What is a Guitar Capo?

One of the more popular acoustic and electric guitar accessories - along with equalizers, tuners, humidifiers, etc-- is the capo.

Taking its name from the Italian word for "head", a capo is a small device that clamps onto the neck of a guitar and shortens the length of the strings, raising their pitch. Capos are typically fastened on all strings of a guitar or other fretted stringed instrument, although they are less commonly used on only some strings but not all of them.

The main advantage of using a capo is that it allows the guitarist to play a song in different keys while still using open chord forms in the first place, which have a more resonant timbre.

To understand the function of the capo, you must first understand the function of the nut. At the beginning of a guitar, the end of the vibrato (or scale length) of the string is a thin strip of plastic, metal, or bone called a nut. The fixing nut fits where the neck makes contact with the headstock and the strings pass through it (usually at an angle) as they leave the neck and find their anchor point on the headstock.

The slotted nut, along with the bridge at the end of the body, ensures the correct horizontal position of the strings along the length of the neck.

The capo functions as a movable nut, as it can be clamped onto any fret below the neck joint and provides the same type of vibration break. However, unlike nuts, capos do not have wire grooves, since their sole purpose is to change pitch rather than maintain the position of the side wires (this function is still ensured by nuts and bridges). even when using capo). Thus, a working capo complements the nut, not replaces it.

One important notable difference about capos is that they are used to change the pitch of the opening string without adjusting the buckle. As a result, not only the pitch but also the timbre of the strings is affected, producing the timbre of instruments with shorter scales, such as the mandolin.

Different types of capo are attached to the neck of the guitar directly behind the fretboard using one of the different attachment methods. Most have a rubber-wrapped bar that actually holds the cord, fastened to the neck with an elastic, nylon, or other fabric strap; either by spring, screw or clamp.

A more recent innovation is the partial capo, which does not completely enclose the neck and can only be applied to two, three, four or five strings instead of all six. This allows for dozens of tonal variations without altering the tuning of the instrument.

The use of capo is common in traditional Irish blues, folk, flamenco and guitar music; they are hardly used in jazz and classical guitar playing. Many rock and pop artists have used the capo, including George Harrison, Keith Richards, Noel Gallagher, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Tom Petty, Richard Thompson, Johnny Marr, Paul Simon, Jimmy Page, John Mayer and many more. other.

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