Capo Challenge
-
@jlampson Feb 2022
As I sat around thinking about the role technology played in my life, my eyes wandered to the capo on my desk, and it inspired this challenge to all of you: to pick a non-zero fret on the guitar to put the capo on and see where it leads.
Not sure where to start?
- Fingers are capos!
- Other people's fingers are capos!
- Pick a prime number!
- Pick a non-prime number!
- Capo only some of the strings!
- Capo a bass!
- Capo a piano!
- Capo your vocal chords!
- Multiple capos are okay to use if you have them!
Just don't capo your brain or your fingers. You'll need them so you can apply the following tag when you've submitted:
#capochallenge -
@mardeycranbleson Feb 2022
I like this I’m in!
-
@celineellis Feb 2022
I’m deffo in on this challenge.
-
@theodamus Feb 2022
Oooooh yep!!!
-
@celineellis Feb 2022
heres my Capo Challenge song - https://fawm.org/songs/126581/
-
@frank Feb 2022
How do you capo a piano?
-
@breezyanna Feb 2022
Can you clarify this for me? I just picked up the guitar and a chord chart a few years ago and an woefully uneducated on the theory of this instrument. I’ve never heard of A non zero fret.
-
@frank Feb 2022
I'm not a guitar player (yet), but if I remember right, applying a capo just changes the key. If you apply the capo at the first fret, you effectively raise everything a half step, and you can still use the fingerings you're used to.
-
@jlampson Feb 2022
@breezyanna - hey there! It was supposed to a joke, like you can capo anything that isn't the "zero fret", which is the guitar nut. I mean, you could try to capo there but you have to post a video of the efforts then.
Capos are fantastic songwriting tools. Like @frank said, you're basically just changing the key. Whether it's just to accommodate a different vocal range, to spice things up, or whatever, it definitely can break you out of a rut.
Note: to capo a piano, just move your fingers. -
@johncrossman Feb 2022
Who says the capo has to go on the guitar neck? Or an instrument?! Capo with abandon!
Sometimes I like to capo as high as is comfortable and pretend to be playing mando or uke. -
@breezyanna Feb 2022
@jlampson ahhh, gotcha! Thanks for taking the time to explain. I’m slow on that theory humor. I’ll get there though! ️
-
@lastnightilie Feb 2022
The most interesting thing I think you can do with a capo is to only capo some of the strings. It's kind of like an instant gratification alternate tuning.
-
@mhorning Feb 2022
If I write a song on my Baritone then that's Capo Negative 5
-
@valeriecox Feb 2022
@johncrossman I'm right with you on slapping that capo up really high. Makes the guitar sound amazing. I'd definitely be in the challenge of my Capo's weren't all in storage.
-
-
@johncrossman Feb 2022
@valeriecox that's the saddest thing I've heard all day. How do you cope? :)
-
@valeriecox Feb 2022
@johncrossman I have my ukulele to keep me company, but I won't have my studio back till the end of February. Terrible timing.
-
@whispermouse Feb 2022
May as well! https://fawm.org/songs/127259/
-
@scottlake Feb 2022
Most inventive capo user I know is Trace Bundy. https://tracebundy.com/
-
@fourzeroes Feb 2022
Is capo on the bass weird? I've often done it but the one time I did it in public someone laughed at me.
-
@wylddandelyon Feb 2022
Someone once challenged me to capo an autoharp. I told him I'd try it, but he'd have to make one that would fit the instrument. That never happened! lol
But guitars, now, I can capo a guitar. Or the acoustic bass, though the point of the bass is to be low! I have used two capos to simulate drop D on my Martin...my partner called it "guitar bondage". -
@jlampson Feb 2022
Yes! @wylddandelyon, I was just about to come update this that you can use more than one capo! I just found another one in a guitar case. Right on!
-
@christmascard Feb 2022
I feel naked without a capo on, It’s All so…. conventional!
-
@lastnightilie Feb 2022
@scottlake Wow, I'd never heard of him before, but that's pretty interesting. I bookmarked one of his videos that I might use for capo play inspiration later on. Probably not during FAWM though.
-
@scottlake Feb 2022
@lastnightilie he’s also a true bro and generally awesome guy to be around.
-
@rollasoc Feb 2022
What I like is to use a full capo and a half capo further up the neck
Though I am writing a song at the moment in drop D but with a capo at the 4th fret. -
@celineellis Feb 2022
@rollasoc I have a half capo that i use on the A, D and G string to give me a fake DADGAD (EBEABE really) using it on fret 2. much easier than returning my guitar, but only ever wrote one song using it!
-
@zecoop Feb 2022
I am 100% in for this every year because caps are awesome. I often use two! (a full and a partial).
@celineellis and @rollasoc know where its at! I've used a partial since about 2000. Such a cool thing to get a quick alternate open tuning without having to actually do an alternate tuning. :) I haven't done the 4th fret version - just 2 frets above open or the full capo. -
@dugganensis Feb 2022
I did one https://fawm.org/songs/127445/
-
@rollasoc Feb 2022
Then if you want to get fancy...
There is the spider capo and (I don't think they make it anymore) really hard to use Varichord
https://spidercapo.com/
Varichord on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hjUxRakLvQ -
-
@sw1n3flu Feb 2022
2nd fret capo / open D / collab too!
https://fawm.org/songs/127727/ -
@anthonykapfer666 Feb 2022
i just posted a capo song for the capo challenge!
https://fawm.org/songs/127918/ -
@lastnightilie Feb 2022
@rollasoc Damn that might be another challenge for next year. Cool!
