A professional guitarist is a title that you earn and not given. You must work yourself up to earn that title. This ensures you keep your fans entertained and yearning for more. If you are a guitar enthusiast, you must have come across the term capo.

How to Use a Capo on Guitar

That could be the reason you here since you would like to learn how to use it. You can sing your favorite song in the key C, but you may want to keep with artist vocal range. The singer’s vocal range may be best suited at key D.

This will be easy when you learn to use a capo. Just place the capo on the second fret and play the song in C as you normally do. Now let’s help you learn how to use a Capo on guitar.

  1. Determine the Type of Capo to Use

If you want to begin learning how to use a capo, you should know the type of capo that works for you. There are those capos that are best suited for large performances. Some other capos are recommended while playing guitar from the comfort of your home. Like when entertaining your family members.

A screw capo works best if you are one of those people practicing playing guitar at home. If you are looking for a capo to play guitar during live performances, then a trigger guitar will just work fine. This is because you can easily adjust it to the neck.  You can get a capo from your nearest music store.

  1. Fine Tune Your Guitar

Even before you place the capo to your guitar, you must ensure that it is in fine-tune. This is because when the guitar is out of tune, it does not matter where you place the capo guitar will still produce a bad sound.

A standard guitar tuning from top string to bottom is E, A, D, G, B, E.  You should be able to tune your guitar by depending on your ears. If that’s not possible, you will have to procure an electronic tuner.

  1. Position the Capo to Your Guitar

Now that you have chosen the best capo that works for you let’s shift the focus to placing the capo to your guitar. Most people do not get it right when it comes, but having gone through this article, you have no excuse to get it wrong.

Always place the capo at the desired fret and close it down. If you are a newbie, place the capo at first to the third fret of your guitar. You should ensure that the capo holds all the six or twelve strings of your guitar.

  1. Tighten The Capo

You must be very cautious about how you tighten the capo to the desired fret of your guitar. First and foremost, do not tighten the capo in the middle of a fret.

This might lead to uneven tension distribution. Tighten the capo to close to the edge of the fret on the side that is near to the body of the guitar. This minimizes the chances of your guitar producing buzzing sound when playing the instrument.

  1. Playing the Guitar When the Capo is Attached to The Guitar

This step is critical, and this is where you should show your fans what you are made of. But before using the capo, you must be proficient with open chords progressions. You can start off with easy-open chords such as E minor and C. After you are good with them, you can advance to more complex open chords such as D minor and G.

  1. Understand All the Aspects Related to The Music Theory as Defined by Capo

Now that you have positioned the capo to your guitar, you should pay more attention to the music theory behind capo.  When using capo, you can use the same open chords. But the notes of the chords will be much different depending on where you place the capo.

You should know that capo holds the strings in a particular fret. What this means is that the chord shapes that you are accustomed to playing in an open chord position will emit a different sound. This is so even when you have positioned the finger in the same spot.

Here are some aspects you should understand when using a capo;

  • When you move the capo up one fret, this moves the chord up half step or tone. In case you move the capo up two frets, this moves the chord up full step or tone. This is the trick. For example, a C form played with a capo on the first fret now becomes C# while a G form played with a capo on the first fret now becomes G#. If you decide to move the capo to the second fret, the C form now becomes D, and G becomes A.

With this information, you can play your music at different vocal ranges. This keeps your fans entertained at all times. You must know that learning how to use a capo is an art that you learn with time. Take your time and follow all the steps listed here.

How do chords change with a capo?

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. Then put the capo on fret 2, and play a G chord.

How do you use a capo for beginners?

Where do you put a capo?

The capo should be placed in the fret, just behind the fret bar. Do not leave a large space between the capo and the fret bar, but don’t place it directly on top of the fret bar either.

Is Capo good for beginners?

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. Neil Young uses a capo all the time, and he’s a great guitarist.