EGAD! The Acoustic Guitar!

Guitarists do better in the first four sharp keys—E, G, A and D.  Piano players like flat keys, acoustic guitar players like sharp keys.  It’s as simple as that. 

Hang a guitar around my neck and give me a chord chart written in Bb, and I immediately start making plans to shove the music director into the bushes after rehearsal.  Put the same chart in front of me while I’m on the piano bench, and I grin evilly:  let’s see the guitar player ‘Led Zepellin’ his way out of THIS!

 It might be fun to watch the guitar players squirm, but right away it gets old.  The rehearsal comes to a grinding halt as they wrestle with their choices:  play way up high on the neck and rob the guitar of it’s sustain, or play down around the nut and get a hand cramp by the second chorus. 

 I’m talking acoustic guitars here.  The electric players just need to buck up.

So here’s the answer to all this melodrama:  the capo.  The guitar players bestest buddy.  I used to think capoing was for sissies, but I’ve changed.  I’ve matured, I like to think. 

 Acoustic players:  there’s no shame.  In fact it’s smart to capo up.  Here’s why:

 -  You can concentrate on how the song feels, rather than use up all your available brain cells just trying to think your way around the neck.

-  You can take advantage of open strings, which ring better.

-  You can play all your cool little licks and tricks that only work in sharp keys

Music Directors:  Rehearsals don’t bog down, guitarists are easier to get along with, and you can even throw an intro or interlude at a guitarist with confidence. 

The key (pun intended) is knowing where to put the capo, and how to transpose.  Here’s the simple answer:

For every fret the guitarist capos up, the key drops a half step. 

One fret = half step.  So if the music’s in Bb, the guitarist capos up one fret and plays in A.  Or…and this is the really great part…the guitarist capos up THREE frets, and plays in G.  Or six frets up, and plays in E. 

There’s a hidden benefit to this, also.  A BIG ONE.  As the guitar player moves up the neck, he moves away from the middle range the piano players usually play in.  This makes the guitar easier to pick out for the listener, and makes it easier to mix for the sound person.  And it sounds kinda cool.  Experiment with moving the capo farther up the neck for an interesting change in the usual sound of the guitar. 

There’s one catch:  the guitar players need new music written.  With Song Select, and other music download options, this should actually be pretty easy.  Print the chart in Bb for everyone else, and print it in A for the acoustic guitar players, with a note to capo at the first fret. 

To make this easier, I’ve printed up a chart that lays out the keys, capo frets, etc.  I’d be glad to email it to you--just hit the CONTACT ME button above, and give me your email address.  If you have any questions, I’ll try and answer those too. 

Comments

[JP]

Amen Ed! I've noticed too, the higher up the neck the capo goes, certain strings like to go sharp, at least on my guitar. Does anyone else experience this or is my Martin a lemon?

[Ed Schief]

First off, I just realized the comment area shows up black. Trying to fix that...

I've had the out-of-tune problem too. Part of it might be that the neck needs adjusting. If the neck is underbowed, and the strings have a long way to travel as they're pressed by the capo, that might have an effect. Check the nut, too. The string has to touch all the way at the leading edge of the nut. If the slot is cut wrong, and the string touches somewhere in the middle of the slot, it won't play in tune--you've accidentally lengthened the string. If you play a lot of open chords, you might be tuning it to compensate, and not notice. Another possible problem: one or more of your upper frets is crowned just a little off center.

Hope that helps!