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I realize I'm musically illiterate and I need some help with piano & guitar.
Here's the thing, my wife and I and a friend are writing some Gospel songs. Our friend Roger plays the guitar and mostly we arrange so we can transpose up on the keyboard and he can kapo the guitar, so far so good.
If we want to play in a key(Ab) that he does not know or can play the chords that's where my question comes in.
Where could he play to accompany the piano. Would 1/3 up work?
How is the best way to approach this.
Thanks
Wyndham
Last edited by Wyndham; 06/30/14 09:37 AM.
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He can use a capo to accommodate any key. Where he places the capo depends on what chord positions or shapes that he wants to use. He would then position the capo based on the root note of the chord shape he wants to use. Here's a guide that may help. http://guitar.about.com/od/guitaraccessories/ss/guitar-capo-play-hard-chords.htm
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Bar A in one of the hand shapes and drop the capo one fret for the flat. For example:
Capo the 4th fret and play in E = Ab
Capo the 6th fret and play in D = Ab
Capo the 8th fret and play in C = Ab
CAGED = the different hand shapes for the major chords and helps determine the available
capo positions to get the sound you desire for a particular song. Free lessons are available on YouTube.
Charlie
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Charlie,
I thought about just telling Wyndham where Ab was in using different chord shapes, but I thought it would be better if he actually understood how to use a capo so he could help his friend and himself find any key.
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If this is just for recording and not playing out live then he could tune is guitar down 1/2 step to Eb. Then if he fingered A you would hear Ab and D=Db, E=Eb etc.
If you are playing out live then maybe a second guitar tuned to Eb with the first tuned to E would work.
My preferred method of teaching would have him learn barre chords and chords is all positions, with and without a capo. That way he would never be stumped.
Last edited by MarioD; 06/30/14 12:39 PM.
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Bar A in one of the hand shapes and drop the capo one fret for the flat. For example:
Capo the 4th fret and play in E = Ab
Capo the 6th fret and play in D = Ab
Capo the 8th fret and play in C = Ab
CAGED = the different hand shapes for the major chords and helps determine the available
capo positions to get the sound you desire for a particular song. Free lessons are available on YouTube.
Charlie
Thanks for all that responded. It would seem from Charlie's post my first thing to do is printout a chord sheet for the song transposed in each key E,D,C and see how Roger gets along on our upcoming practice and see which position he's comfortable in . Above 4 fret capo, he has some playing problems. We do fine on transposing up, but here going down to Ab was a different way of thinking and as I mentioned I'm sort of behind the turnip truck. Wyndham
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Hi Bob. I agree your answer was more helpful. That was a good link you referenced.
Charlie
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Definitely a great link, thanks
Wyndham
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From personal experience, since I had to play in 'horn' keys all the time at my previous church.
It's my opinion that the chosen capo position and open chord shapes depend on the feel of the song, which would be preferred. For many modern rock and worship songs, the sound of add2 and sus4 chords is almost a given and open Cadd2 Gsus4 are easy to 'anchor' and move back and forth. For more gospel-oriented songs, where these chords are less common but perhaps dominant 7 chords are called for, then open E7, C7, A7 shapes are more comfortable. It really depends on the player's past experience.
As a result, I wouldn't sweat this too much - your friend Roger, if he's used to using a capo, likely already knows what to do. Print out the chord sheet in the actual key you are playing in, and let Roger work out what his preferred capo position will be.
Have this conversation with Roger and see what he thinks. Guitar players that sit in with bands are pretty used to transposing/capoing.
-Scott
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From Bob's link. Damn, never thought of it in that way. Never too old to learn. As you move your capo up a fret on the guitar, the root of each chord you play should drop by one-half step (one fret).
Here is a sample chord progression:
B♭min - A♭ - G♭ - F
This is a simple chord progression that nevertheless isn't so simple for the beginner guitarist, as it requires a lot of barre chords. We can use a capo, however, to make this task easier.
Step 1 - Place your capo on the 1st fret of the guitar
Step 2 - For each chord, count backwards on the musical alphabet by one half step
Step 3 - Determine your new chord progression
Step 4 - If new progression isn't easier, slide capo up another fret and repeat process
Using the steps above, when we place the capo on the first fret of the instrument, our progression becomes:
Amin - G - F - E
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It's taken me a bit of rereading to get the light to come on, thanks
Wyndham
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Dan,
I'd never really thought about it in the terms laid out in that article either. I just googled it to find a good explanation for Wyndham and found the article after looking over several others.
I don't use a capo that often, but in the given example of the chord progression, it probably would sound better with a capo because of the open strings made possible by using the capo.
Plus you could still throw in the barre chords to mix up the progression.
I'm gonna bookmark that page for the next person that asks about how to use a capo.
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Wyndham, Here's another handy little thing to throw in with your quest for music knowledge. The Nashville Number System: http://www.grossepointemusicacademy.com/nashville-number-system/It's not only an easy introduction to music theory and diatonic chord progressions, but it's also VERY handy in using a capo once you get a grip on the other tutorial I posted.
Last edited by bobcflatpicker; 07/02/14 03:16 PM.
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