I don't understand "why" to use a capo

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I think that Riverwolf is either joking with us, or really doesn't understand the
between keys, chords and progressions.

No jokes. It is hard to explain what I don't understand.

Originally Posted by brianmay

Was that a serious question?

Yes. Yes it is.

Originally Posted by ChrisE

And then I'd move the capo up or down to suit my voice. It also helps if maybe you've had a long day and the song you're performing has some high notes that might give you trouble. Move the capo down one fret and it could get you through the song.

This is basically what I don't understand. How ones voice pitch matters as to what key a song is played in.

Originally Posted by slewis

This may have been already pointed out but capoing one of two guitars in a duo (not a "duet -- that's a song!) really enrichens the blend of sound and tone -- as opposed to both guitars playing the exact same chords with the exact same notes being put out.

This I understand.

I am going to bow out now and let this thread die.
Thanks for all the replies.
I now plan on doing a lot of experimentation with my capos.

[jeanray1113]

Originally Posted by pmarino

I've asked my friends to make sure I'm buried with my capo.

I should say capos... I don't have a capo collection, I have a capo problem.

So, unlike many of us here, who perhaps need Guitars Anonymous, you need Capo Anonymous!

[JAMKC]

Originally Posted by campy

I have been playing for just about a year and a half and I will be happy when I'm at the point where I know what everybody is talking about. I'm 66 and so much to learn and so little time.

Well stated and I'm 62.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

No jokes. It is hard to explain what I don't understand.


Yes. Yes it is.


This is basically what I don't understand. How ones voice pitch matters as to what key a song is played in.


This I understand.

I am going to bow out now and let this thread die.
Thanks for all the replies.
I now plan on doing a lot of experimentation with my capos.

No need to bow out. It was a legitimate query, and wording a question can be tricky and sometimes folks can be quick to judge too.

Pitch is a big thing. While I can and do sing in several keys, I sing in some keys (much) better than others and I sing some songs in G (for example) with great range and flourish. Other songs in G seem dead and lifeless, and it's hard to say why - just the nature of music and our own personal abilities.

Do you sing and play a lot (at the same time)? Do you perform?

Not judging or being a tool - just saying that if you sing and play in front of others, projection and the ability to emote are a big thing. In some songs these come easy, in others (yes, even within the same key) they can be a challenge or next to impossible. These only present themselves when you sing and play a LOT. Some songs just inexplicably seem hard to sing in certain keys.

[kydave]

Originally Posted by ChrisE View Post
And then I'd move the capo up or down to suit my voice. It also helps if maybe you've had a long day and the song you're performing has some high notes that might give you trouble. Move the capo down one fret and it could get you through the song.

OP: This is basically what I don't understand. How ones voice pitch matters as to what key a song is played in.

One's voice pitch might be thought of another way to help you understand. Think of a range of notes.

Your voice has a range of notes you can competently sing. Some people think/call this their pitch. Trying to go lower or higher than that usually sounds bad.

The key of a song: G, A, D, etc. (i.e. the root chord your song is in - if you don't understand this, we'll backtrack; just let me know.) is the actual setting for the melody of the song. Now a song in G can contain mostly notes that are in the low, middle or high part of your personal range. Not every song in G (and I'm just using G as an example) will have the same melody, obviously. The point is, the key of the song as you are comfortable singing it, can vary a lot depending on the particular melody.

So, you here a song you want to learn and you've already learned the chords in the key of G and you like playing it that way. But when you go to start singing it, you find out that it is too low for you to comfortably sing it.

If you start out on a A chord instead of a G, you find out your voice works fine there, but you liked playing it in G. IF you then put the capo on the second fret and play the song using the same finger positions, you left hand thinks you're playing in G, but you are actually playing and singing in A.

Does this help at all?

Dave

[jed1894]

I am a newbie and this probably the most educational thread I've read so far.

If I understand correctly, if I cannot play a C chord because of a handicap or whatever reason, then I should be able to play the song that requires a C chord using a capo, correct? If this is true, anyone familiar with a chord and lyric site that makes the conversion?

Thanks

[kydave]

Originally Posted by jed1894

I am a newbie and this probably the most educational thread I've read so far.

If I understand correctly, if I cannot play a C chord because of a handicap or whatever reason, then I should be able to play the song that requires a C chord using a capo, correct? If this is true, anyone familiar with a chord and lyric site that makes the conversion?

Thanks

Just to get you started:

C chord open =

A chord with capo on 3 =

G chord with capo on 5 =

E chord with capo on 8

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by kydave

Does this help at all?

Yes it does.
I play mostly at home and often the "singing" is only in my head to help track the song.
Or my singing is at a low enough volume that I had never really thought about how my voice is really sounding as far as the key of the song.
I have never thought of a capo as something needed.
To me it was only used when the lesson or video showed it.
In those cases I would think the song sounded better and correct that way but only because that was how it was taught.
I ask a lot of questions here that may seem simple but I am learning all the time.

[jed1894]

Originally Posted by kydave

Just to get you started:

C chord open =

A chord with capo on 3 =

G chord with capo on 5 =

E chord with capo on 8

Thanks. Cool

[pmarino]

Originally Posted by jeanray1113

So, unlike many of us here, who perhaps need Guitars Anonymous, you need Capo Anonymous!

No question.

[dwasifar]

I generally don't have a problem transposing without using a capo, but with some songs, some fingerings work better than others for the desired hammer-ons, pull-offs, and progressions. So I'll sometimes use a capo to get the song into my vocal range without sacrificing the fingering I want to do.

The other time I will occasionally use a capo is to compensate on the fly for variations in my voice. I'm a bass-baritone, and I can usually hit the low note in Folsom Prison Blues played in E without a capo. But if I have a cold, or allergies, or I've simply strained my voice, I lose that note. Not entirely, but it's weak; so if I have any doubt about whether I can hit that note solidly I'll capo-1 to ease the strain. I'd prefer not to, because the song sounds better lower, but you do what you gotta.

[redir]

I never play with one either except to once in a while just put one on and see what it sounds like. On one hand it makes playing the normal open chord shapes easier for any given key by just sliding the capo up and down but then you have to transpose all those normal chord shapes to what ever open fret you are now on so it goes right back to making it difficult again.

[Irish Pennant]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Using a capo for me is in order to have a different sound. That can be a source of inspiration when composing music. .

This is exactly why I use one. Finding inspiration through different voicing is also why I will experiment in different tunings.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I do not understand how ones voice can be in a specific key.

Probably already answered somewhere in this long thread, but hey:

They're not. When somebody says "I can't sing that in E" it doesn't mean that person can't sing the notes of the E scale, it means that when the song is played in E some of the notes are too high or too low for that singer's range. If it goes too high in E, the band might play it in D flat so the singer has no trouble reaching its highest notes. Another song in E that doesn't go so high might be perfectly OK for that singer.

[bjewell]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

You never caught Django Reinhardt or Les Paul using a capo ...

I will not be rude, I will not be rude, I will not be rude...)

You are talking about apples and oranges. Those two were playing an entirely different genre of music. Virtually all Gypsy music is instrumental. I never saw Lester accompany himself while singing.

Is Tony Rice a hack? Clarence White? Doc Watson? Bryan Sutton?

Some roots music requires certain runs, licks and tonality that can only be found in certain chord forms.

Why do't people sing in all the keys? Why am I a baritone and not a tenor? I couldn't sing David Lindley songs in the original key even if I fell on my bicycle's top tube really hard...