Want to know more about how a Capo Chord Chart works on guitar?

How Does A Capo Chord Chart Work?

First up, what does a capo actually do?

Obviously, it is presumed by the capo manufacturers that anyone who purchases a capo knows what they do and how they work.

You can tell this by the lack of information that comes with every capo at best you get a little note that says something clever like “congratulations on purchasing this capo”.

But, you probably already knew that it was a capo anyway when you bought it!

So what exactly do these mysterious little fellas do?

The key to understanding how capos work is to understand a few basic music concepts.

Concept 1: Our music alphabet consists of the first seven letters of the alphabet.

Think of these seven notes as being on a rotating conveyor belt so that when you arrive at the note G you start back at the note A again.

Like this:

The seven notes on our rotating conveyor belt represent the white notes on a keyboard.

The black notes on the keyboard represent sharps and flats.

Concept 2: There isn’t any sharp or flat between the notes E – F, and B – C.

You can see this concept in action visually on the chromatic wheel diagram below

If you start at any point on the chromatic wheel and play every note until you arrive back at your starting note you will have played a chromatic scale.

The chromatic scale is also referred to as the color scale because it contains all the musical colors available.

BTW there is also a correlation between the chromatic wheel and the color wheel that painters use, but that’s something we’ll cover in another session.

Before we move on check the color wheel below, notice it contains 12 colors.

Capo Chord Chart and the Chromatic Scale

Okay by now you’re probably thinking this is all very interesting but what in the world does this have to do with a capo chord chart?

Actually understanding the chromatic scale is the key to understanding how the capo chord chart works.

Read on.

Let’s play an F chromatic scale ascending, I’m going to play the scale entirely on the first string of the guitar.

This is called a linear scale.

Here’s how that would look on the fretboard.

Compare this with the chromatic wheel, notice if you started at the note F on the wheel and moved in a clockwise direction you would have the same notes.

Enharmonic: One area that can be confusing for a newbie player is where the same note is referred to under two different names.

For example here is the same F chromatic scale only this time shown as a descending scale.

The term enharmonic simply means sounds the same, it looks different!

For example, when a musical phrase is ascending you would write the note as sharp.

This would indicate that the note is being raised in pitch.

If a phrase is descending you would notate the note as a flat to indicate the pitch being lowered.

That’s why you will see F#/Gb, etc., on the chromatic wheel.

This means that the note can be written either way depending on the musical situation.

How To Transpose Guitar Chords

It’s important to realize that whilst I have been discussing single notes that the same principle applies to chords as well.

With this in mind let’s take a look at the three of the most common uses of a capo.

To transpose the pitch of a song to a more suitable key for the vocalist. To create an interesting alternative way to play the same chords for a second guitar in a duo situation. As an alternative to bar chords to produce a fuller guitar sound particularly for a solo country or folk artist.

Capo Chord Chart

Chord Shape Fret

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 A A#/ Bb B C C#/ Db D D#/ Eb E C C#/ Db D D#/ Eb E F F#/ Gb G D D#/ Eb E F F#/ Gb G G#/ Ab A E F F#/ Gb G G#/ Ab A A#/ Bb B F F#/ Gb G G#/ Ab A A#/ Bb B C G G#/ Ab A A#/ Bb B C C#/ Db D

How to use the capo chord chart.

On the left-hand side of the chart, we have the column marked “Chord Shape”.

This is the chord shape you are playing on the guitar.

It can be major, minor, 7th, etc.,

For instance, you may want to use an A minor chord shape but need to play a B minor chord for your song.

The solution is to place the capo at the second fret and play the A minor chord shape.

Using the capo chord chart you can see that with your fingers on an A minor chord shape and a capo at the second fret the sound your guitar will produce is that of a B minor chord.

Practical application

With this in mind let’s take a common chord progression through its paces with the capo.

Here is a standard 6-4-1-5 chord progression in the key of G without a capo.

Em / / / | C / / / | G / / / | D / / /

With the capo at the first fret we produce the following chords.

Place the capo at the second fret and place the same chord shapes on your guitar and we get this sound.

Moving up the fretboard with the capo at the third fret and here’s the sound we get.

How about one more?

With the capo at the fourth fret, we produce the sound of these chords.

Boy, you have just learned a heap of chords without busting your fingers.

Time for a break.

You know, I just couldn’t resist doing one more!

Here’s what happens when you place the capo at the fifth fret.

Bar chord alternatives

A point often overlooked is that even if you can play bar chords with ease they might not be the best sound stylistically for a particular song.

For example, let’s say our project was to play a country song in the key of Bb.

Now Bb is a great key however as soon as we take the style of the song into consideration the bar chord sound is not the most suitable.

What are our options?

Upon consulting our capo chord chart we discover there are three good options.

Capo at the first fret using A chord shape = Bb sound G chord shape with the capo at the 3rd fret will also give us Bb pitch Capo at 6th fret using E shape chord gives us Bb pitch

Which one should we use?

Totally up to you.

Ultimately your choice should be governed by the best fit for the song/ artist.

Here’s how that would look.

Original progression Bb Eb F7 Bb 1st fret A D E7 A 3rd fret G C D7 G 6th fret E A B7 E

Capo Chord Chart Options for Guitar Duos

Not only can a capo help with stylistic decisions but also with creating your own sound.

Originators vs. Imitators

For instance, it’s a common scenario to see two guitarists playing the same chord shapes in the same position on the guitar in a duo situation.

Unfortunately, that’s a guaranteed way to get a small, thin and uninteresting sound.

What do we do?

Again, the capo to the rescue!

Check out one possible solution below

Guitar 1 (no capo) G C D G Guitar 2 – capo at 5th fret D G A D

In this instance, we’re looking for an optional way for guitar 2 to play the same chords as guitar 1 however we want to get some distance between the two guitars.

Immediately the duo would sound much wider and more interesting particularly if one guitar is strummed and the other plays arpeggios.

O.K, that’s it I promise.

But you know that’s what happens when you start to know how something works.

After the sheer terror subsides it becomes fun because you have learned a new skill.

You must always know why!

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