the Capo ...

DavidRees

the capo - an absolutely marvellous device and I have used one pretty much since I started playing - wonderful allowing adjustment to playing root position chords whilst playing in different keys BUT what I don't get is those who use one on the first fret, surely a semitone difference in key is marginal for vocal performance and what's more the instrumentalists who use one? I guess we all notice a different 'percussive' quality to our playing when using one but I thought I would seek out the wisdom of the Fretboard - is it that we all really want zero fret guitars?

lincolnblue

I would use the capo on 1st fret if I was playing something in Ab - so playing G shapes

crunchman

I don't have the best vocal range, and I do find that even a semitone can make a difference on songs where I am at the fringes of my range.

ICBM

Having worked with quite a lot of singers (mostly female, if it matters!), a semitone difference is not always marginal - it can be the difference between being able to sing a line comfortably and really struggling - often with the low notes rather than the high ones - so capo'ing up a semitone is useful.

It also means you can get a looser feel and a deeper tone if you tune the guitar down to Eb and then capo back to standard pitch.

ESBlonde

I do own a couple of capos, one in each acoustic case. The advantage when playing with horns is that thier natural keys are not always the same as the guitars. Playing the into to that'll be the day in F is a lot less of a stretch with a capo. Mostly with Electric guitar I will play inversions and avoid use of a capo, unless the original hook used open strings and the singist can't manage that key.

If you get to play for various performers in the course of gigging/jamming you need to be able to adapt on stage, sometimes that means stowing your manhood and using a capo.

english_bob

I like Jude Gold's (of the No Guitar Is Safe podcast) description of the capo as an "open string generator". If it's being used to create an open string somewhere so you can play the melody you hear in your head, it could end up anywhere on the neck.

Plus of course, everyone who's said that a semitone is not insignificant to a singer is bang on.

Winny_Pooh

A semitone up is useful as a songeriting trick too, makes everything fresh. 

p90fool

We have three or four songs in our set where I capo at the first fret. 
A semitone is rarely a deal-breaker as to whether our singer can actually hit the notes, but it can make the difference between her sounding good or great. 

DavidRees

thanks for your comments everyone, I seem to have misjudged the issue regarding one semitone difference for some vocalists but what say you about instrumentalists using a capo thus, is it about a different more percussive feel?

artiebear

I use a capo for all sorts of reasons, mainly to change the overall timbre of the guitar. Even a semitone tightens up the harmonics to give a different vibe. The main reason , as obvious as it may sound ,is to change the key signature .

In truth the key signature of a piece dictates it's mood, hence the fact that, even though JS Bach said that D was the key of God, he composed in across all key signatures. I work in composition for screen and very often end up quoting the same theme and variations in different keys as required to alter the mood of the scene. A piece in Am, while sounding melancholy, takes on more pathos when simply moved to Gm. Sometimes I get a call to ask if I can change the mood, and a semitone is enough. As an aside, a common trick which mostly goes unnoticed, in major big budget action movies, is to tweak certain, typically, big hit songs, featured in the main soundtrack, up a semitone, which creates urgency and plays well with the the on screen excitement. Unless you're sitting there analysing it, you don't even realise that is has happened.

 For many guitar players, it allows a shift of mood while allowing easier fingering. When I am working on a piece using guitar, sometimes the capo gets me there quicker, other times I go without and, say, work in a key light Eb or Bb and find interesting harmonies due to not being able to fall into the usual fingering patterns that we all fall into.
There is a whole world of study out there about the effect of key signature, its fascinating to realise that we respond differently to such subtle changes.

ToneControl

I love my partial capos, amazing creativity-inducing devices

Danny1969

Even a semitone can make a massive difference. That's the reason a lot of bands tune to Eb. I just bar everything as I don't like the way you can't get past the capo 

thermionic

I’ve often used a capo when recording, to do a second track that uses the same chords as a first part but different shapes and hence different open strings.

UnclePsychosis

Playing in Bb and Eb is also quite common if you're playing with woodwinds like saxophones and clarinets. 

ToneControl

Ok I will labour my point

Me: "I wish someone had told me 20 years earlier"

partial capos can have a stunning effect on your writing

http://www.shubb.com/partial/index.htm

ICBM

ToneControl said:

Ok I will labour my point

Me: "I wish someone had told me 20 years earlier"

partial capos can have a stunning effect on your writing

http://www.shubb.com/partial/index.htm

I’ve tried them a couple of times and found them a massive pain in the arse! As soon as you play a barre, all the intervals change...

stickyfiddle

I've mostly used capos either to allow different chord shapes & inversions when playing with another guitarist, to allow me to use open strings where I otherwise couldn't - usually when playing something in Eb, F or Bb (often material on piano first).

I've always assumed partial capos would confuse me with the interval thing, but then I used to think that about open tunings as well, and I'm good with those now, so maybe worth a try

ToneControl

ICBM said:

ToneControl said:

Ok I will labour my point

Me: "I wish someone had told me 20 years earlier"

partial capos can have a stunning effect on your writing

http://www.shubb.com/partial/index.htm

I’ve tried them a couple of times and found them a massive pain in the arse! As soon as you play a barre, all the intervals change...

that's what's great: DADGAD flavours in the open position, then everything normal higher up

Anyway, if 5 string banjo players can deal with this kind of thing, so can guitarists

ICBM

ToneControl said:

Anyway, if 5 string banjo players can deal with this kind of thing, so can guitarists

I’m not sure that’s really a recommendation .

I’m not a great user of open tunings really, but I do find them useful sometimes - but partial capos just annoy me. Different strokes or whatever...

lincolnblue

ToneControl said:

I love my partial capos, amazing creativity-inducing devices

Me too. I have two from G7th and they really help to give inspiration to another style of playing