michelew wrote:
daryl wrote:
Capo for bass...interesting. I have to say I'd be afraid of being laughed out of the music shop or off the playground by the real bass players. I can see it now, the giggling and the name calling like..."haha guitar player!"
Naaaaaahhh I can't see a bass capo in my future, especially when I'm trying to work on my bass cred.
Bassman Jerry has been using a capo (sparingly) for about a year now (he also tunes his acoustic bass down a whole step). We had never seen it done before, but there was a need to quickly change keys to match our singing range. I was sliding my capo around and he was trying to transpose. It was biting into our rehearsal time. I'm not sure how it came about exactly, but I think I threw him my capo and said something like, "just put it on the same fret that I am and play the same patterns as you would if it wasn't there". It's a quick fix and it works, but I guess it's just not too macho or something. One thing that it does is it eliminates the ability to play open strings at the nut where notes seem to have a mellower tone.
Michele, The simpler method is usually the best. I wouldn't worry about anyone laughing at you . . . . . if someone snickers, just tell them you are applying the philosophy of Occam's razor. I've learned that, just because no one is doing something, that doesn't mean it can't be done.
Hydroman52
Afterthought . . . . . why couldn't a capo be used as a tool to learning patterns in different places (Keys) on the fretboard?