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Capo........

SpanishDave

SpanishDave

Mar 3, 2009
642
759
Vigo Spain
#1
Some advice, opinions, points and or thoughts.

I am in a cover band doing all sorts of Alt rock.
We do you song by a band called Vetusta Morla called La Cuardratura Del Circulo.
We sped it up a fair bit and changed key to find a comfy spot for the singer.
The song has a 3 chord chorus with 2 bars of open A. In this bit I was playing the open string and at the 12th for a really quick octave effect that sounded brilliant..... But..... The guitarist bought a capo today. We tried the song again with the guitarist playing with the capo on the 3rd.
It did sound ok and the singer was happy but they noticed that bit was missing.
I had a capo with my and tried it but it just felt all wrong.
I tried Playing C at the 3rd on the A string as a barre chords to be in position to play the octave on the G but just impossible at the speed I did it before.

Any ideas? Should I really play with a capo?

Thanks from David in Spain
 
#2
I am in a jazz/dance band that plays dance clubs with all the classic dances, and the occasional line dance. We have an arrangement of "Boot Scootin' Boogie" in Eb for the horns instead of the original E. I capo. I'll be damned if I'm going to play the 1 - b3-3 - 5 - 6-5 riff on anything but an open string, especially if many are dancing, and the bandleader opens up the middle for solos.
 
#4
Do what works.

That said, I tune DGCF and give it one heck of a try "as is" before changing stuff. With all of the alternate tunings and down a half step etc, I'm not sure there really is much standard anything on bass, just "typical" things...

I like the challenge of figuring out how to make things work on bass, I.e. my bass as I have it configured. Admittedly, I do occasionally envy situations where there is nothing to adapt.
 
#7
MacCartney-capo1.jpg


MacCartney-capo2.jpg
 
#9
This is an interesting thread as this issue came up last night at band practice. Usually we have two guitars in the band and I play one of them. But we have trouble always getting our bass player(s) to be able to play with our rather infrequent gigs (we are hobby/family band). One bassist is my son who is a cook at Country Club and he never can play, the other is my singer's boyfriend who plays professional in an Irish band and he always has gigs.

So, a few weeks ago we started practicing for a cruise party OM gig. We cover Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and I've played it many times on guitar capoed on the 3rd fret. So I switched to play bass a few weeks ago and played it the same with a capo and flew through it. But the other night my son shows me how to play it without a Capo. Last night I tried it at practice and could not keep up. I was totally confused because of the way I played it before on the guitar. The gig is Sunday and I am using a Capo.

Oh, and I find I really enjoy playing the bass and may stick with it in the band.
 
#10
I've been playing bass at worship since this Easter. If I'm lucky I have a song list on Saturday AM, and I'll have the sheet music for half of what we'll play the next day. It may or may not be played in key it's written in.

So, Sunday, I'll be looking at a pile of sheet music that may be played in a different key than written, with a few songs I've never played before that AM. So, if the guitarist capo, I do too.

I consider it a crutch, but given the circumstances, I figure it's a workable compromise.
 
#11
iiipopes said:
I am in a jazz/dance band that plays dance clubs with all the classic dances, and the occasional line dance. We have an arrangement of "Boot Scootin' Boogie" in Eb for the horns instead of the original E. I capo. I'll be damned if I'm going to play the 1 - b3-3 - 5 - 6-5 riff on anything but an open string, especially if many are dancing, and the bandleader opens up the middle for solos.
Click to expand...

Funny - I have the same issue with this song - our BL sometimes wants to do it in a different key. I didn't think of using a capo - why not?

Also - Sometimes songs like this are easier on a 5-er in second position.

So what kind of Capo are people using successfully on the bass? I have one of the cool G7th capos - I guess that would work.
 
#14
Bassamatic said:
Funny - I have the same issue with this song - our BL sometimes wants to do it in a different key. I didn't think of using a capo - why not?

Also - Sometimes songs like this are easier on a 5-er in second position.

So what kind of Capo are people using successfully on the bass? I have one of the cool G7th capos - I guess that would work.
Click to expand...

