Capo or transpose: picking a key you can sing
Most chord sheets online are in the key of the recording. Most singers are not. A capo and a transposition both fix that. They do different things.
What is the difference between a capo and transposing?
A capo keeps the chord shapes you know and raises the pitch. Open strings keep ringing, so the song keeps the sound of the original.
Transposing rewrites the chords in a new key. You might lose open strings and gain barre chords, or the other way round, and the sound changes with them.
How do I find my key in five minutes?
Sing the highest note of the song, the one in the chorus you have to reach for. Lower it until it is loud and easy, and count the semitones you dropped. Three semitones down takes a song in G to E. Use the chorus, because it has to work at the end of a two hour set.
When should I use a capo?
- You want the song to sound like the record, with the open strings ringing.
- You need to go up. A capo only raises pitch.
- The song has a riff or a fingerpicked part written for specific open shapes.
When should I transpose instead?
- You need to go down.
- The capo would sit past the fifth fret, where the guitar sounds thin.
- Someone in the band plays keys.
- The new key gives you better shapes. A song in E flat is miserable on guitar. The same song transposed to D, with a capo on 1, is easy.
Which key does each capo fret give me?
With the capo on frets 1 to 5, the common shapes sound in these keys:
- G shapes: A flat, A, B flat, B, C.
- C shapes: D flat, D, E flat, E, F.
- D shapes: E flat, E, F, F sharp, G.
- A shapes: B flat, B, C, C sharp, D.
- E shapes: F, F sharp, G, A flat, A.
Read it backwards to find the capo for a key. For E with C shapes, the capo goes on 4. A lower capo usually sounds fuller.
How far can a song move before it sounds wrong?
Most songs move two to four semitones without anyone noticing. Past five, the character changes. Up seven lands on the same note names as down five, so for a big jump, try the other direction too.
A song written for a male voice often suits a female voice four or five semitones higher. Try three keys around that.
What are the limits of a capo?
- It only goes up. To go down without changing shapes, you have to retune the whole guitar.
- Past the seventh fret the frets get narrow and most chords get harder.
- Twelve-string and nylon-string guitars need their own capo, or the strings buzz or go sharp.
Mixing them
You can do both: transpose to a key with easy shapes, then put the capo where the pitch suits your voice. A song in B flat becomes G with a capo on 3, or A with a capo on 1.
A worked example
Say a song is in F and the chorus sits a little high for you. Two semitones down puts it in E flat. On guitar, E flat is mostly barre chords. There are two easy routes to the same pitch:
- Transpose to D shapes and put the capo on fret 1. You play open D, G and A chords, and it sounds in E flat.
- Transpose to C shapes and put the capo on fret 3. Also E flat, with a brighter sound because the capo sits higher.
Play the chorus both ways and keep the one where the top note feels easy and the guitar sounds full. Most players end up with the lower capo.
What about bass, keys and ukulele?
A capo works the same way on ukulele, mandolin and banjo: one semitone per fret on every string. Bass players rarely use one. They read the sounding key, so give them the transposed chords, not your shapes.
Keys players need the transposed chords too. A keyboard has a transpose button, but then the chord names on the sheet no longer match the notes that come out. That gets confusing the moment someone calls a key change.
How do I check the new key before the gig?
Sing the whole song once in the new key, not only the chorus. When you lower a song for the chorus, the verses drop too, and a low verse can fall out of reach. If the verse is too low and the chorus too high, the song is wider than your voice. Pick the key that protects the chorus and sing the low lines softer.
If two people in the band sing lead, save each song in the key of whoever sings it at the next gig. Put the other singer's key in the song note, so a swap on the night takes one change.
Tell the band
The band needs the sounding key, not your shapes. Write both on the sheet: "Capo 3, shapes in G, sounds in B flat."
Doing it in gigbrain
Open a song and use the capo and transpose controls. Both are saved with the song, so it opens the same way at every gig.