playing a G chord. When you play the A shape, you’re playing a C chord. The B shape becomes a D chord, and the F#m shape becomes and Am. In other words, you’ve transposed the guitar’s open tuning for each string.

What does transpose mean?

In music, transpose means to change the pitch or key of a piece of music to a new base pitch or key. For instance, say a song is written in the key of E and uses the chords E, A, and B. If instead you substitute G for E, C for A, and D for B, you have transposed the song from the key of E to the key of G

The beauty is that you don’t need to learn anything new. You don’t even really need to think about anything new. Just place the capo and play what you already know. The capo at the third fret enables you to think in the key of E even while you’re actually playing in the key of G. Very helpful!

And better yet, say your vocalist decides that the key of G isn’t quite right after all and wants to try the key of F#. Without a capo, you now have to use another set of chords. The E becomes F#, the A becomes B, the B becomes C#, and the F#m becomes a G#m. Confused yet?

You can see how quickly this becomes complicated.

Instead, if you’re using a capo, you just say, “No problem,” move your capo down one fret, and continue thinking in the key of E. And you can move that capo to any fret to try as many key changes as the vocalist needs in order to find the perfect key for his voice.

Changing the guitar’s tuning with a specialty capo

While the scenario I describe above remains the most common capo usage, it’s not the only one. In the hypothetical story above, I assume that the capo you use clamps down all strings at the same fret. So when you capo at fret 3 the notes of the open strings become G, C, F, Bb, D, and G.

Since the capo holds down all of the strings, they retain their relationship to one another. This explains why you can think in the key of E (to use the example above) even though you’re actually playing in the key of G.

But not all capos hold down all of the strings at the same fret. Specialty capos exist that hold down some strings while leaving other strings open. Or hold down some strings at one fret while holding down one or more strings at different frets.

This changes the relationship of the strings on the guitar to one another. Thus, it requires you to play different chord shapes in order to make your chords.

One simple example of this involves emulating a Drop D tuning without actually changing the tuning of your strings.

What is Drop D tuning?

Drop D tuning is an alternate tuning for the strings on a guitar. In Drop D tuning, all of the strings keep their standard tuning except for the Low E string, which drops a whole step down to a D note. This tuning enables you to play a D chord that includes both the A string and the low D string for a super rich sounding D chord.

You can use a specialty capo that pushes down all of the strings except the Low E string at fret 2. This emulates a drop D tuning. Although technically it’s a drop E tuning, you can think in terms of drop D and play what you’d normally play in drop D tuning.

Because you’ve changed the tuning relationship between strings, you have to alter the way you play certain chords. We can talk about that in another article.

Specialty capos complicate things because they create a situation where you need different fingering to make the standard chords. But on the bright side, they open up a lot of interesting alternate tuning possibilities.

Is it cheating to use a capo?

As I said way back in the introduction to this article, some controversy exists over the use of a capo. Some purists seem to think that you cheat when you use a capo. And if you have to cheat, then you’re not a legitimate guitarist.

I can sum up how I feel about that argument in one word: balderdash. Yes, you can make your life easier with the use of a capo. That’s not cheating. That’s smart thinking.

The only reason I can think of for most players to go the hard route of transposing their thinking into different chord shapes has more to do with pretension than practicality.

Still, some genres of music might require a no-capo key change approach more than others. I’m not a jazz guitarist and I don’t know a ton about jazz, but for some reason that genre comes to mind. A capo might potentially be restrictive to a jazz player. Perhaps classical music forms would also suffer from the use of a capo. I don’t know why they would, but I’m willing to concede that they might.

Besides that, it’s less common to use a capo on an electric guitar than it is on an acoustic. This might be due to the electric guitarist tending to use more bar chords and other moveable chord shapes. A capo might also not work very well when you’re playing lead guitar which might require a lot of string bending and other techniques.

So, I’m definitely willing to agree that situations exist in which a capo isn’t the right choice. But in most cases, if you need to change the key of the song, the capo provides a perfectly legitimate and sensible method.

It’s difficult to use a capo for mid-song key changes

Certainly one time when a capo is not the right tool for modulating keys involves a mid-song key change. It’s common for songs to change keys somewhere in the middle.

Unless you’re super fast, or the part you’re playing provides you ample time, it’s going to be difficult if not impossible for you to place a capo on your guitar mid song without interupting your playing. In these cases, you need to know how to transpose the song by playing different chord shapes.

Do you need a capo?

So, now that you know what a capo is and understand what to use it for, the question remains: do you need a capo?

Technically, no, you do not absolutely need a capo. Some people play guitar for years without owning one. If you’re playing solo guitar instrumental music, you’ll likely find very little need or use for a capo.

Even if you’re playing with a band or a vocalist who wants to change the song’s key from that which you know to a different key, you can transpose to the new key by using different chord shapes. It’s not always super easy to do, but certainly can be done and something it’s worth knowing how to do.

So, no, you don’t have to have a capo.

But should you get a good one? Yes, you should. The capo gives you the ability to play your songs in any key at any time. If you’re also a singer, it helps you put your songs within your vocal range easily.

You have a large variety of options for capos, and you can pay a lot of money for some of them. But you can also pick up a perfectly nice one for $15 or $20. There’s little need to buy a super expensive one, especially if you’re a hobby guitarist or just starting out on your guitar journey.

But pick one up. Store it in your guitar case or your accessories case and keep it handy whenever you’re playing. Then if you ever get together with a singer who can’t sing the song in the key you know it in, you can easily and quickly adjust. If you sit down with a friend to play your favorite song and you find out that he plays it in G while you play it in E, you can quickly slap your capo on fret 3 and get down to jamming.

The capo is a beautiful thing. Don’t be afraid to use it!

Conclusion

A standard capo enables you to clamp down the strings of your guitar at any fret. This changes the pitch of your open strings. It enables you to continue playing the chords you know while changing the key you’re playing in.

If you’re working with a vocalist who can’t sing the song in the key you know it in, figure out what key fits his range comfortably and capo up as needed in order to play in that key.

Standard capos hold down all strings at the same fret. Specialty capos can hold different strings at different frets or keep some strings open. This changes the relationship of the strings to one another. It requires you to learn new chord shapes. But it also opens up lots of interesting alternate-tuning possibilities.

Some see a capo as a crutch or a cheat. But I believe that using a capo is smart and efficient.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money for a great capo. Buy one for your guitar accessory kit and use it whenever you need to change a song’s key quickly and accurately.