2 guitars / different chords

[Devilsrefugee]

Hi all newbie here

I have seen a band with two guitar players playing different chords as such - one with a capo on one of the frets and the other player without 

 

how do you work out where the capo should go to make sure the guitars are both in the right key?

 

if guitar one was tuned half a step down, could guitar two play different chords but with capo? If so where would the capo go?

 

im so confused 

 

thanks!!

[ezbass]

 

The guitarists are simply playing inversions of the same chord. For instance, player 1 plays A, D & G open shapes (no capo or barre).

 

 

Player 2 can play inversions of those chords using a finger barre or a capo on the 5th fret and play E, G & D shapes.

 

 

Same chords, different positions. If player 1 has downtuned to Eb, player 2 can either also downtune, or place the capo 1 fret lower to achieve the same effect.

 

Check out the CAGED system for more info.

[randythoades]

As @ezbass says, they are probably playing the same chord (a chord is just made up of a fixed group notes), just on a different place on the neck. Each chord can be played in several different ways, using the same actual notes, but just using different position on the neck, the same as bottom string and top string are both the note of E so can be interchanged even though they sound different. This is one of the benefits of the guitar, the notes are repeated multiple times on the fretboard so a player can choose in which order he plays the notes of a particular chord, or just in a position that he favours.

It is common with 2 guitars to play different positions (inversions), usually one in the lower registers and one higher up so that the sound doesn't get too muddy.

[Dad3353]

This is why it's a Good Idea to know where the notes are on the fingerboard, and not simply rely on 'shapes' to get by. How to construct chords, with their inversions, anywhere on the fingerboard, and how/why to name them is also one of the many aids to becoming a proficient guitarist. It's not Rocket Surgery; anyone can learn this stuff, and it makes understanding, and music creation, so much more interesting and fulfilling. 

[Devilsrefugee]

Thanks for the help all

 

i guy I knew ages ago gave me a pic of a keyboard and said you can put a capo on and then count the frets and count the keys in the pic (has the notes/chord listed) and you have what open chord to play on the guitar with the capo on but I can’t seem to work it out

[Dad3353]

26 minutes ago, Devilsrefugee said:

Thanks for the help all

 

i guy I knew ages ago gave me a pic of a keyboard and said you can put a capo on and then count the frets and count the keys in the pic (has the notes/chord listed) and you have what open chord to play on the guitar with the capo on but I can’t seem to work it out

 

It's a daft enough way of looking at it, but it does work, after a fashion. Let's take an example : the chord of 'C Major', played normally at the nut. Now put a capo on the guitar at the fifth fret, and finger the same 'C Major' chord. Using this piano keyboard picture, count every key (white and black...) from 'C' (our original chord), up five keys (five semi-tones, really...). This takes us from 'C', through 'C#', 'D', 'Eb', 'E' to 'F'. The chord now being played at this 'capo fifth fret' will be 'F Major'.

Let's do another. Finger the 'E Major' chord at the nut. Now capo the fifth fret. On the piano picture, count up five semi-tones from 'E'. We go from 'E' through 'F', 'Gb', 'G', 'Ab' to 'A'. The chord is therefore 'A Major'. Do you see how it works, now..?

There are far better ways to learn about the guitar fingerboard, the note positions and chord construction; we can maybe advise some routes to that if you're interested. Does any of this help at all..?  

[Devilsrefugee]

Thank you! So i guess what loses me is - how to know where to put the capo… 

 

if i played the C at the nut… if i put a capo say on fret 3 could i play a D# and that works? 

[ezbass]

38 minutes ago, Devilsrefugee said:

Thank you! So i guess what loses me is - how to know where to put the capo… 

 

if i played the C at the nut… if i put a capo say on fret 3 could i play a D# and that works? 

Yes, by playing an open C shape with the capo on fret 3, you get D#/Eb. If you look at the note fingered on the A string, with an open chord, that note is C. Move it up 3 frets and that note is your D#/Eb. Knowing where the root note on your open shapes is, will help you figure out what the shape gives you further up the neck.

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, Devilsrefugee said:

Thank you! So i guess what loses me is - how to know where to put the capo… 

 

if i played the C at the nut… if i put a capo say on fret 3 could i play a D# and that works? 

 

To me, this is ambiguous. If you play a 'C Major' at the nut, playing that same 'C Major' shape with the capo at the third fret will sound as a 'D# Major'. Is that what you meant..?

