Can you tune instead of using a capo?
You could tune all your strings up by whatever interval you're transposing. But note that tuning up by more than 3 semitones puts you at risk of breaking strings (and when this happens, cutting flesh), or damaging your instrument's neck. You could accept different chord voicings.
- Make sure your guitar is in tune.
- Place the pencil or marker upon the desired fret.
- Fold the rubber band in half and loop it over both ends of the pencil.
- Add more bands as needed to achieve the desired tension. Check this by plucking each string and listening for a clear tone.
If the tab is saying play it with capo on the 2nd fret and the chord sequence is D, G, A, you are actually playing the chords E, A, B because the capo moves everything up by a whole tone. Without the capo you will be playing D, G, A.
Capos are awesome. They can make learning the guitar easier for beginners, and for more advanced players, they can offer greater depth and variety. They really are a tool for all seasons.
Capos are used to dampen and press the strings down on guitars. They can cause damage to the fretboard and frets, as well as the strings, neck, and fretboard. Excessive tension on the guitar strings, particularly if they are stressed, can cause damage over time.
First, let's get something out of the way – capos are not just for beginners! :) Some players seem to think they're made only for beginners - but that's not true. They're a useful tool even for more advanced players.
Capo quality matters, but not for tone. A better capo may give you more even tension on the strings, it may be more convenient to use, or maybe it's made of more durable materials or components that can be services or replaced as they wear.
Each of the chords you play in open position can be played using a capo, but if you do that, the name of the chord changes; it goes up one semitone for every fret the capo is moved up. So an open G chord with a capo on the 1st fret will become a G# chord.
Why Use A Capo? There are a number of great reasons to use a capo. One of those is for raising or lowering the key of a song if you're working with a singer. If a song is a little too high, or too low for the singer, you can simply use the capo to adjust the key of the song to fit their voice.
The main advantage of using a capo is that it lets a guitarist play a song in different keys while still using first-position open-string chord forms, which have a more droning and fully resonant tone than, for example, many bar chords.
Does a capo make it easier to play?
The capo can help make playing guitar easier. It is clamping down on the strings, which improves the action. It takes less force to squeeze out the notes of your chords when a clamp is already doing some of the work for you.
Kyser Quick-Change Capo
John Mayer uses a Kyser 6-string Capo in this video.
Guitar capos can be useful, but relying on them too much will severely limit your understanding and knowledge of the fretboard. You can play any song on the guitar without a capo, in its original key, and you should know how to play any song in any key without a capo.
Classical guitarists obviously don't use a capo, although they have been known to transpose classical pieces to keys that will lay easier on the fretboard. Jazz cats don't use a capo, because they rarely note an open string.
Using a Capo
When the capo is on the first fret the low E will instead be an "F." You'll tune the guitar into standard tuning, which is a half step lower than the first fret. Then when you remove the capo, you'll be tuned a half step lower.
If you don't have a capo and you're in a pinch, you can make one with a shoelace. Just tie the shoelace around the neck of your guitar so that it's tight against the fretboard. Then, tie a second knot in the shoelace to create a loop.
Using a capo on a guitar can damage your guitar and also affect the tune/Sound of your acoustic device including an electric guitar – if left on for a significantly long time. Excessive pressure and over-tighten of the capo can damage your guitar neck and also result in wear out of your guitar fret.
- Let Her Go – Passenger (Original Tuning Of Em)
- Good 4 U – Olivia Rodrigo (Original Tuning Of F#M)
- Bad Habits – Ed Sheeran (Original Tuning Of Bm)
- Perfect – Ed Sheeran (Tuned Down To G From G#)
- Malibu – Miley Cyrus (Tuned Down To G From G#)
The number one problem of capos is they usually throw off the tuning a bit and it's a pain to fix the tuning with the capo in place. They also change the action - sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad. The main reason a lot of guitarists rarely or never use capos is probably because capos are not widely useful.
Applying your capo
To apply your capo, simply choose which fret you are going to be using the capo on. Make sure it covers all of the strings on the same fret unless you are using a partial capo. Then use whatever mechanism is suggested to tighten your capo. It really is that simple!
How do you transpose if you don't have a capo?
How do you transpose chords without a capo? Whatever key you want to transpose it to, count how many steps up it is from the original chord. If you see a C chord and want to transpose it to G, then you moved 5 steps up..C, D, E, F, G. So if the next chord is F 5 steps up bring you to C.
What keys do guitars play in without capos? A guitar without a capo is not in a specific key since there is no determined key for the instrument. However, in standard tuning, its open strings resemble the E Phrygian mode of a C major scale. The most comfortable keys to play without a capo are C, A, G, E, and D major.
So if you want to play a song without a capo, but play along in the same key as someone using a capo, you would simply transpose the arrangement to match the key that results from playing the song with the capo.
Guitar capos can be useful, but relying on them too much will severely limit your understanding and knowledge of the fretboard. You can play any song on the guitar without a capo, in its original key, and you should know how to play any song in any key without a capo.
The Capo Changes Key
This is because the root notes (and all other notes) have moved. For example, if we play the chord that looks like A major with a capo on the 3rd fret, that chord is really a C major, because the lowest note in that chord has moved to C, not A, as it would be in root position.
| Key with no capo | Key with capo on: | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st fret | 2nd fret | |
| C | C#/Db | D |
| A | A#/Bb | B |
| G | G#/Ab | A |
The guitar as an instrument is fully capable of playing seamlessly through all 12 Key Signatures available in western music. However, some keys are inherently easier to play on the guitar than others. The top 6 easiest key signatures to play on the guitar are C, G, D, F, A, and E.
The capo on the fourth fret moves the pitch up four half steps. From our original G chord, that would be G#/Ab, A, Bb, B. Our G, C and D chords now sound like B, E and F#. This C chord with the capo on the fourth fret sounds like an E chord.
A capo is a small device that fits in the palm of your hand and is designed to clamp down on all strings across the guitar fretboard (this is why you might sometimes see a capo called a guitar clamp). This makes the area you can play on shorter and raises the pitch of your guitar.