A capo is a precious tool, especially for beginning guitar players. However, if you do not understand how a guitar plays without one, using a capo becomes more difficult. What keys do guitars play in without capos?
A guitar without a capo is not in a specific key since there is no determined key for the instrument. However, in standard tuning, its open strings resemble the E Phrygian mode of a C major scale. The most comfortable keys to play without a capo are C, A, G, E, and D major.
Read on to learn about capos and how they affect a guitar’s pitch.
When we ask what key a guitar is in without a capo, we refer to how it should sound in standard tuning. In standard tuning, the musician tunes strings 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 to the notes E, A, D, G, B, and E.
Okay, how does that relate to the key? You can look at the question in two different ways. When referring to the open strings’ notes, all of them are in C Major. Some would argue that standard tuning reflects E Phrygian mode, the third mode of the C major scale, since the tuning centers around E. So, if your question is ‘what key signature is standard tuning on a guitar without a capo?’ that would be your answer.
However, suppose you are looking to play more than the E Phrygian mode of a C major scale (strumming a guitar without pressing down any fret). In that case, the answer becomes a little more detailed. Specific keys are more comfortable to play on guitars because they use open chords that require less fingering. These are called guitar key signatures.
Let’s break this down a little further: Most popular music use chords from major scales. Each major scale includes seven chords, I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, and vii°. I, IV, and V are major chords. Chords ii, iii, and vi are minor. Lastly, the vii° is a diminished chord. Musicians use these roman numerals to refer to a song’s chord progression.
Here is a chart with the seven chords of each of the most straightforward guitar keys:
There is no specific key signature for a guitar. Still, individual keys are much easier to play and suit the instrument well. When musicians use capos, they usually position them to play complicated keys using the more comfortable fingerings of guitar key signatures.
What Is a Capo?
Source: Fretjam: Using a Guitar Capo
A capo is a standard accessory of any string instrument, including the guitar. The tool, whose name stems from the Italian term for ‘head,’ is a pin that clamps on to the neck of a fretted string instrument. Capos shorten strings, which results in higher tension, and in turn, raises the pitch. They usually clamp across the whole neck. However, they can get partially fastened to the neck.
Capos are like instant transposers, allowing guitarists to play music in different keys while avoiding more complicated, less resonant bar chords. In other words, a capo can be a beginner’s tool to make complex chords more accessible or an expert’s tool to change the timbre of their instrument.
So, how does a capo work?
To understand this, I need to tell you about the nut, an often overlooked but essential part of your guitar.
The nut is right below your guitar’s headstock and above its fretboard. This piece, usually made of metal, plastic, or bone, serves two purposes. First, the nut is where a string’s vibration terminates. Secondly, the grooves in a nut keep the strings in place, so their pitch does not unintentionally change.
Think of the capo like a second nut. Where you position it determines the pitch and timbre of the instrument. However, a capo is not a substitute since the nut maintains the strings’ lateral positions. In sum, the capo and the nut complement each other rather than work separately.
However, capos have their limits. Their function is to change the pitch of open strings, not fretted ones. In other words, capos shift the pitch of notes that get played without any fingers touching the fretboard.
Since fretted notes result from your finger’s tension on the fret, not the capo, their pitch remains the same. Another point of note is that changing the capo placement will adjust the instrument’s sound, reflecting a shorter-scaled instrument’s tone.
There are different styles of capos out there that attach just behind a fret in various ways. Most capos hold the strings down with a rubber-covered bar, then get fastened via a fabric strap, spring, screw, or cam-operated clamp.
Recently, the partial capo got introduced to string instruments. This variation does not wholly circle the neck, which means it can pin down a selected number of strings rather than all six. Partial capos open up many tonal possibilities without re-tuning the guitar.
Are capos often used? It depends on the genre of music. Classical and jazz music hardly relies on capos. However, they are standard in blues, flamenco, folk, and transitional Irish music. Furthermore, many rock and pop stars use capos, including George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul Simon.
How Capos Affect Key
As I mentioned earlier, capos get used by musicians to play harder chords using simpler fingerings. Here is an example: say you wanted to play a Bb major chord. However, this chord is one of the most challenging bar chords to play, especially for beginner and intermediate players. How can one work around this obstacle? With a capo placed on the guitar’s third fret, one could play an open G Major chord, but it would sound like a Bb major chord.
Where one places the capo determines the pitch change. More specifically, with every fret away from the nut, the open strings raise one semitone, or half-step, in pitch. Therefore, placing the capo on the first fret from the nut will raise the open strings one half-step. But setting the capo on the second fret would raise the open strings a whole step. These pitch changes, in turn, affect chords as well.
Remember that Bb Major chord I mentioned? I moved the capo to the third fret to play an open G Major chord that sounds like a Bb Major chord. Three frets equal three semitones, otherwise known as a minor third. A minor third from G is Bb. In short, moving the capo to the third fret transposed that open G Major chord a minor third up.
Here is a chart that shows how capo placement affects five of the most used guitar keys:
Musicians use transposition to take full advantage of their capo. First, they track the chord progression of the song they wish to play in its appropriate key. From there, they choose the key they want to play in.
Usually, this is a more straightforward key that is nearby. After placing the capo on the correct fret, musicians refer back to the chord progressions and play them as they would in their chosen key rather than the song’s original key.
In short, without a capo, guitars get tuned to play notes that are components of a C major scale.
Furthermore, the most straightforward key signatures on a guitar are C major, A major, G Major, E Major, and D major.
Placing a capo on the guitar allows musicians to play complicated chords using the aforementioned key signatures’ straightforward chords’ fingerings. However, since a guitar plays all keys, there technically is no key explicitly determined for guitars.