Brad,
Capos are about the easiest thing in the world and can really be helpful when trying to sing- or just to change the sound of your guitar! Capoing up around the 5th gives the guitar a mandolin-like sound. And if two people are playing together, one can capo up and transpose the song so that you're playing in the same key, but one guitar has a lower sound and the other a higher sound, which can be really nice.
I think you'll find that capoing might help you a lot with your singing. I remember Vanessa recommending to you in one of your videos that you try capoing up to make the song more suitable for your vocal range.
Good luck!
Suzi
how to use a CAPO ??
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neverfoundthetime
- Posts: 48
- Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
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...there may be federal law in your state Brad which requires you to have full understanding of music theory and be able to sight read music before operating a capo... but there again, maybe not! 
Have fun!
Have fun!Think I can explain how a capo functions with the chart below.
Need to begin with a little music theory, and it’s easier to explain if I refer to a piano. Everyone knows the piano has a combination of black and white keys. The white keys have names like A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The black keys each have two names. The black key with the name of A# (A sharp) is also called Bb (B flat). The black key with the name C# is also called Db. C# and Db are the identical notes.
Fortunately on the guitar we don’t have white and black frets – but the same naming rule still applies. The chord Bb is also the chord A#. You will notice in the chart above all the squares with Bb also have A#.
To use the chart we also need to make the assumption that a songs first chord is the songs key. This rule applies only about 90% of the time but works 100% with the chart.
Got all that? Let’s begin.
Say you’re playing a song in the key of A with the three chords A, D, E7; you can comfortably sing it capo’d at the third fret. What key are you singing in and what chords are you really playing?
Locate A in the first column (that’s easy it’s the first square in the upper left corner) and put a pencil dot there. Put a pencil dot also in the D, and E squares for the chords D, and E7 in the A row along the top of the page.
You capo’d at the third fret therefore count down three below the A square and put a dot in the C square.
When using the chart for capo purposes ALWAYS COUNT DOWN.
The corresponding squares in the C row below A, D,& E are C, F, & G Therefore you’re singing in the key of C and your chords sound like C, F, and G7. Got that?
To verify this have a guitar play the original chords A, D & E7 capo’d at the third fret while a second guitar plays C, F & G7.
Let’s do another one.
You’re playing a song in the key of ‘D’ (the first chord is ‘D’), the songs four chords are D, G6, Amaj7, & Bm7; you can comfortably sing it capo’d at the second fret. What key are you actually playing in and what do the chords really sound like?
Begin with locating D in the very first column on the left and put a pencil dot in the D square. Come across vertically in the D row and put a dot in the G, A, and B squares.
Next since you capo’d the song at the second fret - count down two from the D in the first column to E and put a pencil dot there. You’ve probably already figured out you’re really in the key of E when playing D capo’d at the second fret.
The corresponding squares in the key of E are E, A, B, and C#. Therefore your chords sound like E, A6, Bmaj7 and C#m7. Still following along?
Let’s do one more capo exercise.
You’re playing a song in the key of G with the three chords G, C and D7 capo’d at the fifth fret.
Locate G in the first column and put a dot there. Slide over and put a dot in the C and D squares.
Next count down five squares.
When using the chart for capo purposes ALWAYS COUNT DOWN.
Begin at G - count down 2 squares to A – jump to the top of the page – but don’t count A twice – continue counting three more squares to end on C. Playing in the key of G capo’d five is the key of C with the three chords sounding like C, F and G7.
As “Willem” stated there is another common use for the capo “to play easer chords and stay in the same key”.
Let’s assume you wish to accompany a vocalist that requires a song be played in the key of F with the three chords F, Bb, & C7 and you have difficulty playing those chords. The first step is to “transpose” the songs key.
When using the chart to transpose keys you can move up or down the chart.
Let’s begin with changing the songs chords to the key of D. Start by locating F in the first column and drawing a dot. Next put dots in the Bb and C squares of the F row. The D square for the key of D is located above the F. Put a dot there. The corresponding squares in the D row are G and A. Your new chords in the key of D are D, G and A7.
The next step is to determine where to place the capo to accommodate your vocalists desire to sing in the key of F.
That should now be easy. (Third fret)
Comments and Questions are welcome.
P.S. - I came up with the chart at the age of 16.
Need to begin with a little music theory, and it’s easier to explain if I refer to a piano. Everyone knows the piano has a combination of black and white keys. The white keys have names like A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The black keys each have two names. The black key with the name of A# (A sharp) is also called Bb (B flat). The black key with the name C# is also called Db. C# and Db are the identical notes.
