Do you like to use a Capo??

[the_doors_girl]

HI

I just wanted to know what people think of capos? Do you find them to be helpful or do you find them to be a pain in the butt? I just got a cheap one on saturday I find it to be a pain cause its elastic and all but its been helpful to play bar chords he he :;) :p Well I just want to see what everyone else thought.

Thanks

[Coffee]

I used a capo a fair amount on my 12 string when I was playing simple songs which I wanted in a different key with open chords. In general I steer clear of them now. The best I ever had used a cam system and it was awesome. Haven't seen that type now for years. Sorry to hear you bought one of the elastic one's. See if you can take it back and trade it in on a better one. Worth a try.

[jaytee]

well.....

i only use a capo for one song so far....im sure there will be more in the future....
i dont have anything against them....to me if its cheating to use a capo then its cheating to use barre chords too...which....obviously sometimes you need...so how can it be cheating? in effect they do the same thing....

i went to a relatives house and he had just bought a new guitar...and while i was waiting for him he said i could play it...problem was...i only knew one song well enough..the one that needed a capo! and...he doesnt use them AT ALL.....he says he can play anything without a capo...well thats great if youve got really fast nimble fingers...haha....or if you had 6 years in jail to practice..ahem....

so i say...unless you plan on freeing up some time for practice by way of incarceration...the better choice is the capo...lol...

--jt

ps i think its worth it to scratch up a few more bucks and at least get a trigger capo.....much easier to deal with....

[SixStringMadman]

I love using a Capo on my Six String. Because I like to play Collective Soul and Metallica on my acoustic, I was constantly down-tuning. Well, I solved that problem. I downtuned to Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-eb, and play away. But, when I want to play some America, or something, I simply slap that Capo on the first fret and instantly, I am back in E-A-D-G-B-e tuning. :D

You may already know this, and practice this method, but I thought I'd share it with ya'll.

Six-String-Madman

P.S. The only tunings it wont solve are the D-A-D-G-B-E and the ever pesky D-A-E-A-E-e tuning. :p

[BluesPulp]

I play my own songs pretty much anymore.
I've some songs that I play on acoustic that are really fast picking and chroding.
I use the capo up around the ninth and eleventh frets for these songs.
When I barre up there, my fingers, being made mostly of meat, tend to absorb some of the sounds. A capo will help resonate it.

I use a metal capo. I've tried the plastic ones, and the ones with a firm cloth like material that is tightened over the strings.
The plastic and cloth dampens the sound some. The metal, being of a tighter molecular stucture helps in bringing the sounds through the wood of the git.

[jcurner]

Yes, I do. Every song I sing I place the capo to suit my voice. There's the occassional song that I don't need the capo. But mostly I use the capo on Frets 1, 2, 3, or 4. (Higher than that I find the guitar starts to sound like a banjo.) Once I know the best place for the capo, I make a little note on that song page. What the song publisher or the singer shows for the capo doesn't mean a thing. You have to find the best place for it to suit your voice. Sometimes what you see on the song page will work for you. Work away at trying to find the best place for the capo, and it will gradually come. I don't know if I'm off the topic or not.

[Jimmy_Who]

capos i only use them if a song tells me too otherwise i dont use it....

[popmusic_sux]

Boy, a lot of threads are being resurrected lately...

[dhutcheson]

I tend to use a capo alot. I guess this is primarily because of the type music I play. I am really enjoying flatpicking fiddle tunes. I have been using a Shubb Deluxe quite a while, and now have recently ordered a custom made one handmade in Texas.

[t_shirtsnjeans]

What's funny is that most of the songs I've written were done while sitting at the computer singing into the mic while playing my guitar. But now that I'm performing the songs live everything is too low for me to sing! The difference in my vocal ability between sitting and standing is one step up on the neck so needless to say I have to use a capo if I use the same fingerings on my acoustic.
Something cool I like to do is 'drop D' tuning but with using the capo I can clamp onto the top 5 strings leaving the E open so it's kinda like a drop D but now it's 'drop E' instead. You can bluegrass the snot out of your guitar like that playing 'D' and thumping your E string.
At my age I have a hard time doing a lot of barre chords due to arthritis in the wrist so I do what I have to anymore.
A lot of the big artists use capos, so there is no stigma attached anymore to playing 'lazy'.

