Capo

[mwortman]

Hey Neil,
I love your site its the best going, the thing I like about your teaching compared to others is you have your lesson put together in a professional way. Most other people ive seen are looking at there charts and rambling on, that is so distracting. Just wanted to thank you.

My question is what is your thought about using a Capo, I have not seen you use one and do you plan on using one in a lesson.

Marty

[AndyT]

Good question. I've heard that using one makes it easier to play in a different key without having to play all barre chords.

[haoli25]

Marty, Neil does use a capo in several of his lessons. Two that come to mind are, Lindsey Buckingham's "Never Going Back Again" and more recently in The Eagles "Hotel California". Check out those TARGET videos.


Bill

[BigBear]

mwortman wrote:

Hey Neil,
I love your site its the best going, the thing I like about your teaching compared to others is you have your lesson put together in a professional way. Most other people ive seen are looking at there charts and rambling on, that is so distracting. Just wanted to thank you.

My question is what is your thought about using a Capo, I have not seen you use one and do you plan on using one in a lesson.

Marty

Marty- a capo is indespensible for acoustic guitarists. Especially if you are a singer. Many songs just don't sound good without being capo'd for example most of Simon & Garfunkel is played somewhere up the neck, often way up the neck!

Bill is correct that many of Neil's lesson's are capo'd, Paint it Black, Norwegian Wood, Scarborough Fair to name a few that Bill didn't mention.

Are you using a capo Marty or are you having trouble using one? Let us know how we can help you! :cheer:

[Music Junkie]

Neil did not use one in Landslide, but he did mention that to play along with the recording, there should be one at the third fret.

Capos are a wonderful tool. Yes, they do make it easier at times to play a song if you have trouble with certain chords, you can transpose to a different key by using a capo. Then you can use different "chord shapes". It does change the pitch though and if you are singing along, it may or may not fit your vocal range.

MJ

[BigBear]

Another great use of a capo is if you are playing with other guitarists. If everyone is playing in the key of C or G for exaMPLE (which often happens) capo up to a different key and play the correct chords in that key.

I recently played at a company-sponsored jam session and I played Hotel California, as Neil shows it, at the 7th fret. It sounded great rather than have everyone playing the same chords all together. My playing really stood out. Of course I was in the wrong key.... (kidding!).

[goldleaf]

MJ, that's what I mostly used a capo for is raising the pitch so I can sing along in a vocal range that works for me. Although, after joining TG I am finding some songs that sound better w/ capo on to give the song a higher pitch based on Neils recomend. Gary

[Music Junkie]

goldleaf wrote:

MJ, that's what I mostly used a capo for is raising the pitch so I can sing along in a vocal range that works for me. Although, after joining TG I am finding some songs that sound better w/ capo on to give the song a higher pitch based on Neils recomend. Gary

Yes, there are various reasons for their use. I like them for just messing around and placing in different positions and strumming through different songs I know to make them sound a bit different. Inevitably it leads to a cool little riff or run that I never would have thought of with the use of the capo. Since I am still learning theory, I don't usually understand the inner workings of most things, and I have to stumble across most things at this point. That is slowly changing with the time spent on this site.