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Neil wrote:
>bravo to douglas for the encouraging words. Yes , the
capo is an excellent tool, with careful consideration
and agreement between players!
>One more pooint to watch: tuning, it is worth retuning
and taking great care when applying the capo. keep it
parallel to the fret, find the optimum place usually
just behind the fret, for the best and cleanest sound,
take care not to bend the strings when you apply it.
capo is an excellent tool, with careful consideration
and agreement between players!
>One more pooint to watch: tuning, it is worth retuning
and taking great care when applying the capo. keep it
parallel to the fret, find the optimum place usually
just behind the fret, for the best and cleanest sound,
take care not to bend the strings when you apply it.
Good points, Neil. But I might beg to differ on placing the capo strictly parallel to the fret. This may be dependent upon type of capo, and theoretically it IS the best way to place the capo, but I find that angling it with bass side closest to the fret and treble side away, towards the headstock, allows my hand to fit open chords better with no compromise to tone. I use a Shubb capo and I can "tune" the tension very accurately so no buzzes occur. I also find that I rarely, if ever need to retune with the Shubb, but this is dependent on string gauge and tension. Am I starting to sound like an ad?
And while I'm babbling about capos, one of my favorite tricks is the "faux dropped D" capo placement. Place the capo at the second fret on all but the lowest string. Play an open D chord (which is now an E) and -voila!- the lowest string is a supportive low E bass note, and your three lowest strings can function as a root-fifth-root drone. You can even hump your first finger over the capo and fret notes at the second fret of the E string if need be. You can do this with the Shubb capo, but not with any of the "wrap-around" capos, and methinks the Keyser won't turn this trick either.
and above all have fun with it,
The best advice of all!
Douglas Baldwin, coyote-at-large
coyotelk@...
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