New answers tagged capos
1
You ask about using a capo. By putting one on the second fret, you can use open chords as if it's in key E.
The F♯ now gets an E shape, the B gets an A shape and the C♯ can be played as B7. Yes, there's an extra note, but that's acceptable in a V chord. The slightly odd one's going to be vi - the D♯m, which is pretty close to F♯6. By ...
1
Here's my take on this. Chords where you only play the three highest strings, and you do not play the bass strings marked with X.
The chords are not in root position, except B, but I don't think that matters, because the notes are so high anyway. It's a bit like ukulele.
11
If you're happy playing open chords as opposed to the barres involved here, take the song up by a semitone - most likely not going to strain any tonsils - and substitute as follows. G for F♯, D for C♯, Em for D♯m and C for B. Pretty simple and straightforward. The only drawback really being you won't be able to strum along with the track - ...
4
Assuming the trouble for you is playing all barre chord, you can try playing the chord on 3 strings...
F# xx432x
C# xx312x
d#m xx434x
B xx444x
You can't strum them in the way of open chords, but a broken chord pattern with pick or fingerpicking will work nicely.
3
If you put a capo on fret 4 you can play three of the four chords using open chord shapes.
F# at the 4th fret can be played with a 'D' shape:
%x.x.4.6/1.7/3.6/2[Fmaj]
C# at the 4th fret can be played with the 'A' shape:
%x.4.6/2.6/3.6/4.4[C#maj]
B at the 4th fret can be played with the 'G' shape:
%7/3.6/2.4.4.7/3.7/4[Gmaj]
The only slightly more ...
1
I don't know what you mean by 'technically' changing the key?
You're playing chord shapes in A minor - THINKING in A minor - but on an instrument that has been shifted up by 4 semitones. So an Am chord shape produces a C♯m sound.
No technicalities, just that straightforward fact.
0
The method I use to determine the capoed key is based on which root chord form (C, D, E, A, F, G, etc.) in first position I'm using to play higher on the neck in the capoed position. I simply add 1/2 steps represented by the frets to the original chord fingering pattern to arrive at the newly adjusted key. In order to determine the scale fingering pattern ...
1
Here's a quick and dirty rule that you can apply without thinking about it.
(Though it's good to eventually get a real understanding.)
The open strings of a standard guitar are tuned to C major (and A minor).
Imagine the note C (or A) on the piano, count up 4 additional semi-tones, and you'll be on E (or C♯).
The guitar is now tuned to E major (and C# ...
2
The capo thing can get real confusing and all the capo cheat sheets online look different, so its hard to know what's the best logic to use to figure this stuff out.
The best logic to understand how it functions is:
to learn the chromatic scale
to learn the names of the strings
to understand what tones will sound when you play a certain chord pattern
The ...
12
When you play an Am fingering with a capo on the 4th fret, the sounding chord is C#m and sound is what counts. When other people listen to your guitar and sing or play along with it, they don't need to know how you used a capo.
would this technically change the Key to A minor?
No. If there's another guitarist, you can explain as a technical detail that ...
5
All those chords are diatonic to key Am - when there's no capo. Wherever the capo goes means you count up that many semitones. So if it was on the second fret, all the chords would be one whole tone higher. In this scenario, they'd be Bm D A Em G F♯, respectively.
However, you've gone up another tone, making two tones higher than original no capo ...
12
No, you are playing in C# min. The point of the capo is to allow you to use open string chord forms in any key rather than bar chords.
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