Guitar Accessories For Beginners: What Does A Capo Do

So, you’ve done all your research about buying guitars online, and you’ve bought your first guitar. 

Maybe you picked up the Fender CD60ce dreadnought electro acoustic or a budget-friendly Fender squier affinity, but you’ve only learned a handful of open-position chords so far. 

What can you do to get playing more songs as soon as possible? This is where a capo becomes an essential guitar accessory.

What is a capo?

A capo is a small clamp device that you can place over the strings on the neck of your guitar. By clamping the strings on a particular fret, a capo can raise the pitch of your guitar. This means you can use the same chord shapes you learned in open position and have them sound higher!

Why do I need a capo?

The most obvious use for a capo is, of course, to change the key of a song to suit your range or that of your vocalist, but there are plenty of reasons for guitarists to nab one for themselves.

By using a capo, you can play songs in different keys using simpler chord shapes. Say there’s a song you want to learn, but it uses tricky, more advanced barre chords or complex chord positions. 

If you’ve learned some easy open-position chords, you can use a capo to achieve the same sound! Capoing (definitely a word) can also give a brighter, ringing quality to the tone of the guitar.

How do I use a capo?

Decide how much you want to raise the pitch, then place the capo across the neck of your guitar, just behind your chosen fret. Each fret raises the pitch by one semitone. 

Play your usual chord shapes and the capo will change their pitch without you having to change the chord shapes you play.

If you’ve picked up your first beginner guitar, a capo is an easy and affordable way to open you up to a whole range of new songs!