#16
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Real Life Situation, repeated constantly amongst musicians who have to play with other musicians:
The band leader hands out a well-known song which is in G and has a lovely guitar hook that introduces the song and repeats throughout. The original guitarist with long, clever hands, worked up his hook with his own special sauce, utilizing the open strings and the first five frets to create a very catchy, memorable lick. Practice is Thursday, performance on the weekend. You spend the time to work up the licks in question and the original chords in their original inversions and forms before Thursday and arrive prepared. Tuesday evening, you setup your gear and get ready to play. We start in three minutes. Right then the band leader wanders by and says, "In order to put this new song in the vocalist's range, we're moving it to A," and continues to walk. You: A) Curse the band leader loudly for a bad bloke. B) Quit the band then and there: They were never very considerate. C) Argue the band into doing it in G, even though it will make the vocalist sound highly unusual and ruin his voice for the night. For players of RPGs, this will use up LOTS of your hit points for personal staying power in the band and LOTS of hit points on the longevity of the band. You will, however, have won this round. Expect the inevitable "band meeting" next week. Sorry: Nothing I can do about that. D) Quickly re-finger the song. Quickly now. Execute the lick with a half-barre at the second fret and your other three fingers stretched over five more frets, knowing you will never have the strength to hammer-on with your little finger like you would have with your ring finger. It will suck, and you will sound amateurish. E) Grab the capo, slip it onto the second fret, and play the licks as usual with a big sloppy grin on your face, optionally cursing, but only under your breath, for the intrusion of the apparatus into your knuckle space and, quite frankly, the inconsiderate nature of the last-minute request. The knuckle space thing can be mostly cured by slipping on the capo from the TOP of the fretboard. The weight of your country's defence, the plight of much of the free world, the future of this gig, your reputation as a stellar guitarist, and hit points for the longevity of your band, all rest on this one decision. Go out and make it a great day. Me, I'm grabbing the capo. I'm not a grumpy old guitar man. Yet. Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#17
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I would lose my sanity (what little is left of it!) if I didn't have/use my capos in my current P&W band. Most of my lead sheets have chords for at least 3 different keys plus notes on which capo position goes with which true-key. This P&W band is the most frustrating band I've ever been in, but I digress...
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Russ “When you're swervin' on life's highway, you're runnin' someone off the road." -- Robert Earl Keen |
#18
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Doc Watson called the capo a "cheater"...
but he used it. I think it's got a lot to do with style. If you're playing jazz, where all the chords are based on movable forms and tightly damped with no chiming, ringing strings, the capo is definitely out. If you're playing bluegrass, with powerful rhythm chords and perhaps not as much up-the-neck stuff, the capo is certainly in. If I am the sole accompaniest for a singer, and I want a full, lush sound for a song that's in Bb, well, the capo is IN for me. Capos are tools. They have limitations and uses. |
#19
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Well I've certainly made my feelings about capos known (don't like 'em), but in Bob's scenario above I'd be reaching for a capo so fast it'd make your head spin. Mostly, I'd be frustrated with myself for not being able to transpose the piece effortlessly that quickly. However, that has more to do with my shortcomings than the instrument.
Like Doc, I consider the capo a "cheater", but I also agree that it is a tool that can create a LOT of flexibility and great sounds. |
#20
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Capos are also great for adding breadth to a song. Having two guitars playing rythym, using the same voicing can be muddy. However, having one guitar use a caop, in a different key, gives a different voicing that can enhance the song.
I use lots of open chords, sometimes a particular chord just sounds better on a particular song than another chord voicing. |
#21
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I did that very thing this past Sunday at church. I capoed up at #7, sounded almost like a mandolin in the mix!
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Russ “When you're swervin' on life's highway, you're runnin' someone off the road." -- Robert Earl Keen |
#22
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All tools are good tools in good hands. Try placing a piece of flat brass stock under the capo across the G,B and E strings...very neat sound!Invention, invention,invention!
What a wonderful instrument we've taken up.
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Barrett |
#23
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You can also add flavor by playing everything up or down a third WITHOUT a capo. Suppose the song is in Bb. For the 1 chord, a Bb M7, you could play the 3 chord, a Dm7, and it will sound fine, because it has three of the same notes in it, D, F, and A, and the other note, C, is the 9th of the Bb. Voila, you have a Bb M9 (which is a Bb M7 plus the 9th), and you can play it just by playing a Dm7 chord!
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