Your Opinion on Capos

[seagullplayer77]

I have an identical poll running on HCAG, and the numbers are overwhelmingly in favor of capos. I'm curious to see what kind of numbers I get here; maybe acoustic guitar players are biased towards using capos, and that colored the results of the poll.

 

The question is pretty self-explanatory. Do you think a capo is a useful tool for changing keys and voicings, or is it a crutch that prevents people from learning new chords/keys?

 

Feel free to vote and/or make a comment.

[honeyiscool]

I don't use them because 90% of chords I play are barre chords anyway. I've met a lot of acoustic players who just don't use barre chords enough because they use capos, which is fine, but there are a lot of weird chord changes you screw yourself out of when you don't learn to barre up and down effortlessly.

 

That said, I acknowledge their usefulness.

[photon9]

I use them very occasionally. They are useful, but for what I do they don't have a lot of applications.

[Terry Allan Hall]

Use 'em on my teles as needed...usually, if I'm subbing for a missing lead guitarist and have my parts worked out in one key, but the singer sings it in another...so, it can just simplify things.

[noisebloom]

I got one specifically so I could learn "Here Comes the Sun," but I haven't bothered to try it.

 

Oh, and of course they're useful.

[Wyatt]

I use a lot of cut capos for alternate tunings.

[Alecto]

I'm good enough on electric that I can get around without them but I happily use them on acoustic and 12-string electric when I want that open-string jangle. It's another tool, like slides or thumbpicks.

[Edward]

Anyone who frowns on the use of capos had better not be using any alternative tunings, or they're a dirty hypocrite...

 

Some things I prefer on a capo. Dylan recorded Blowin' in the Wind in e Flat by putting a capo on the first fret and playing 'D' chord shapes. This gave it a lovely bright sound that would not have been quite there had he instead played E shapes on a guitar tuned down half a step. It's a tool, like any other. no more a cheat than using an overdrive channel.

[dcooper830]

I don't use them on electric guitar, but I use 'em all the time on acoustic.

 

Try to play a 5 minute song in the key of F or Bb on acoustic and I guarantee you'll be out buying a capo the next day lol.

[RaVenCAD]

I have one, but overall, I'm not a capo fan. I see them much like barre chords: crutches... I'd rather learn the chords instead of just moving a few shapes to where they sound right.

[cephus]

I don't use them on electric guitar, but I use 'em all the time on acoustic. Try to play a 5 minute song in the key of F or Bb on acoustic and I guarantee you'll be out buying a capo the next day lol.

 

 

+10

[honeyiscool]

 

I have one, but overall, I'm not a capo fan. I see them much like barre chords: crutches... I'd rather learn the chords instead of just moving a few shapes to where they sound right.

 

Barre chords are a crutch? First time I've ever heard that.

 

Tell me, how do you play your B flat minor 7th chord?

[GAS Man]

I like pizza more than capos. But I do occasionally use a capo.

 

Besides the obvious of raising the key, I've sometimes used them for that AND to improve the action. Like take a 12 string, tune it down a half step or so to make the action lighter, and then use a capo to bring the key back up.

 

I also have one song I play where I capo at the 9th fret! But it sounds cool

[GAS Man]

In reading some of the other posts, I don't think of them as a replacement for barre chording. I use them when I need the key raised and I need my index finger free for more important stuff than laying down a barre. I only have the four fingers I use on the fretboard, and for some stuff, I don't have one to spare, e.g. arpeggio type work with hammers and pulls.

[dcooper830]

I'd like to add that, on acoustic guitar, you get a much better sound capo-ing up a few frets and playing open position chord shapes than you would get playing barre chords with no capo.

 

Bluegrass players get great effect using a capo for that reason. Also they can do killer open-string type runs in any key that way.

[Selsaral]

Bar chords can't help you do standard movement on chords that are easy in open position.

[Jkater]

Lots of fingerstyle tunes need a capo to sound right.

[Stumpy Joe]

Amp capos are where it's at.

 

[video=youtube;K5BBw_Fi5nE]

[SteinbergerHack]

A capo on an electric is worthless - it screws up the tuning more than it's worth, and its easy enough to just learn to play the chords wherever you need them that there's no real value.

 

A capo on a steel-string is indispensible. Too many fingerstyle pieces use open strings as drones; the only practical way to do this in different keys is to use a capo.

 

A capo on a classical guitar is a travesty, and is grounds for the John Belushi treatment.

 

[video=youtube;1eh2KPGBHMM]

[Flatspotter]

I use mine for changing strings on my Bigsby-equipped Gretsch.

[Mark Wein]

Very useful tool. Also good for playing chicago-style blues/

[caveman]

I use one on occasion. And when I do, I do so with the true fury of crutch wielding abandon.

[BydoEmpire]

It's a tool. I don't use one on electric very often because of the type of music I play on electric, but playing certain chord voicings with a capo has a certain sound and sometimes it's 'right'. While I don't need a capo to do any open chord shape, moving between them when fretting without a capo just doesn't sound the same as banging the chords capo'd. You don't get the ringing open strings because you have to move your fingers a different way. Do I use a capo often? No. Is it somehow a bad thing or a crutch? No. I suppose some people could use it as a crutch if they don't want to learn how to play different chord voicings in different positions, but that's a problem with them, not with the tool itself.

[Slave2TheAudio]

If you're seriously THAT against a capo, you need to go kill yourself.

[BydoEmpire]

 

I see them much like barre chords: crutches... I'd rather learn the chords instead of just moving a few shapes to where they sound right.

Barre chords are just another voicing with a particular sound. How is that a crutch? Sometimes you want a full six strings filling up space, sometimes you want a light triad on the high strings to add color. Depends on the song. It's like saying triads are a crutch because they "only" have three notes, or cowboy chords are a crutch because you only use three frets. If you're saying learning the shape instead of the chord is the crutch, then sure, I suppose, but you could say that about any chord shape, not just barre chords. Learning through shapes isn't really a crutch, it's a way to learn. If you stop there in your learning and never understand what you're actually playing, then that's your own problem (to the extent it's a problem, your ears are the ultimate judge)..

 

Heck, the guitar itself is one big crutch because you've got frets to keep you in tune, whereas violinists and bassists have 'real' instruments that make you find the pitch without frets!