


Some of the biggest professionals in the world use capos, from The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen, to Ed Sheeran and John Mayer. Not only is a capo NOT cheating, it’s actually something of an advanced method of playing the guitar. You can also break yourself out of a rut by trying your new song in a different key without having to work out a bunch of new chords. They’re also a ton of fun and allow you to do a lot of really creative things by placing them in different spots. Should a beginner use a capo?Ī capo is a great tool for beginners as it allows you to play a ton of songs that are written with a capo, such as Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles. If you’re jamming with a keyboard player and they need a song to be up one or two steps, a capo is a lifesaver. If your singer suddenly wants to switch a song to a higher key, they save you transposing or losing the sound of open chords. If you’re covering a song where a capo was used, you absolutely need one. Is a capo necessary?ĭepending on what you need to do, yes they can for sure be necessary. Really, there are a ton of uses for capos, more than we could go into here. Some people use them at the 12th fret to get a tenor guitar song. The advantage of this is that you can, on the fly, adjust for a singer who has a higher register.Īnother reason would be that maybe a song just sounds way better all the way up in A instead of in E, but transposing the chords messes up the melody. What is a capo for?Ī capo allows you to play the same open chords you’re used to playing (E / G / A / C and D) but have them play higher notes, as the capo has now made the open strings play higher notes. What is a capo?Ī capo is a small device that clamps onto the neck of a guitar, and holds down the strings of one fret so that all the open strings are now that many frets higher.įor example, if you attach a capo on the third or G fret, your open strings are now G-C-F-A#-D-G, and playing a regular E chord will give you a G, and A will give you a C and so forth. Well let’s walk through some typical capo questions. Or you may vaguely know what they are, but you don’t see the need for them. If you’re new to the guitar, you might have never heard of a capo. What is a capo and why might you need one – the Capo FAQ! For those who want additional instructions, let’s walk through this!
