Wisdom Wednesday: capo's and why they're useful!

Hey all!

This week I’m going to talk a little bit about why capo’s are super useful, especially to beginner guitarists. So if you haven’t got yourself one then it’d be a great idea to pick one up!

So what is a capo and why should you use one?
Well a capo lets you play your open chords in different places around your guitar, it also helps change the sound of your guitar a little bit to help with songwriting. So it can be super useful in a number of different places, lets say for example that you’re writing a song on the guitar and your usual open chords are just a little high for your singing range, you can use a capo to change the key that you’ll be singing in

But I’m not a singer, how does it help me?
Good question, Well if you’ve ever been looking at the chords for your favourite song and you’ve seen that dreaded B Major/Minor or C# Major/Minor chord, well you can use the capo to play those with your open chords. If you play your A chords with a capo on the second fret then they become B chords and if you play them with capo on the 4th fret they’ll become C# Chords, it’s almost like magic!

I’m not a beginner anymore, I don’t need it!!
Well capo’s can also be a tool to used within songwriting or guitar playing to create chords or sounds that wouldn’t usually be possible with just stretching your hands especially when accompanying yourself on acoustic guitar or arranging a solo piece. A example I’ve included a video of, mostly because it’s absolutely amazing and a super creative use of a relatively simple tool in guitar

This whole song but in particular the section at 4:35 wouldn’t be possible without the capo and it sounds incredible. Ben Howard is a particular example of using the capo for interesting chords and sounds.

Here’s another example of a capo used to create a beautiful finger style picked guitar that wouldn’t be possible without the use of it.

I think that’s more than enough information for now! The last thing you’re going to need is know how to properly put on a capo and I know someone who can just help you with that!!

Thanks for reading this weeks wisdom Wednesday! I had a lot of fun writing it and I also found out how passionate I am about capo’s apparently. Check back here for another wisdom Wednesday in a couple of weeks, where i’ll ramble about another subject!
Thanks! Bill