Fortunately on the guitar we don’t have white and black frets – but the same naming rule still applies. The chord Bb is also the chord A#. You will notice in the chart above all the squares with Bb also have A#.
To use the chart we also need to make the assumption that a songs first chord is the songs key. This rule applies only about 90% of the time but works 100% with the chart.
Got all that? Let’s begin.
Say you’re playing a song in the key of A with the three chords A, D, E7; you can comfortably sing it capo’d at the third fret. What key are you singing in and what chords are you really playing?
Locate A in the first column (that’s easy it’s the first square in the upper left corner) and put a pencil dot there. Put a pencil dot also in the D, and E squares for the chords D, and E7 in the A row along the top of the page.
You capo’d at the third fret therefore count down three below the A square and put a dot in the C square.
When using the chart for capo purposes ALWAYS COUNT DOWN.
The corresponding squares in the C row below A, D,& E are C, F, & G Therefore you’re singing in the key of C and your chords sound like C, F, and G7. Got that?
To verify this have a guitar play the original chords A, D & E7 capo’d at the third fret while a second guitar plays C, F & G7.
Let’s do another one.
You’re playing a song in the key of ‘D’ (the first chord is ‘D’), the songs four chords are D, G6, Amaj7, & Bm7; you can comfortably sing it capo’d at the second fret. What key are you actually playing in and what do the chords really sound like?
Begin with locating D in the very first column on the left and put a pencil dot in the D square. Come across vertically in the D row and put a dot in the G, A, and B squares.
Next since you capo’d the song at the second fret - count down two from the D in the first column to E and put a pencil dot there. You’ve probably already figured out you’re really in the key of E when playing D capo’d at the second fret.
The corresponding squares in the key of E are E, A, B, and C#. Therefore your chords sound like E, A6, Bmaj7 and C#m7. Still following along?
Let’s do one more capo exercise.
You’re playing a song in the key of G with the three chords G, C and D7 capo’d at the fifth fret.
Locate G in the first column and put a dot there. Slide over and put a dot in the C and D squares.
Next count down five squares.
When using the chart for capo purposes ALWAYS COUNT DOWN.
Begin at G - count down 2 squares to A – jump to the top of the page – but don’t count A twice – continue counting three more squares to end on C. Playing in the key of G capo’d five is the key of C with the three chords sounding like C, F and G7.
As “Willem” stated there is another common use for the capo “to play easer chords and stay in the same key”.
Let’s assume you wish to accompany a vocalist that requires a song be played in the key of F with the three chords F, Bb, & C7 and you have difficulty playing those chords. The first step is to “transpose” the songs key.
When using the chart to transpose keys you can move up or down the chart.
Let’s begin with changing the songs chords to the key of D. Start by locating F in the first column and drawing a dot. Next put dots in the Bb and C squares of the F row. The D square for the key of D is located above the F. Put a dot there. The corresponding squares in the D row are G and A. Your new chords in the key of D are D, G and A7.
The next step is to determine where to place the capo to accommodate your vocalists desire to sing in the key of F.
That should now be easy. (Third fret)
Comments and Questions are welcome.
P.S. - I came up with the chart at the age of 16.
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neverfoundthetime
- Posts: 48
- Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:14 pm
- Status: Offline
...so how's your capo career going Brad?
Chris- slowly, e.g CCR's wholl stop the rain, normally i sing it in open chords is it G key? i tried it at first fret sounded ok, then next day i tried it and couldnt seemed to get into key with it moved it down 2, and 3 frets i tried to sing it lower and sounded worse so i went back to screeching in open again. More practice I guess.
Dan- man that is above the call of duty there very instructional and you did this at sixteen, now i feel really stupid
:blink: 
i have saved it to print off for reference thanks.
Questions.. yes i have heaps but will only ask a couple as my fragile ego doesnt like to be too exposed :unsure:
I understand the keys A B C D E F G A = key of A , 1.= A, 4= D, 5= E , so the main keys of A are A, D,E ? then how do you get the sevens i.e A7 and in the example when you changed the songs chords to D you got= You’re playing a song in the key of ‘D’ (the first chord is ‘D’), the songs four chords are D, G6, Amaj7, & Bm7; how do you know or where does G6 A maj7 Bm7 come from? i know the 4 chords are D,G,A,B???
and in the last example you said where should you capo the D chord after transposing from F you said the 3rd fret, WHY 3 rd fret what is the reference for that???
thanks for going to so much effort, I have a lot to learn and it does my head in a bit
Brad
Dan- man that is above the call of duty there very instructional and you did this at sixteen, now i feel really stupid
:blink: i have saved it to print off for reference thanks.
