Using your Capo

Capos are invaluable in bluegrass jam settings.  You'll find them clapped to headstocks, hanging out of pockets and screwed down to necks while playing.  We're going to investigate some of the different types of capos and hopefully give you some pointers on using them.

• Types of Capos
Shubb Style - Shubbs were introduced in 1980.  They were an improvement on other types of capos because they brought into respect the curvature of the neck, and they also offered the musician the ability to vary the pressure exerted on the strings/neck.  These are great for bluegrass but they aren't as easy to transport as clamp style capos and they aren't as easy to move to another fret as some other types.

Clamp - Keyser, Dunlop, Thirdhand and many other folks make these.  They are pretty much like a giant clothespin thats clamped on your guitar.  They are extremely fast to change, you can clamp them on your headstock (watch out inlay!) and you'll probably see these more than any other capo at jams.  I've found that quality is variable between these.  Some let my strings buzz and some don't.  If you want more even pressure go with a screwdown or shubb style, but if you want quick and easy use, use one of these.

clamp capo                             screw clamp capo                        Shubb capo

Screw Clamp - John Pearse, Paige and many other folks make these.  Screwing type capos are some of the most accurate, expensive capos on the market.  They've been made for years and they are a little more serious than some of the others.  They offer excellent precision and little to no buzz.  They can be a little slow to move to another fret, but you can loosen the screw all the way, slide them above the nut and lock them back down again for storage or to get them out of the way, without removing them from the instrument.

Others - Elastic band, G7 capo, spring lever, spring roller... there are a thousand different types of capos out there.  I believe the first three types are the most used.  Everyone is trying to come up with the next capo design that will rock the world.  The capo is like WD4 or duct tape... if you come up with the next best thing everybody will buy one.

Find a capo that works for you that you can easily move, store and doesn't damage your instrument.  Make sure you use one that doesn't damage your instrument.  Frets.com has a very interesting article on Capos past and present if you are interested in learning more.

• Why use a capo
I have arguments with my dad all the time about using capos.  I have tried to learn how to play in "bluegrass keys" on the guitar.  I've tried to learn to play all major, minor and 7th chords in A, B, C, D, E, F and G on the guitar so I won't have to use a capo while playing rhythm.  My Dad hasn't done that.  He plays in the key of A with a capo on 2, E with a capo on 2 and C with a capo on 4 (that one really drives me nuts).  But truthfully it doesn't matter.  I play out of the D, G and C chord better than all the others.  There are times that I know how to pick within a G chord better than an A chord, so in circumstances like that I'll play a song in the key of A with a capo on 2 and a G chord.  That is one example of why we'd use a capo, to be able to pick better.

The other reason we play with capos, the one which I believe is most important is so we can keep a song in our vocal range.  There is nothing worse than someone trying to sing out of their range, or under their range.  I think an off-key voice is ten times worse than an out of tune guitar.  So with that being said the capo allows us to quickly put a song into another key so we can sing it better.

To shift keys - sometimes its easier to shift the capo to switch to a different key within a song than it is to start playing chords you barely know.  This is a very simple reason why to use a capo.

To play in an unusual key - lets face it, in bluegrass we don't usually catch ourselves playing in Ab or F# but sometimes it happens.  I don't want to think about playing in that key at a jam, but every now and then you'll have a song in that key or a singer who wants to sing in that key.  Capos can allow us to play unusual keys that we don't know the chords to.  Usually on a F# or other sharps or flats you'll see me playing barre chords, but I don't like to do that in bluegrass (I enjoy playing in the open position, or using chords with open strings), so I'll throw a capo on the first fret and play like the song is in F.

• I'm confused where to put the capo
Capos simply make notes and chords higher on the scale.  I'm no trained musician or a theorist but I can relay this to people.  If you put a capo on the 1st fret and play a G chord, you are now playing a G#.  If you put the capo on the 2nd fret and play a G chord you're now playing an A, on the 3rd fret you turn that G chord into an A# and so on.  You have to understand how music works to understand this.  Just remember it this way.

moving the capo up one fret will always make a chord sharp except for B and E... moving the capo up one fret on those will change it to the next note... B will become C, E will become F.  To change an G, A, C, D or F to a B, D, E or G respectively you need to move the capo 2 frets.  That is a very gritty way of looking at it and I'm sure music teachers are banging their head on the table after reading that, but I think the beginner will understand that better than a book of theory.

- SD