How To Use A Capo

How to use a capo. For this example, I've picked an excellent tune called Wild Thing, originally done by the Troggs. So, Wild Thing is composed of the chords A, D and E.

So it goes like this: A, D, E, D, A, D, E, D, A. The purpose of the capo is to enable you to play tunes that you don't know the chord shapes for by using ones that you do already know. So for this example, I'm going to play Wild Thing and I'm going to use a G and C shape instead of the A and the E shape.

I'm going to pretend I don't know them. Here we are. Here's a capo.

You need a decent quality one. You get some that aren't good enough. You need to get a decent pressure on the strings because effectively, what you're doing is shortening the guitar.

So, here we have the nut of the guitar which basically cuts the string off for us. So now, I'm going to use the capo and that's going to do the same job but it's going to do it wherever I decide. I'm going to put it on the second fret.

Just behind the fret. It cuts the strings off nicely. So effectively, I've shortened the guitar, which has raised its pitch.

So now, if I played an A chord, in fact, I've gone up by two frets so I've gone through A, A sharp, and now if I use the A chord, I'm playing a B pitch-wise. So now, I'm going to play Wild Thing exactly the same pitch. I'm going to use an A chord, D, and E but I'm using different shapes to achieve it.

So now, I'm going to play a G chord shape, but it's going to make the sound of an A. I'm doing to play a C chord shape which is now going to be a D. I'm going to play a D chord shape, which is effectively an E.

The other effect of using a capo is that you can get different kinds of sound from playing the same chords as maybe another player in the band is doing, so you're playing the same chords as them, but in a different range. Here's the same song again this time, I've got the capo on the 7th fret. So I'm using a D, G, and A shape to play an A, D, and E chord.

And that's how to use a capo. George Harrison may have been using a capo on the famous Beatle's song "Here Comes the Sun". Ever wanted to know how to make the best of your guitar capo? Watch this VideoJug film and learn the correct ways to use your capo.