T

[Malcolm]

I can not say I enjoy using the capo, however I use it when needed. I play backup and that means I play the key the vocalist wants. If I know the song in G and they want to sing in D, out comes the capo.

I used to hate the key of C, that F you know, so I'd capo and play in D. Thank goodness that's not a problem now.

I'll use the capo to add another voice. Song in A, I'll capo on the 5th and play in E -- comes out A like everyone else but in another voice. The other post is right, above the 5th fret you take on a mandolin sound.

[MadMattUK]

i like using a capo when playing (not very good) flamenco stuff. Usually push it up to the 2nd fret and let rip. Just gives a different nuance of sound.

[Franklins Tower]

Yes, they can be handy for certain songs and playing in pairs too. I don't use one all that much though, although I may have more of a preference for the first position and open sounds I have a holistic approach the same as I do on electric where I'm more likely to deal with the whole neck as a harmonic medium. I don't see it in patterns or groupings- all those have become continuous for me. I think that is the way it should be.

Also in folk music a capo is known as a "cheater" :D

[ninjaflip]

I have to say i disagree with those who think that using a capo is "cheat". If you use the capo as I do, you use it when it is needed, not to simplify things...

[t_shirtsnjeans]

I really started using the capo when I started playing in Church. Eb? Whew, barre chords out the elbow! Most hymns are written using the piano or harpsicord (harpsichord?) so the black keys are used a LOT (black keys are the sharps and flats fyi). So the capo became my friend. I love my capo. My guitars have their own capos, even the electric guitars.
BTW, I use the capos that clamp from the back side that way I can change very quickly and just clamp the capo the the headstock when I'm not using it.
It also works well to hold my sheet music to my music stand when playing outdoors (when playing music I'm not familiar with :D ).
Yeah, I used to get that "Cheater", but then I looked at the pedals, amps, and all the other equipment the other guys were using and said, "You can't play that thing without it plugged in? What? You can't get distortion, chorus, echo, delay, flange, etc without all that stuff? CHEATER!!! :D :D "
Do whatcha gotta do, play whatcha gotta play, give praise and glory to the Lord!
I love my capo! :D

[Franklins Tower]

Of course, it's all good fun. The whole "cheater" thing is really just lighthearted banter. Everyone at some point(even guys like Doc Watson) will use a capo because it fits with what you are playing. Just a bit of fun between some of the old timers and the younger guys and in folk music that clash happens alot and it did during an era known as the folk revival where alot of the older more staid guys were fed up of "all these damn long haired kids thinking they can play "our" music" All good fun.

[55'gibby]

I never use a capo... I don't even own one. I gave up using a capo once I learn the proper way to transpose. it's much easier for me to transpose a song than to slap on a capo if your playing live. the band I'm in will play a lot of songs in different keys and some times we don't even make the key change until the night before or even the night of the gig, due mostly to the condition of the voice of our singer.

[Jason9x19]

I have two, the screw kind and the trigger, and I use 'em both. Typically, like most people said, only when I have to, but still... They help.

It never occurred to me that I could drop-tune my guitar and then capo to EADGBe for normal songs...I've been practicing a few songs that are tuned down a step, and that will be hella handy. :D

[GimmeSlack12]

I feel a capo is just a music making tool. It allows for faster appregios up the next, and makes a new sound. I defintely have tried many capos and my KYSER clamp capo is by far the best and easiest I've ever used. The screw on ones are good, but are a little more effort than I like to use. The elastic strap on ones are useless in my opinon, the wood ones are a little less useless. Calling them a CHEAT is totally wrong, that is not the case at all.