CAPO
101-- A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO THE CAPO
I’ ve been inside the capo business for over fifteen years and have heard all kinds of remarks, both positive and negative, from players. Negative comments often come from guitar“ purists” that believe using a capo is a way of cheating. However, I must say, capos are certainly not a crutch, but are a tool of our trade. Now, I believe it’ s important as we progress as guitar players to learn the more difficult chord shapes, but as for players starting out, people with smaller hands, and players looking for something different than the same-ole, same-ole … capos open up a totally new world.
Wherever we play guitar, we all want to play skillfully! American bedrooms are full of guitar players who doubt their skill level. When I teach guitar classes, I have always taught that skill is not a level of difficulty, but rather a way of making the guitar sound like you want it to. Within the church, rhythm guitar has been in the forefront of worship music for the past two decades, and nothing sounds better than open chords when playing rhythm on an acoustic guitar( In my opinion). However, there is absolutely no way to play nice, clean, open chords in the key of Bb or B … or a host of other keys for that matter. Using capos makes this possible, and that’ s why they are so prevalent on the worship platform.
The first point to understand is one of basic theory, and here’ s an easy way to understand it. A standard six-string capo can do two different things. One, they can raise the pitch of a chord. And two, they can change the voicing of a chord. First … raising the pitch gives the player the ability to play a song chart in a variety of keys while using the same chord shapes listed on the chart. This is helpful when the song key does not match the voice of the singer. So, playing a song written in“ G” using chords“ G,”“ C,”“ Em,” and“ D” with a full capo on the 3 rd fret will place the song in the key of“ Bb”( now becoming the chords“ Bb,”“ Eb,”“ Gm,” and“ F”). Second … changing the voicing gives us the ability to play in in a specific key while using a variety of chord shapes( voicings). For example, if playing a song in the key of“ C,” we can play with a standard“ C,”“ F,” and“ G” shapes or we can place a capo on fret 3 and play“ A,”“ D,” and“ E” shapes( hearing the same major chords above). The new voicing can provide a different feel or emotion to the song.
Choosing a capo is much like choosing a guitar, or a car, or a cheeseburger! Everyone has his or her own preferences. Capos need to be comfortable to work with, convenient to use, and serve their purpose while fitting the guitar well. Your capos need to be fitted to your guitar( s). Truly, the majority of capos on the market are adjustable, whether or not they have a physical adjustment screw on them. What I’ ve found, even with capos that have an adjustment screw, is that once the capo is fitted to your acoustic or electric guitar, it rarely needs to be adjusted again. For my capos, a simple forming of the back arm gets them set perfectly for my guitars. Why do capos need to be
adjusted? If they don’ t have enough
pressure, the strings will buzz. If they are too tight, the strings will most likely be pulled out of tune( sharp). Both situations are problematic and easily solved!
Here is an easy-to-follow chart showing what chord you’ ll hear when using a capo. Play the chord on the left and, if your capo is on fret 3, look under column 3 to find the chord you’ re hearing. With all of the different keys we use in worship music and with different voices, having a capo available for whatever guitar you’ re playing is an important tool to have and understand.
MITCH BOHANNON Developed the Short-Cut Capo for Kyser. Worship leader in Louisiana. Married to his beautiful wife, Noelle, for 23 years and they have three awesome kids!
34 Mar � Apr 2017 WorshipMusician. com