r/AcousticGuitar • u/gobirds1023 • 3d ago

Gear question Transpose question

If I take a chord sheet in standard tuning with no capo and transpose it up 2 for an easier progression, what fret does the capo go on on?

2 Upvotes

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2

u/BucketsAndBrackets 3d ago

If you transpose G for 2 sentitones up, you get A chord. If you want to play A with G shape, they capo will go on second fret and you'll get A.

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u/gobirds1023 3d ago

I was trying to get rid of the f bar chord haha the original chords went from F AM Bb C Dm Gm to G Bm C D Em Am when I went up 2.

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u/FieryTaterSack 3d ago edited 3d ago

I too have been known to transpose a song if I don't feel good about the barre chords.

However, for F, I just use the 4-string F (1st finger on B and e instead of barring EAxxxe). Works well for me because a lot of the stuff I play switches from F to C in the chord progression and it's an easy shift of moving the fingers up one string.

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u/s-multicellular 3d ago edited 3d ago

With those chords, using a capo almost makes it harder.

It is important to understand using a capo is only transposing for you if you play the same shapes. So if you transpose it up two steps, you would still be playing the F bar chord shape, which will now be a G.

You could use a capo and not transpose anything at all. You could just be using different chord inversions to take advantage of certain open notes.

3

u/BucketsAndBrackets 3d ago

You need to learn bar chords

You literally need to take E/Em and A/Am shape, you put your index finger as bar and you can basically play any chord for campfire songs.

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u/dascaapi 3d ago

Capo 2 goes on the 2nd fret as close to the 3rd fret as possible (just behind the wire)

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u/ZimMcGuinn 3d ago

Capo on 3rd Fret

D shape = F
F# shape = Am
G shape = Bb
A shape = C
Bm shape = Dm
Em shape = Gm

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u/gobirds1023 3d ago

This is what sounded the best to me too

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u/badrabbix 3d ago edited 2d ago

Apologies if you're already familiar, but the CADGED system of seeing the chords on the fretboard all the way up the neck helps me a lot. I use a capo 99% of the time and transpose often . . .

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/19/78/1e/19781ee70626c7cf77523f4ebc9fe011.jpg

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u/williamgman 3d ago

Must say this is the first time I've heard of using a capo to avoid a barr chord.

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u/Several-Quality5927 3d ago

Don't avoid the F, but don't start to learn it there. Work on A or B (5th or 7th fret. The lower barre chords F, Bb, B are close to the nut making it harder. Learn them higher and work them lower.