What is a capo for ?
Using a capo on the guitar is the easy way to change the key of the song that you are playing. If you find that the notes of song that you are singing are too low then the easy way to change the key of the song is by using a capo ( full name capodastra). A capo is attached to the fretboard of the guitar and can be easily moved (depending on the capodastra you buy) to a fret of your choosing.
Songs using a Capo (how to use a capo for guitar)
Songs that use a capo that spring to mind are the famous Wonderwall as sung by Oasis. The Wonderwall song uses the open chords Em7 /// G/// Dsus4/// A7sus4/// probably the key of the song was too low to sing or Oasis wanted a more edgy sound to the voice. Not to lose the nice ringy open sounds of the original and not to have to resort to playing barre chords throughout the song using guitar capo was the easy and probably the best solution. The final recording of the song is in F sharp minor – that is a full tone above the original Em G D A sequence. This means moving the capo or capodastra to fret 2 of your guitar. Then you can carry on strumming your easy open chords but now the song is in the higher key of Fsharp minor.
A second famous song that springs to mind with the same chord sequence (minus the 7ths) is ‘The Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ as sung by Greenday. On the electric guitar Greenday’s Boulevard is played in the key of F minor. – a more difficule flat key for an acoustic player. Greenday wanted to keep the nice easy open sounding chords on the acoustic Martin guitar. Using a capo on the guitar at the first fret puts the song into F minor – perfect, job done easy.
Great Songwriting Tool
The capo is a great songwriting tool. It enables you to change key easily. This way you can find the right key to a song quickly. This is very useful for singers who don’t have a wide range. It can also be useful when you have to play with trumpets and saxophones etc., who prefer to play in flat keys. The flat keys mean more barre chords for the guitarist – so either practise your barre chords or learn to use a capo.
Different kinds of Capos and Prices
Tags: Electric Guitar, guitar, guitar technique, Songwriting Tools