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Guitar using a capo.

#22
This definitely depends on the guitar player. Some will transpose the key for you, but most of the people I back up will hand me a chord sheet and then say okay lets Capo that up 2 frets. If i have the time to think about it i will transpose the part, if i don't I will just put on the "mental capo" and move my hand up 2 frets and just pretend the nut it 2 frets further up and play it all as written. It works pretty good unless they are Capoed up 5 frets.
 
#23
I recently joined a "circle jam" group, with mostly guitar players, and me being one of two bass players. This was my first time playing in public, and my first time having to LOOK at a guitar player's fretting hands. I, like the OP, found myself COMPLETELY LOST when I attempted to play along with the guitar players - I fretted my bass according to the "lowest" fret the guitar player used... occasionally it worked, often it did not! And many/most use the capo...

I did some homework, and found a great learning aid. This interactive guitar lets you see and hear the various chords, and what the guitarist's fingers are doing, with or without a capo.

The biggest thing that I learned is that guitarists [can] use their thumb to mute their lower strings! Once I figured that out, and learned a few of their chord shapes, I could once again follow along, and stay in key!

Now the biggest challenge is learning their various fingerings, to figure out whether they are maj/min/dim/etc... They often don't call it out (or don't know it). It's unfair that as bass players we have to also learn the guitar player's fingerings in addition to our own :hmm:
 
#24
I've played guitar for 15 years (picked up bass within the last 2 or so). I don't always consciously think "I'm playing a C note/chord", but I do think in tonality, not position.

Unless I'm playing a Johnny Cash song, I never use a capo. However, I do tune down most of the time, so the same problem arises when my dad brings over his mandolin. If I'm playing a guitar tuned down to B, I tell him actual chord names, not "C down 2.5 steps."
 
#25
Dekker said:
I recently joined a "circle jam" group, with mostly guitar players, and me being one of two bass players. This was my first time playing in public, and my first time having to LOOK at a guitar player's fretting hands. I, like the OP, found myself COMPLETELY LOST when I attempted to play along with the guitar players - I fretted my bass according to the "lowest" fret the guitar player used... occasionally it worked, often it did not! And many/most use the capo...

I did some homework, and found a great learning aid. This interactive guitar lets you see and hear the various chords, and what the guitarist's fingers are doing, with or without a capo.

The biggest thing that I learned is that guitarists [can] use their thumb to mute their lower strings! Once I figured that out, and learned a few of their chord shapes, I could once again follow along, and stay in key!

Now the biggest challenge is learning their various fingerings, to figure out whether they are maj/min/dim/etc... They often don't call it out (or don't know it). It's unfair that as bass players we have to also learn the guitar player's fingerings in addition to our own :hmm:
Click to expand...

Good website.
 
#26
I've noticed when playing in jam situations as bass player it helps if you and the percussionist can lead the jam a little by establishing the rhythmic and harmonic foundation while the guitarist(s) work off of that. Most guitarists are happy to noodle and wank away while it makes your job much less frustrating and more satisfying. Capos can be a pain if your not used to transposing quickly...it helps if a foundation is laid before jamming begins (i.e. key, chord changes, capo positions, etc.)
 
#29
JT Bass said:
Just as an aside, and stemming from dhkp's edit regarding guitarist bashing, I think at times that as a very broad generalization more guitar players are natural 'ear' musicians who aren't too concerned with proper nomenclature, and bass players tend to be more analytical, maybe even mathematical, about music and their instruments. That's been my experience anyway.
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I play bass and I do everything completely by ear. I never know/care what key we're in or what scale I'm using. Takes all the fun out of it.

That said, you don't normally need to capo your bass, but sometimes it can give you interesting voicings while playing chords with open strings. We had a song for awhile that required me to capo my bass so I could ring an open note while playing a repeated melody over top.
 
#32
JTE said:
Looks like the question has been answered. But some comments seem to malign the use of a capo. Here's why good guitarists use them. They want the sound of open strings ringing while the change chords. I can play songs in Ab and Eb, but it's not going to sound the same with most of the chords being barred across all six strings instead of playing in G or D with the capo at the 1st fret. Depends on what sound the guitarist is going for.

Another good use of a capo is to open up voicings if there are multiple guitarists.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Another advantage of the capo for older musicians is, not having to use stressful barre cords.
P.S. After reading some of these responses, I wonder how many of you are deaf and have to play by watching the guitarist's fretboard?;)
Bill
 
#33
Orangeclawhamme said:
I oncce tried to play with a guitarist who said he tuned down a step.






You get three guesses where he kept the capo all night.
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I do this on my acoustic. I like a little thicker strings and it's bad to play around with tensions when the guitar is built specifically for a set amount so I have to tune to D standard. A lot of the songs I play are still in E I just capo the second fret.

It opens up a lot more options to me as a mediocre untrained guitarist.
 
#35
BuffaloBill said:
I wonder how many of you are deaf and have to play by watching the guitarist's fretboard?;)
Bill
Click to expand...

Um, some of us have only been playing for 6 months or so, and can't perfectly determine intervals, let alone having perfect pitch.

And not every guitarist we play with calls out the key or even knows... The last jam session one guy called out "G, C, D, with the capo on 2"... left me scratching my head until I realized he was really playing A, D, E
 
#36
JTE said:
Looks like the question has been answered. But some comments seem to malign the use of a capo. Here's why good guitarists use them. They want the sound of open strings ringing while the change chords. I can play songs in Ab and Eb, but it's not going to sound the same with most of the chords being barred across all six strings instead of playing in G or D with the capo at the 1st fret. Depends on what sound the guitarist is going for.

Another good use of a capo is to open up voicings if there are multiple guitarists. When I was the 3rd guitarist in band, I used a capo to play "Hotel California", "Little Wing" and a couple of others. That was so when I hit the tonic, it was a different voicing from what the other two were playing.

John
Click to expand...

Second time today I've read a JTE post that is right on the money. Using a capo (for me) is mostly about voicing. An A chord can be played in the traditional A form or capoed 2 frets and played like a G chord (sans capo), capo 5th fret and it's played like an open E, etc..., all this changes dramatically how the chord (as well as the other chords used in the song) sound even though it's still the same chord (key).

Also and excellent point is the multiple guitarists. As soon as there is more than one of us playing acoustic I will attempt to find a capoed place to play that will enhance the sound instead of just doubling up on the same voicing as the other players.

I know a guitar player thet would never use a capo in the past. He became quite adept at playing very well in Eb and Ab. I have however, after 15+ years, convinced him that it really does have it's merits! :)

Sorry about the off topic blurt, I got carried away.

Back to topic; when I am playing bass all that stuff is moot. Whatever key you're in doesn't change at all when a guitar player puts on a capo and playing bass in isn't more difficult one one key as opposed to another. Transposing on bass is a snap.

A bass player might use a capo for some sort of solo thing though I've never seen this done..., Maybe I could start a trend? I'll be known as an innovator, it will be ground breaking and change bass playing forever!!! :hyper::hyper::hyper:

Or not..., :smug:

Al

PS: oops, just read two guys here that have indeed used a capo on their bass. So much for my innovation scheme..., *sigh*
 
#38
On guitar, I use a capo for certain songs to be able to get chord voicings that include open strings that I wouldn't be able to otherwise.

On bass, I have used a capo before, with my previous band... There were some songs that were mostly in A#, and it was just easier to be able to have the open A string be A# so that I could play stuff higher on the neck while frequently plucking the open string to reinforce the main note...
 

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