Lesson 14

The capo is an extremely useful tool used creatively by musicians of all playing abilities. It is a clamp made of metal or rubber that fits across all six strings of the fretboard. It raises the pitch of the strings by reducing their length. In essence, it can be thought of as a "movable" nut much like the 1st finger "barre".

Deciding upon which key to play in will generally depend upon the vocal range of the singer.

Placing the capo at a certain location on the fretboard will put the song and its accompaniment in a higher key without having to alter the first position chord forms thus retaining the full tonal characteristics of "open" strings.

For example, if a song that is "pitched " in the key of D is too low for your voice, simply place the capo across all the strings at the 2nd fret. Playing the familiar D, G, and A7th first position chords will place the song in the key of E major. You have raised the strings (the key) by one whole step, D to E.