-
@theodamus Feb 2022
I did one! I threw it on a random fret without paying much attention and was like yea awesome, what a cool key this sounds rad! Then realised it was on 5 and I'm just back in C major with extra steps lol.
Ahh well, the real treasure is the capo we capo'd along the way!
https://fawm.org/songs/128045/ -
@izaakalexander Feb 2022
Here's my take:
https://fawm.org/songs/128099/
Capo on the 11th fret of the guitar. :) -
@mikeb Feb 2022
Capo on 3 for this one: https://fawm.org/songs/128486/
-
@wylddandelyon Feb 2022
Capo 7: Sweet Daydreaming Hours https://fawm.org/songs/128664/
-
@celineellis Feb 2022
@rollasoc oooo I think @hazyjane has one of them spider capos. They do look a lot of fun!!
@fourzeroes i think a capo on the bass depends on what kind of bass line you are going for. Super melodic high notes mixed with open strings - capo. Regular root note with some embellishments not needed in my humble opinion. -
@sunnymae Feb 2022
Daytime Dreamer using a three string Capo in standard tuning on the 7th fret. Enjoy!
https://fawm.org/songs/128929/ -
@leka Feb 2022
Capo in 3rd fret in this finnish folk song. https://fawm.org/songs/129519/
-
@scubed Feb 2022
I hadn't thought of using a partial capo to start a song until I saw this thread. Thanks, @jlampson !
Guitar is capoed at the 4th fret across the lower 5 strings, leaving the high E string open. Playing a standard G chord on the lower strings and leaving the E unfretted adds a 4 to the major triad.
https://fawm.org/songs/129827/ -
@raspberry33 Feb 2022
Capo on 2nd fret, standard tuning for this one. "It's the little things that add up". https://fawm.org/songs/128327/
-
@mikeb Feb 2022
I use capos all the time! This song has the 12-string capoed on 3 and the 6 string on 1: https://fawm.org/songs/130135/
-
@nikke88 Feb 2022
This time I had capo on my electric guitar; on another track it was on the 12th fret, and on another track it was on the 7th fret. https://fawm.org/songs/130068/
Capo on 12th fret really changes the characteristics of the instrument. -
@jlampson Feb 2022
Dang, everyone has been very busy! I love hearing how everyone has been using capos! I'm trying to make sure I listen and comment on everyone's #capochallenge submissions. You're all rocking it!
-
@berty38 Feb 2022
Capo on 4th here let me feel okay about using an easy chord progression and go for a classic, cheesy power ballad sound. https://fawm.org/songs/130658/
-
@mhorning Feb 2022
Partial Capo-IV leaving the low E open, for a pseudo-drop-C tuning.
https://fawm.org/songs/131081/ -
@majormajormajormajor Feb 2022
Well, shoot I didn't realize this was here and I'd already done it- beginning with an old musical idea you listen back to for a half hour trying to figure out how you played it only to realize- d'oh! Capo 3.
Which makes the piano part you planned more of a pain as well. Anyway, this song cycle with its recurring motifs will eventually include several capoed songs, but this'll do...also my first real attempt to find the happy intersection between travis picking and rasgueado:
https://fawm.org/songs/129138/ -
@melaniepegge Feb 2022
This one is capo 2 with an open drop D on the bass E string... on electric
https://fawm.org/songs/131160/ -
@gm7 Feb 2022
This little ditty is based on a capo placed on the third fret but only on the low four strings. So..
6-G , 5-C, 4-F, 3-Bb, 2-B, 1-E
a Gm11th maybe?
Played on a Taylor 114ce mic'ed 14th fret with a SM57
https://fawm.org/songs/130877/ -
@loveonamixtape Feb 2022
Capo 4, a song I wrote about a Star Trek episode (kinda sorta) https://fawm.org/songs/132145/
-
@mikeb Feb 2022
Capo on 3, and my week 3 challenge song: 'The Perfect Take' https://fawm.org/songs/132198/
-
@owl Feb 2022
There are lots of guitars in this song but some are capo 12
"Hook and Tumble"
https://fawm.org/songs/133335/ -
@mhorning Feb 2022
On my Baritone Capo-1 ; equivalent to a regular guitar capo negative 4.
https://fawm.org/songs/133720/ -
@zecoop Feb 2022
I wrote this one on the 10th, but it just got finished today with vocals. Double capo: regular on the 6th and partial on the 8th. Also, I played my 12 string and my 6 string, so technically... FOUR capos. ;)
(yes I have different ones for each guitar because the necks are so different)
Somebody Else
https://fawm.org/songs/135802/ -
@momentegalerie Feb 2022
I use a capo almost everytime (or my guitarlele, wich is a capo 5 - period) I especially like the 3./4. But also the 7th fret :)
I like to experiment with the same chords on different frets to get some new melody ideas -
@danvaillancourt Feb 2022
I'm pretty sure at least half of my songs quality for this every year. ;) A capo is pretty much a songwriter's best friend.
-
@dock Feb 2022
I don't usually play guitar, but here is a number with the capo on fret 3.
https://fawm.org/songs/137782/
Thanks for the idea, I now know how to play guitar in a key I can sing! -
@outinpublicdrummer Feb 2022
this thread inspired me to make this. Thank you :)
https://fawm.org/songs/137904/ -
@wacha Feb 2022
Here's my entry
https://fawm.org/songs/130826/
