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Tuning > Using
a Guitar Capo
Using a
Guitar Capo
How a guitar capo works
Using a guitar capo allows you to effectively reposition the nut of
your guitar up to a new fret, increasing the pitch of the open strings.
Obviously you can tune the guitar down, so using a capo can be seen as
tuning up from standard tuning without over stretching and breaking the
strings!
 Vocalists
often find the capo useful because it allows them to sing in a more
comfortable register, yet still allow the guitarist to play those
familiar, lush open chord voicings.
First, let's look at the different types of capo you can use...
Types
of guitar capo
There
are two main types of capo - strap and clamp. Both serve the same
fundamental purpose - to press down a bar across the strings at a given
fret. It's similar to when you barre your fingers across, i.e. in barre
chords.
 Strap capos
As the name suggests, strap capos involve pulling the bar down by
tightening a strap around the back of the neck.
Clamp capos
Simply
clamps the bar down onto the strings using a spring or locking lever
(by tightening a screw).
Partial capos
These
are designed to only fret one or a few strings, leaving the others open
as standard. Great for alternate tunings and where you need a low bass
string but higher treble strings.
Here's a great video from Randall Williams at JamPlay
on using a
partial capo.
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