The real remedy is to do a few practise sessions, of about ten minutes each, at some time or other every day. Play each note on the guitar (I suggest starting with the open low 'E' string...) and name the note out loud as you play it. Move up one fret, play the note, naming it out loud. Up another fret, name it out loud... Do this up to the octave (12th fret, or higher if you wish...), then move over to the next string (open 'A' string..?) and do it all again, playing the note and naming it out loud.

Once you're at ease doing this, for all six strings, it can be varied, by going up the neck, fret by fret, naming each 'sharp' note as a 'sharp'. Instead of moving to the next string, go back down, fret by fret, playing the note and naming it out loud, but as a 'flat' for each of the 'flattened' notes (so 'G#' going up, but 'Ab' going down...). Yes, they are the same sound, but have a different name in context.
Once you're happy with having done that for a few days (or a couple of weeks..?) vary it again, by playing any note, on any string, anywhere on th neck, and naming it as you play. 'Sharp' or 'Flat' is up to you (give both names, maybe, as you play it..?).

This simple, idiotic exercise will very quickly get you used to knowing where any and every note is on the neck, at any time. It doesn't take long, but will serve you well throughout your playing career, at home, on stage or in concert. There are other building blocks; they will all benefit from the knowledge found here, and it will be you, able to answer queries of the sort on forums like this one. Hope this helps. 

[Devilsrefugee]

Thanks guys you are all really helpful

 

I need to like you say try to learn the notes but there’s a lot of them!!

 

if my guitar is tuned down half step and the chords I’m playing are B D E (normal tuning open chord shapes)

 

if guitar two wanted to mix it up then where can the capo go and what chords could I use?

 

if I’m getting this right I could go

 

capo on 2 (example) I now play an open D chord shape?

 

the original D chord shape i change and now play an open F chord 

 

and the original E chord, I now play an open G chord shape

 

 

have i got any of that right? 

[Dad3353]

Maybe it's me that has been doing it wrong all these decades, I find all of this far more simple, by never using a capo. (Yes, I know that they have their uses, but, to me, this isn't one of them...). To me, when I'm fingering a 'D' shape at the nut, I'm playing a 'D Major'. I move up two frets (a whole tone...) and I'm playing an 'E Major'. Please note that I'll only be playing the top three strings, and will 'mute' the others. I go up another half-tone and it's an 'F' Major'. If I want a 'C Major', I'll play the same chord shape at the tenth fret. This seems so simple to me. I can play an open 'E', barre it at the fifth fret and it becomes an 'A'. Barre again at the seventh and we have a 'B'. If it's just for playing chords with a different 'colour', or register, by going up the neck, I don't see what the capo adds to it.

When you say 'learn the notes, but there's a lot of them', how are you ever going to play any instrument if you don't want to do the simple stuff first..? There are twelve notes, twelve frets and six strings. Every string can play any of the twelve notes somewhere, and every string is the same as its neighbour, but a little higher (or lower...) that's all. Work out, laboriously, once and for all, where every 'E' can be found on the fingerboard. Is that too much to ask..? Do all the other notes; each one will be quicker than the previous one. It takes no time at all to do this, and saves soooooo much messing about for years to come.
It's up to you, naturally, and I realise that we're all different, with different ways of approaching the guitar, but it seems to me that you're wanting to go faster than your knowledge permits. Get a few (just a few...) of these basics down pat and it'll enable soooooo much faster progress for what's to come. Or have I been wrong all these decades..? 

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Devilsrefugee said:

Thanks guys you are all really helpful

 

I need to like you say try to learn the notes but there’s a lot of them!!

 

if my guitar is tuned down half step and the chords I’m playing are B D E (normal tuning open chord shapes)

 

if guitar two wanted to mix it up then where can the capo go and what chords could I use?

 

if I’m getting this right I could go

 

capo on 2 (example) I now play an open D chord shape?

 

the original D chord shape i change and now play an open F chord 

 

and the original E chord, I now play an open G chord shape

 

 

have i got any of that right? 

Ignore the fact that you’re tuning down, just think about the shapes at this point. For your example of  B D & E, if you now put a capo on the 2nd fret, you would play A C & D ‘shapes’. If you moved the capo to the 4th fret, you’d play G Bb & C ‘shapes’.