How to use the Capo setting.
We want to play a song that is written in the key of Db. This key contains the chords Db, Ebm, Fm Gb, Ab, Bbm and Cdim.
Some of these chords may be quite difficult to finger when playing on guitar, but what if there was an easier way to play these notes.
That’s where a Capo can help.
Firstly, Justchords maintains the designated song Key of a the song. So if we set the songs key to Db it will remain key of Db even when capo’ed.
Our Capo will raise the pitch of our played notes by one semitone for every fret position. If we place our Capo at the first fret and then play a C chord shape we will hear a C#/Db chord sound.
The chords in key of C are C Dm Em F G Am Bdim. After applying Capo 1 these easier chord shapes sound like Db Ebm Fm Gb Abm Bdim chords, but are easier to finger.
Note the songs Key has not been transposed. It is still Db. Sounds like Db but we are playing chords shapes from key of C.
How to use the Transpose key function
What if our song is written in Key of A but we want to play it in the Key of D to suit our singers voice, but using chords from the Key of C because we can easily finger those chords.
It’s easy. Justchords can transpose the key for you. Let’s see how.
Your song sheet is set to A, to define the key of the song. Simply use the Transpose setting to select the key of D. Now place the Capo setting on 2 (fret 2) to raise the pitch a whole tone.
The song sheet will now display chords in the Key of C. When you place your Capo at the second fret and play these chord shapes from the key of C they will sound just like the chords in the key of D.
Simply discard the Transpose/Capo settings to return the song sheet to it original key.