Should you use a capo or transpose the chords?
Use a capo when you need the song higher and want to keep the chord shapes you already know; transpose when you need it lower, or when the new key has easy shapes of its own. A capo can only raise the pitch, and it keeps the ringing open strings of the original shapes. Most players combine them: transpose to a key with open chords, then capo up to where they sing.
Why
A capo and transposing both move the song, but they move different things. A capo moves the guitar and leaves your fingers where they were, so the shapes and their sound stay the same and only the pitch rises. Transposing moves the chords themselves, so the shapes change and can get harder or easier. Knowing which one you need is a question of direction and of which shapes you can play cleanly.
What it does
- Going up two or three frets: capo, and keep the shapes you know.
- Going down: transpose, because a capo cannot lower anything.
- Landing on barre-heavy keys like Bb or F#: transpose to G or D shapes and capo up instead.
- Tell the others the capo fret and the shapes, so anyone joining in plays the same thing.
What it deliberately does not
- Capoing past the seventh fret to fix a key that should have been transposed down.
- Transposing into a key full of barre chords when a capo would have kept it open.
- Assuming the page's capo suits your voice: it suits the original singer's.
- Changing the capo mid-evening without telling the other guitars.
What that leaves behind
Red River Valley Traditional
- From this Dvalley they say you are Agoing
- Capo
- shown when the page gives one
- Transpose
- a semitone at a time
- Diagrams
- tap any chord
Related questions
Does a capo change the chord names?
The shapes you play keep their names, but they sound higher: a G shape with a capo on the second fret sounds as A. That is why chord sheets say 'capo 2' rather than rewriting the chords.
Can a capo make a song lower?
No. A capo only shortens the strings, so it can only raise the pitch. To go lower you have to transpose the chords down, or tune the guitar down.
Read next
-
How do you transpose chords to fit your voice?
Move every chord up or down by the same number of semitones until the highest line of the song sits where you can sing it without straining.
-
What should you play at a campfire when your mind goes blank?
Look at a list of titles, not at a search box.
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How do you keep all your guitar chords in one place?
Keep one list of the songs you actually play, with each song's chords saved as text on your phone rather than bookmarked.