A song is written in a key. Your voice has a comfortable range of its own. Very often the two don't line up, and that is completely normal. The good news is that a guitar gives you an easy way to move a song: a capo. This post explains how to transpose chords with a capo, with a chart you can keep next to you, and what to do when a capo isn't the answer.
I love playing with a capo, especially when I'm writing. Sometimes a song just won't click. Then I clip on a capo, my voice suddenly sits right on every note, and the song is there. On my nylon-string it's even better: fingerpicked high notes with a capo on have such a soothing sound. Jason Mraz, my biggest inspiration, wrote some of his finest songs with a capo. That's how I got into it.
Try it before you read on. This is a song in A, with the same controls as in Fretlist. Pick II under Capo and watch the chords and the diagrams change to G shapes:
Encore
ChordsChorusASing it Eout and the F#mnight feels DyoungAHold the Eline till the Dmorning AcomesThe rest of this post explains what just happened, and how to work it out without an app.
How do you transpose chords with a capo?
A capo clamps every string at one fret. Each fret is one semitone (a half step). So the shapes you play stay the same, but the whole song sounds higher by one semitone per fret.
That gives you one simple rule:
The key you hear = the shapes you play + the capo fret.
Play G shapes with the capo on fret 2 and the song sounds in A. G, C and D become A, D and E to the listener, while your fingers still make G, C and D.
The chromatic scale is the ladder you count on. Every step is one fret:
C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, B, and back to C.
To find where a capo should go, count the steps from the shapes you want to play up to the key you want to hear. From G up to A is two steps (G to G#, G# to A), so the capo goes on fret 2.
A capo chart for the common chord shapes
Most players stick to five open shapes: C, A, G, E and D. Find the shape you want to play in the top row, go down to the capo fret, and read the key the song will sound in.
| Capo fret | C shapes | A shapes | G shapes | E shapes | D shapes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No capo | C | A | G | E | D |
| 1 | Db | Bb | Ab | F | Eb |
| 2 | D | B | A | F# | E |
| 3 | Eb | C | Bb | G | F |
| 4 | E | Db | B | Ab | F# |
| 5 | F | D | C | A | G |
| 6 | F# | Eb | Db | Bb | Ab |
| 7 | G | E | D | B | A |
Minor shapes work the same way. Am shapes with the capo on fret 2 sound as Bm. Em shapes on fret 3 sound as Gm.
Got a song you play with a capo? Open it in Fretlist, pick the fret under Capo, and the chords change to the shapes you play. Try it on your own songs.
Which capo fret should I use for a song?
Read the chart the other way round. Find the key the song is in, and every cell with that key is an option.
A song in Eb, for example, has three easy ways in:
- D shapes with the capo on fret 1
- C shapes with the capo on fret 3
- A shapes with the capo on fret 6
They all sound in the same key, but they don't sound the same. A capo high up the neck gives a brighter, thinner sound. A capo low down keeps more of the guitar's body. Pick the shapes you play best, then let your ear choose between the options.
There is one thing worth knowing before you put the capo on: it only moves a song up. If a song sits too high for you, a capo can't bring it down. For that, you transpose the chords themselves.
How do you transpose chords without a capo?
Move every chord by the same number of semitones, using the same ladder as above. Up two steps, a song in G goes like this:
- G becomes A
- C becomes D
- D becomes E
- Em becomes F#m
The chord quality stays as it was. A minor chord stays minor, a 7 stays a 7. Only the letter at the front moves. In a slash chord like G/B, both letters move: up two steps it becomes A/C#.
This is the way to go down in key, and it is the only way on instruments without a capo, like keys and bass. It is also how you get a song into a key that the band, or another singer, wants to play it in.
Need a song lower? In Fretlist, press - next to the key and every chord moves with it. Move your own songs.
Letting Fretlist do the counting
Counting semitones is a good skill to have, but on a busy rehearsal evening I'd rather not do it for every song. So Fretlist has both controls on every song, side by side.
Transpose is the - and + pair around the key. Each press moves every chord in the sheet one semitone, and the key in the middle updates with it. Use it when you want the song to sound in a different key.
Capo is the dropdown next to it. Pick a fret and Fretlist rewrites the chords into the shapes you play at that fret, while the song keeps its key. A song in A with the capo on fret 2 shows G shapes, and the badge above the sheet reads Capo II (G): capo on fret 2, playing G shapes.
The two don't mix, on purpose. If you have transposed a song and then reach for the capo, Fretlist asks first: "Reset transpose to change capo?" The same goes the other way round. That way it is always clear which of the two moved the song.
Here's the demo again, now that you know what each control does. Pick II under Capo, then press +: Fretlist asks before it swaps one for the other.
Encore
ChordsChorusASing it Eout and the F#mnight feels DyoungAHold the Eline till the Dmorning AcomesA few more things that help:
- Sharps or flats. The ♯/♭ button switches the spelling, so you can read Bb instead of A#, or the other way round.
- It's remembered per song. Your transpose and capo are saved for that song on your account, so they come back when you open it again, on your other devices too. The song itself isn't changed.
- It follows the instrument. Guitar, ukulele, mandolin and banjo get a capo. Keys and bass don't get a capo control, because they don't use one. You set what you play in your instruments.
- Play Mode shows it too. The capo badge comes along when you open a song in Play Mode, so you see where the capo goes before the song starts. With Frets on, the chord diagrams show the shapes you are playing.
And when you want a song in a new key for good, change the key in the song editor. Fretlist asks what you mean: Transpose every chord to the new key, or Only change the key and leave the chords as they are. The song editor guide has the details.
Want to try it on your own songs? The transpose and capo controls are on every song in Fretlist. Start with Fretlist.
The short version
- A capo raises a song one semitone per fret. The key you hear = the shapes you play + the capo fret.
- Use the chart to find a capo fret for any key, and choose between options by ear.
- To go down in key, or on keys and bass, transpose the chords themselves: move every letter by the same number of steps.
Whatever key your voice likes, there is a way to get the song there. Have fun finding yours.