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This Issue: The Capo Trick

after two finger-twisting instalments, here’s something for beginners – an arrangement trick that’s particularly suited to strummy acoustic songs. Here, it’s common to double the guitar for a bigger sound, either having two players or double-tracking in the studio. But if you double the same chord shapes, it can sound stodgy and uninspiring. Our secret weapon? the firm grip of the humble capo! the capo is most commonly used to raise the key of a song to suit your voice, meaning you don’t have to learn new chord shapes. For instance, with the capo at the 3rd fret, the open C shape gives E major. Now, though, we’re using the capo to find different open shapes for the same chords. The result is that the two guitars coincide on fewer notes and cover a wider range, giving a bigger sound. Start by familiarising yourself with this chord sequence, then grab your capo. On the audio, you’ll hear the guitars separately, then together. It’s worth experimenting with various capo positions, because some will give you a better range of open chord shapes than others, and the higher you go, the wider the pitch range. We’ve gone for the 5th fret, where the ‘Em shape’ gives us A minor. Of course, the standard 1st fret F major isn’t an open chord, but it falls within the common repertoire of ‘campfire’ chords. And with our 5th fret capo, we get the F by using a very familiar chord shape. tO get C with the capo, we use the ‘G shape’, and as with a regular open G, you can play the B string open or at the 3rd fret. Try both and see which you prefer. thIs chord gives us the widest pitch range between the two guitars. We could also have put the capo at the 7th fret, where we’d have used the ‘C shape’ to play G. Have fun experimenting!