Monday, February 15, 2010

What is a "capo" and why do I need one?

Do you want to sing while you play your guitar but you cannot because when you play the chords of your favorite song on your guitar, your voice is either too low or too high? Take out your trusty capo, place it on any fret and like a pro, your now able to play the song using the SAME chords in a different key suitable to your voice range.(placing it directly behind any given fret,not in the middle of frets!) A capo is simply a way of changing the key of your guitar. For example,strum an E major chord on your guitar.Now place your capo on the neck just behind the 3rd fret and play the same E shaped major chord.Now that chord has just become a G major! If you haven't learned your bar chords and the notes/string names on your guitar,this may be a little confusing for you. Capo's can be used and experimented with in other ways,and while there are MANY other different models for different guitars,and many different manufacturers,for the purpose of this blog, this is the basic function.The four capo's I currently own are for standard acoustic(steel) 6 string guitar (see picture example clockwise) Nashville G7,Keiser(gold) Keiser(blue) and G7 Pro. All work pretty well,the G7 pro costing a little more,but for the cost,ease of use etc, I believe the Keiser "quick change" has been my favorite so far.I have heard good things about "Shubb" but have not tried them as yet.Check it out and see which one you like the best and send me an email letting me know what you think or if you have any questions.

Update: The Nashville G7 seems to have a lighter tension in the world of capos and was not holding the strings down at the right angle and pressure creating a buzz however,after seeing someone use this capo inverted (upside down),It does seem to work better this way.(clamping capo from bottom side of neck rather than top)

Keep practicing,you can never be too good!
regards,
stringz6