How to Use a Capo

Your capo isn’t a crutch. It’s the most powerful tool you own.

Play any song, in any key, with the easy open chords you already know… and make it sound richer doing it. No more hand-killing barre chords just to play in B♭.

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The struggle

Every guitar player knows these frustrations.

  • Barre chords in F and B♭ wear your hand out. Three songs into a set and it’s cramping, clean shapes or not.
  • Too many great songs hide in piano keys. Elton, Billy Joel, the Eagles, they’re all in B♭ and E♭, rough on an acoustic.
  • “Sorry, I can only play it in G.” The jam’s rolling, someone wants to sing, and that’s all you’ve got.
  • The capo’s always been a bit of a guess. Clamp it on the second fret and hope.

The shift

The capo isn’t a crutch. It’s a shortcut the pros never gave up.

Most players treat it like training wheels, a little something to feel guilty about. That’s exactly backwards. Learn what it actually does and it becomes the fastest way on the whole guitar to change key, reshape how a song sounds, and give your hands a rest, all at once.

What’s inside

Here’s what you’ll walk away able to do.

  • Play any song in any key with the open chords you already know. Even B♭ and A♭, the keys most players avoid, land right under your fingers.
  • Add the little runs and ringing notes that make a chord come alive. A barre chord ties up all four fingers, but open shapes leave them free to play.
  • Match any singer on the spot. Whether they need it up a step or down, you’ve got it, instead of “sorry, I only know it in G.”
  • Move a song into a new key in about ten seconds. You count it out on your fingers, with no app, no chart, and no theory degree.
  • Make two guitars lock together instead of turning to mud. It’s the same voicing trick hiding under every lush two-guitar record.
  • Pull open-tuning textures out of your guitar without retuning a thing. One partial-capo move does it, and every shape you already know still works.
  • Stop the capo from throwing your guitar sharp. It’s a ten-second habit most players never figure out.

It’s ten short video lessons, about 82 minutes in all, plus a one-page quick-reference chart for your case. Finish it this afternoon, use it tonight.

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Already a capo user?

“But I already use a capo.”

Good, that puts you ahead of most. But most players only ever scratch the surface… capo 2, maybe capo 3, and leave it there. This is the difference between using a capo sometimes and knowing exactly what it’s doing every single time: any key, any singer, with voicings most players never find.

Reviews

What players say once it finally clicks.

I did it a year ago but didn’t quite get it. This time, the penny has dropped. I even found myself playing Bb, Eb and F without capo, then A, D and E with capo at the first fret, just to convince myself that the notes are the same. They are, of course!

Melvin Schofield

I play with a group. I’m known as “Barre Chord Bill.” I was the only guy who could play up and down the neck with barre chords… Now it’s time for me to understand the Capo and get back to open chords. I’m 75 years old now. Time to teach this old guy some new tricks.

Bill Bellinzoni

This really opened up a lot for me Jonathon. To hear the layering of the different voicings keeping with the target key was very very helpful for me in understanding how to use a capo. Thanks!

Mark Stephenson

Level up, or your money back.

Go through the whole course. If you’re not more confident with a capo in hand, if you can’t transpose a song, escape a barre chord, and find fresh voicings, just email me and I’ll refund every penny. No hoops. You keep the quick-reference chart either way.

Jonathan

Get the course

Use the capo like you mean it.

Everything you need to play any key with the chords you already know.

  • Play any song in any key, no more “sorry, I only know it in G”
  • Transpose to fit any singer in about ten seconds, no app, no chart
  • Take the strain off your hand from the barre chords that wear it out
  • Stack a second guitar part that sounds pro, not muddy
  • Open-tuning-style textures without ever retuning
  • A quick-reference chart for your case, yours to keep forever

What's included Ten short video lessons, about 82 minutes in all · downloadable quick-reference chart · lifetime access · email support · 60-day money-back guarantee

How to Use a Capo $20 Yes, show me how to use a capo

✓ Backed by the 60-day, level-up-or-your-money-back guarantee.

All prices in USD. One-time payment, instant access, lifetime access.

Twenty bucks and an afternoon.

The capo’s already clipped to your headstock, or rattling around somewhere in your case. This is the afternoon it finally starts earning its keep, with a 60-day guarantee that puts all the risk on me.

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