lumpy wafflesquirt
738 posts
Sep 07, 2013
1:46 PM
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I was playing with a guitarist today :^) She told me she was playing in G but then suddenly said 'oh I have a capo on 3'.
She didn't know what key that put her in and as a non guitarist I had absolutely no idea. Another guitarist suggested it was E. I fumbled about a bit and eventually settled on Bb [1st pos?].
That looks like I can count anticlockwise round the circle of fifths the number of frets to find what key they are in. Would I be correct in thinking that. [in this case she was playing G with the capo on the 3rd fret which if I count round from G 3 steps I get Bb.
Can any of you guitarists confirm or deny it.
thanks
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"Come on Brackett let's get changed"
Last Edited by lumpy wafflesquirt on Sep 07, 2013 1:46 PM
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timeistight
1355 posts
Sep 07, 2013
1:54 PM
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Yep, G shape with a capo on the third fret makes Bb.
I think the circle of fifths thing is just a coincidence unless I misunderstand what you mean. Each fret is a half step, so if she moved her capo to the second fret she'd be in A, fourth fret B, fifth fret C, etc. (assuming key of G chord shapes in each case).
Last Edited by timeistight on Sep 07, 2013 1:57 PM
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shbamac
357 posts
Sep 07, 2013
1:54 PM
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Each fret is a half step, C, C#, D, D#, E and so on. So if a song is in the key of E and you put a capo on the 3rd fret the song would be in G.
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shbamac
358 posts
Sep 07, 2013
1:56 PM
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Beat me to it by seconds... lol
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Rarko
33 posts
Sep 07, 2013
1:57 PM
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I am not sure what you are talking about (my english isnt very good). But I play a guitar and harp...
So, capo 3rd fret - G
if you move 3 steps higher - Bb
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Jim Rumbaugh
910 posts
Sep 07, 2013
2:43 PM
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my way of saying what's already been said:
The key she was playing in depends on:
1) where the capo is
2) what chord is she using for the root chord
example 1: E chord played with capo on third fret = key of G
example 2: G chord played with capo on third fret = key of Bd
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
Last Edited by Jim Rumbaugh on Sep 07, 2013 2:46 PM
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jpmcbride
5 posts
Sep 07, 2013
3:53 PM
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As other said, its easy to quickly figure out. Each fret on the guitar is a half step. So if she's playing in "G" but has a capo on the 3rd fret, just count up 3 half steps ... G -> AB -> A -> Bb. That's all there is to it!
You'll see a lot of guitarists, particularly acoustic guitar, do this so they can use familiar open chord shapes that they know to play in other keys. You'll also see electric guitar players occasionally do this so they can play a riff that they learned in E using open strings in another key like F.
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Jim McBride
www.bottleoblues.com
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nacoran
7113 posts
Sep 07, 2013
6:14 PM
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Just like harp players need to learn the names of the keys they are playing in when they are in different positions, guitar players need to know what they are playing in when they capo! But yeah, sometimes guitar players don't have a clue. I keep thinking someone needs to make a code wheel circle of fifths (like those old game codes you had to use to log into old video games way back before they invented the internet!) It would be useful if it had a feature for guitar capo positions too, although for practical purposes, it would probably work better as an iPhone app than as an actual wheel.
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Nate
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Littoral
989 posts
Sep 07, 2013
6:31 PM
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I can usually hear the key and if I'm off it's almost always a 5th of it. It helps me a lot to hum the key before I pick it.
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nacoran
7115 posts
Sep 07, 2013
7:12 PM
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Littoral, yeah, I've gotten much better at hearing the key, but when I'm off it's not usually by something useful like a fifth. When you grab a Db instead of a D, things go pretty badly pretty quick!
From time to time I'll go through part of my music folder and key songs. I arrange my harps by 5ths when I do so I can home in if I'm off. If I pick up a harp that sounds real bad I grab something from the other side of the circle.
Our bass player always knows what key he is in (or at least the relative minor). He lets me know. The guitar player gets the easy ones, but by the time he figures out the key I can usually find it by trial and error.
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Nate
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lumpy wafflesquirt
739 posts
Sep 08, 2013
12:05 AM
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Thanks guys, Shame the circle doesn't work for this :^(
Maybe a little chart in my case would be useful for next time. :^)
How many frets does a guitar have? 12?
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"Come on Brackett let's get changed"
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lumpy wafflesquirt
740 posts
Sep 08, 2013
12:08 AM
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For once google is my freind :^)
http://www.theguitarcapo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/CapoConversion.jpg
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"Come on Brackett let's get changed"
Last Edited by lumpy wafflesquirt on Sep 08, 2013 12:10 AM
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