One of these has worked well on my 5ers:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acce...0@ADL4MF-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^30421688907


- georgestrings
 
#15
georgestrings said:
One of these has worked well on my 5ers:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acce...0@ADL4MF-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^30421688907


- georgestrings
Click to expand...

Cool! I've been using the old trusty Kyser quick change model on guitar for years, but it has never felt right on a bass for me. I'll have to check one of these out. In many more modern country songs, the keys on "Chick Tunes" usually seems to gravitate towards a flatted key, and I too have missed using the open strings.
 
#16
iiipopes said:
I am in a jazz/dance band that plays dance clubs with all the classic dances, and the occasional line dance. We have an arrangement of "Boot Scootin' Boogie" in Eb for the horns instead of the original E. I capo. I'll be damned if I'm going to play the 1 - b3-3 - 5 - 6-5 riff on anything but an open string, especially if many are dancing, and the bandleader opens up the middle for solos.
Click to expand...

Understood. I have always been a fan of if the song is in B it stays in B. If the singer can't sing it in B, then there are only about 5 million other great hit dance songs we can play in its original key that doesn't require shifting things around. I would also be the jerk to tell a horn section to figure it out in B instead of me moving to Bb. And most horn players are easily accomplished enough players to chart their own and be where they should be on a song that isn't in a favorable key for them. The six stringer rockers really hate to capo ever, and never like retuning, and as we all know guitarists are the reason we are all put on this earth. And also the reason many of us have lost our hair...our teeth......our minds.... Boot Scoot is a great song though! Fun groove and the kids say its got a good beat and easy to dance and all that crap.

But seriously, I hear a cover song in its original form. I want to deliver it in its original form. I like to play with a capo at home, unless I might happen to be playing six string acoustic on a gig. Totally good with it on a rhythm guitar basis as long as the song is played in its original key. I realize ...gee I wouldn't have some of you guys gigs for long with that attitude, yet it's what trips my trigger. And I'm a lead singing bassist, so I get away with what I get away with in a band setting. Most of the guitar players I have worked with like me to take the brunt of the arguments with a singer, instead of them. But it's sooooo easy to find hit dance songs in about any genre that works well and delivers well to the audience without needing to jump through those extra hoops.
 
#17
My guitar teacher many years ago always referred to the capo as a "cheater bar", and he was right.

I say, if that's what you need to do to make it work/sound right....use it.

I've never even thought of putting a capo on a bass, but if that's the right tool for the job....use it.

He just taught us to play in all the different keys. He was an old jazz player who could hear any other type of music there was, absolutely kill it (in a good way) and it was nothing to him. Still to this day, probably the best musician I have ever met, and I had the pleasure of learning from him as a teen.
 
#18
will33 said:
My guitar teacher many years ago always referred to the capo as a "cheater bar", and he was right.
Click to expand...

I disagree. While many guitar players use capos simply to avoid barre chords, a capo's real benefit is to allow the player to use a particular chord voicing in any key. For example: a simple I-IV-V progression in open E will sound quite different using a capo on the 2nd fret and playing the voicings in D. Now shift the capo to the 5th fret and play the progression in A. Same chords, significantly different voicings. None of them are right or wrong. It's simply a creative choice.

The same can be said for using a capo on bass to a lesser degree. Playing open strings and octaves on the same string will have a different timbre than playing the fretted note and its octave on a different string. Or perhaps a song calls for playing unison lines with a guitar that's using a capo. Or maybe the player wants to use an open string pedal tone while soloing in the upper register in Bb. You get the idea. There are lots of creative possibilities that aren't necessarily cheating. That said I am not diminishing the importance of being able to play comfortably and proficiently in all keys.

As capos go I am not a fan of the Kyser and Dunlop trigger designs. They apply way too much pressure and require careful placement to keep from pulling the strings sharp. My capo of choice is Shubb. Invalid Link Removed
 
#19
Right^^ especially when it comes to alternate chord voicings on guitar, timbre of open strings, etc.

I think the guy was just making sure his students were learning all the keys/positions, etc. properly and didn't want them relying on a "crutch" so to speak, at least until they knew what they were doing.

Once you're accomplished, whatever works best/sounds best, etc. is the right way to play it, whatever that may be.
 

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