Using a CAPO on your Acoustic Bass Guitar

[OldFrets]

Capos are helpful if you're playing with open or droning strings, such as with "cowboy" chords. There are some bassists who do this, but it's not a traditional technique for the bass the way it is for guitar.

[AfterViewer]

Originally Posted by OldFrets

Capos are helpful if you're playing with open or droning strings, such as with "cowboy" chords. There are some bassists who do this, but it's not a traditional technique for the bass the way it is for guitar.

Yes, very much so. I would'nt expect any changes there, in the near future. Love drone/Cowboy chords and spring reverb.

[YamahaGuy]

Call me what you will, but I use a capo when I play bass. I taught my nephew on a 5 string and he does too. Easier to get up and playing. One band I'm in...the bassist does not use a capo, but if we're in any key other than G or C, he's lost by the third or fourth measure. Flats and sharps don't register with his...whatever.

[RustyAxe]

Nope, it's unnecessary. (Bass and acoustic player since 1967). While on a guitar a capo is useful for transposing and to achieve certain chord shapes, the bass is a single note instrument. You should be able to play in any key simply by moving up and down the neck. Unless absolutely required by the music I avoid using open strings, making all my bass progressions easily transposable.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Personally I avoid open strings on the bass whenever possible but to each his own.

[nostatic]

Never used a capo on bass, probably never will. I do have two fretless basses tuned to Eb since the gig I use them for the guitar is tuned to Eb.

The reason for not using a capo (at least for me) is that the relationship between open strings and notes on the neck is something that I have ingrained. A capo would ruin that (as well as mess up the side dot relationship). I do comp chords on bass but same story - I need to know playing E on the A string at the 7th fret will be an octave up from an open E.

A reason for using a capo would be as others have noted - if you need to change drone strings. Also I could see it being used in more experimental music. But I wouldn't advocate it as a crutch for changing keys. imho bass players need to know all the notes on the instrument and should be able to change keys at will without any hardware. At least if you want to get called back for the next gig...

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Bob from Brooklyn

Personally I avoid open strings on the bass whenever possible but to each his own.

Depends on what role the bass is playing in the song/gig. If you're taking solos or playing melody lines or comping, open strings can be quite useful.

For instance this intro uses open strings, and I'm comping over the verse and other spots using them as well.

https://nostatic.com/wp-content/uplo...anor-Rigby.m4a

[Gee Man]

My acoustic bass is only 24" scale length, so no need for capo here.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Gee Man

My acoustic bass is only 24" scale length, so no need for capo here.

nice. This 30" scale is getting regular gigging these days - walnut over chambered ash, piezo in the bridge:

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

Nope, it's unnecessary. (Bass and acoustic player since 1967). While on a guitar a capo is useful for transposing and to achieve certain chord shapes, the bass is a single note instrument. You should be able to play in any key simply by moving up and down the neck. Unless absolutely required by the music I avoid using open strings, making all my bass progressions easily transposable.

Go to a show with pro players doing standards and horn-key songs (often in Bb, Eb or F) and you'll probably see the bass player using open strings all night long. I certainly do. And there are patterns and conventions in the rockabilly "repertoire" that you simply can't play correctly without using open strings. A lot of rockabilly stuff is in A and D for that reason. If someone wanted to do that kind of rockabilly thing but in a different key (sacrilege!), it would still be semi-playable but a capo seems like a viable alternative to beating oneself up.

[Skarsaune]

I'm filling in on bass a bit now in our cover band, and am heading to check out short scale/30" basses this weekend. No capos, but playing songs I usually capo on guitar has taken a bit of translation.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

the bass is a single note instrument

Not in my world - but that is how it typically is perceived. 4 strings (or 5...or 6...) - it ain't no saxamaphone

[AfterViewer]

Not on my planet either. Term : Bass Chord ? * Also, my use of a capo on bass has nothing to do with transposing and everything to do with composing original music. (Instrumental).

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by AfterViewer

Not on my planet either. Term : Bass Chord ? * Also, my use of a capo on bass has nothing to do with transposing and everything to do with composing original music. (Instrumental).

Even if you can only envision playing one note at a time, a handy bass approach is to see the fingerboard in triad-shaped patterns. Unlike guitar, though, it's more useful to look at the triad patterns with the root note on top. If you just do a simple bass-cliche back-and-forth on the root and the 5 below it, it's not much more work to deploy another finger and hit the 3rd on the string below the first two. And from there, it's eezy-peezy to work your way up the fingerboard doing the major and minor triads in a given key. It doesn't take very long to get to the point where your fingers know where they're going all by themselves (like they do when you play guitar chords, right?) and those single note lines across the multiple strings might start to feel like, well, arpeggios. Which are slightly-spread-out chords.

[AfterViewer]

Most definitely!