Using a Capo
It’s a common practice in bluegrass guitar and banjo playing to use a capo to allow us to play in an “open” position, rather than having to use all closed position chords. In bluegrass, playing in the G position is generally preferred whenever possible. C and D are good too, and also A and E on guitar. The capo allows us to play many songs in other keys while enabling us to play in the preferred position of G or one of the other open chords.
For example, if you want to play in the “G” position, but the singer (or fiddle or mandolin player) wants to sing or play the song in the key of A, you can simply place the capo at the 2nd fret and play your rolls, fills, licks, or chords as if you were playing in G. The actual chords with the capo at the 2nd fret and playing the G-C-D position chord changes are A-D-E, but it really isn’t necessary for you to think of the actual chords. I’m certainly not discouraging you from knowing the names of the chords your playing, in fact I encourage you to learn them, but it isn’t necessary as long as you know the chord progression of the song.
(Note: On the banjo, in G tuning, the pitch of the 5th string must be raised the same number of semitones (or frets) as the capo is placed above the nut. If the capo is placed at the 3rd fret, the pitch of the 5th string must also be raised 3 frets to Bb, 3 semitones above G. The pitch of the 5th string can be safely tuned up to the pitch of A; if it must be raised to a higher pitch than A, some type of 5th string capo will be needed, such as railroad spikes, a Shubb sliding capo, or a removable 5th sting capo.)
Below is a chart of where to place the capo to play in the most commonly used chord positions (C, A, G, E, and D for guitar, and G, C and D on the banjo):
Capo on Fret: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Position: ______Chord:______
C C C# D Eb E F F# G
A A Bb B C C# D Eb E
G G Ab A Bb B C C# D
E E F F# G Ab A Bb B
D D D# E F F# G Ab A
For example, by looking at the chart, you can see that if you need to play in the key of Bb using open chords, your best choice on banjo or guitar would be to place the capo at the 3rd fret and play in the G position; on guitar you could also place the capo at the 1st fret and play in the A position. To play in Eb, your best choice on either guitar or banjo would be to capo at the 3rd fret and play in the C position.
Another advantage of using the capo is that when more than one instrument of the same type is playing (such as two guitars) it allows the two instruments to play in the same key while using different chord positions, thereby giving your sound more variety. For example, if playing in the key of D, one guitar could play in the open D position, while the other could capo at the 2nd fret and play in the C position. To play in the key of E, one could play in open E and the other capo to the 2nd fret and play in the D position.
Normally, the capo is used between the first and 5th frets, but it is occasionally used above the 5th fret. I play one song on the banjo with the capo at the 7th fret, which allows me to play in the open “G” position in the key of D.