Questions.. yes i have heaps
but will only ask a couple as my fragile ego doesnt like to be too exposed :unsure: I understand the keys A B C D E F G A = key of A , 1.= A, 4= D, 5= E , so the main keys of A are A, D,E ? then how do you get the sevens i.e A7 and in the example when you changed the songs chords to D you got= You’re playing a song in the key of ‘D’ (the first chord is ‘D’), the songs four chords are D, G6, Amaj7, & Bm7; how do you know or where does G6 A maj7 Bm7 come from? i know the 4 chords are D,G,A,B???
and in the last example you said where should you capo the D chord after transposing from F you said the 3rd fret, WHY 3 rd fret what is the reference for that???
thanks for going to so much effort, I have a lot to learn and it does my head in a bit
Brad
Whoa – you’re mixing apples, oranges and pineapples there.
The 12 possible "Major" keys are A - A#/Bb - B - C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - there are no “main” keys. They are all equal.
In my Chart the 12 keys are represented along the left most column with A repeated for simplicity’s sake.
Let’s ignore the roman numerals across the top of my chart and postpone your question on the principal of 1, 4 , 5 and sevens. That’s a future lesson.
I arbitrarily selected D, G6, Amaj7, and Bm7 to demonstrate when using the chart whatever follows the letter in the box i.e. the 6 following G is added to the new chord i.e. A6. No song is ever likely to have the chords D, G6, Amaj7 and Bm7.
In the last example - if you’re playing in the key of D and wish to accompany a vocalist who requires the key of F- how many squares below D is F? It’s three squares.
How about completing the following exercise: A song is in the key of C with the three chords of C, F, and G7.
Transpose the song to the Key of D. What are the three new chords?
I’ll walk you thru this step by step.
The 12 possible "Major" keys are A - A#/Bb - B - C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - there are no “main” keys. They are all equal.
In my Chart the 12 keys are represented along the left most column with A repeated for simplicity’s sake.
Let’s ignore the roman numerals across the top of my chart and postpone your question on the principal of 1, 4 , 5 and sevens. That’s a future lesson.
I arbitrarily selected D, G6, Amaj7, and Bm7 to demonstrate when using the chart whatever follows the letter in the box i.e. the 6 following G is added to the new chord i.e. A6. No song is ever likely to have the chords D, G6, Amaj7 and Bm7.
In the last example - if you’re playing in the key of D and wish to accompany a vocalist who requires the key of F- how many squares below D is F? It’s three squares.
How about completing the following exercise: A song is in the key of C with the three chords of C, F, and G7.
Transpose the song to the Key of D. What are the three new chords?
I’ll walk you thru this step by step.
Correct!
And just to be clear the purpose of the chart is to sidestep Major, Minor, and Chromatic Scale theory; proceeding directly to transposing song chords and understanding a capo’s function.
How about another exercise.
A song is in the key of D with the chords D, G, A7sus, and Em7. Transpose the song to the key of E. What are the four new chords?
And just to be clear the purpose of the chart is to sidestep Major, Minor, and Chromatic Scale theory; proceeding directly to transposing song chords and understanding a capo’s function.
How about another exercise.
A song is in the key of D with the chords D, G, A7sus, and Em7. Transpose the song to the key of E. What are the four new chords?
. If you were transposing this way then you would need to know these different fingering positions too? yes?Actually if that was the desired key and those were the actual chords and you didn’t like them - the chart has a way to remedy that also.
That’s two steps away – we’ll come back to those chords and I’ll show you how to fix them.
I think you’ve got the chord transposing part of the chart figured out!
Let’s go back to the chords D, G, & A7. Assume a song is written in the key of D with the chords D, G, & A7. You need to capo at the fifth fret for your vocal range. What key are you in now? What chords do D, G, & A7 sound like when capo’d at the fifth fret?
Don’t forget the rule “When using the chart for capo purposes ALWAYS COUNT DOWN. “
That’s two steps away – we’ll come back to those chords and I’ll show you how to fix them.
I think you’ve got the chord transposing part of the chart figured out!
Let’s go back to the chords D, G, & A7. Assume a song is written in the key of D with the chords D, G, & A7. You need to capo at the fifth fret for your vocal range. What key are you in now? What chords do D, G, & A7 sound like when capo’d at the fifth fret?
Don’t forget the rule “When using the chart for capo purposes ALWAYS COUNT DOWN. “