4

I am using Ultimate Guitar to get chords to play songs. I have noticed that most songs start out by giving you a background, tuning, and where to put the capo. Afterwards, it gives you the chords and lyrics, looking something like this:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/42283781

In the song, it tells me to use a standard tuning, capo on the second fret, and play a C, Em, G, D, and F chord thoughout the song. My question is, should I be playing the shapes of those chords when I play, or should I be transposing the chords and playing the chord that, with a capo on the second fret, would sound like a C or a G or the others mentioned above. I'm very confused, as most of the songs I want to learn use capos and have barre chords which I, at the moment, can't do unless playing a chord that sounds like it.

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    As a side note, Hey There Delilah is a great beginner song as-is so you might want to try learning it directly rather than approximating with the chords. It's not much more difficult to play without the capo using the D-F#m-A-C-G shapes either, which has the benefit of avoiding the barring.
    – user28
    Apr 12, 2015 at 19:42
  • F#m without barring?
    – Tim
    Apr 12, 2015 at 20:20
  • @Tim The song does not involve full chords, you never hold more than 3 notes at a time (and never pluck more than two) except for the final stroke.
    – user28
    Apr 12, 2015 at 22:02
  • @MatthewRead - I was going just from the screenshot - which said 'you can just strum the chords'. Didn't realise.
    – Tim
    Apr 13, 2015 at 5:57

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5

You simply need to play the chord shapes as indicated in the tab. They will sound higher with the capo. So, e.g., with the capo on the 2nd fret the C shape you play will sound like a D chord, and this is exactly the purpose of the capo. The Em chord will sound like F#m, which would normally (i.e. without capo) be played as a barre chord. Note that often it's hard to completely avoid barre chords, even when using a capo.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Agreed. There will be the odd amateur tab that uses the chord names based on the actual notes (so say "D" for the "C" shape with a capo on the 2nd fret), but the majority use the chord names to refer to the shapes.
    – user28
    Apr 12, 2015 at 19:34

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.