Songs to play with a capo...

Hi everyone,
Can you please recommend some beginners songs to play with a capo?

I bought a Shubb capo that arrived today in the mail, so I'm keen to try it out .

You can learn the different voicing for all the chords you already know, and play all the songs you already know... Or you could play the same voicing and play all the songs you know in a different key!

I don't get it...
Either you transpose, or you use a capo (means, without changing the chords) in one purpose : change the key of a song when you feel it would be easier for your voice.

So you can use it with every song. I'll give ya an example : You like playing the chords progression C / F / G / Am but it feels like it's too "low-pitched" when your sing. Then use a capo 2 to sing it a lil bit higher.
No one can tell you if one particular song fits with your voice, you have to deal with it =). Everyone's different in that case.

Though I would like to share a few advices in that case :
- I would recommand to learn how to transpose, so you can better understand the different keys, be able to create songs.
- use the wonderful freeware GlabUke to transpose easily : it allows you to add a chord progression, then click on a simple button to transpose it 1/2 tone higher or lower. So easy. And you can learn new chords, or avoid using difficult ones ;-)
- beware of capos made of steel if you habe a high-value uke : this can sometimes do harm to the neck. I'd use an elastic capo (plus, way cheaper !) if I'd have to.

Personaly, songs in C/F/Am/G are often too high-pitched for my voice, and the chord progression in Bb/F/Gm/Eb a lil bit too low-pitched. So one of my soprano is tuned in D and I sing it easily on it. Without using a capo 2.

But that's personal . Hope this help, I don't know if this was very clear lol

You just put it on the instrument and play. There are 2 things you can do with a capo. Transpose the key of a song higher because its too low for you, or, play a song in one key with the chord shapes of another key. Example here is that it's fairly common in the guitar world to play songs in the key of E by putting a capo on fret 2 and playing chord shapes from the key of D.

Anthony

The 'Can Always Go Fishing Daily' video in this link will be very helpful (for anyone);

http://www.theukulelesite.com/free-resources

Emma, I'm afraid your question does not make sense.

However, if you want to use a capo, just find a song with chords that you can play that is a little bit too low for you to sing comfortably. Try the capo on the 2nd fret and it should feel easier to sing.

Frax said:

- beware of capos made of steel if you habe a high-value uke : this can sometimes do harm to the neck. I'd use an elastic capo (plus, way cheaper !) if I'd have to.

Click to expand...

The Shubb is pretty well designed to not cause harm - and is also designed to fit in a way that doesn't apply too much pressure to the strings. I have one as well. I primarily intend to use it to bring my baritone up to the higher key once in a while.

Emma: if you haven't run across them yet, there are a lot of beginners tabs/songs at places like:

http://www.ukulele-tabs.com/famous-ukulele-songs.html

http://liveukulele.com/easy-beginner-ukulele-songs/

and a UU thread discussing good sounding beginners songs: http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?18433-Easy-beginner-songs-that-sound-awesome

As others have mentioned, you can use the capo to change the key of a song to make it more fitting for your vocal range, if you are singing.

Otherwise, you can just use the capo to change the key to a more pleasant sounding key for your ear (or to escape some tough chords from time-to-time as well).

I just read the thread. Here is one I like that should fit what you wanted.

Rabbit Muse Darkness on the Delta
http://www.kiwiukulele.co.nz/songs/darkness.pdf
I capo on 2

Btw I just got a new G7 capo today.

Newportlocal said:

I just read the thread. Here is one I like that should fit what you wanted.

Rabbit Muse Darkness on the Delta
http://www.kiwiukulele.co.nz/songs/darkness.pdf
I capo on 2

Btw I just got a new G7 capo today.

Click to expand...

Thanks . Hope you enjoy playing with your new capo .


Sorry my question didn't make sense...I'm going to a group class for beginners and one thing we are going to learn about is using a capo. Our teacher showed us an example of where it was difficult for her to play certain chords of a song, but when she put the capo on she was able to play it easily. I was after song suggestions where a capo might come in handy for a beginner.

The reason was because your teacher was probably playing the chords in a different key, hence easier fingerings for those difficult chords in the capoed key. As a previous poster said, say you have a song in Eb, which are not the easiest of chords to play (Eb, Ab, Bb, C#m). Put the first fret and play the chord in D (D, G, A and Em), but effectively the tune is in the key of Eb. So that is likely what the teacher was doing. She was not playing the same chord shapes when she capoed her uke.

Honestly, at the risk of getting a (perhaps some might say deserved) boot up the backside, I have to say I don't have much respect for a "teacher" that encourages the use of a capo on an ukulele. It's not because the uke might be damaged or anything silly like that - it's because the ukulele, even a tenor, shoot, even a baritone, is very easy to play closed (barre) chords on and it just seems that a real teacher would concentrate on teaching that rather than handicapping their beginners with the idea that one needs hardware (a capo) to transpose a song.

I use a capo on steel-string guitars, and even there I wouldn't if I wasn't already having problems with arthritis and carpal tunnel rearing ugly heads. Steel string guitars require a pretty fair amount of finger strength to barre cleanly. Ukuleles, even a baritone with "hard" strings, are ridiculously easy by comparison.

I do know guitar players that were taught by their "teachers" - to play in A put a capo on the 2nd fret and play in G - tons of guitar lead sheets are even written that way. That's convenient, and as I mentioned I'll even do that on a steel-string if playing in something oddball like Ab or Bb. The problem is that many of those guitar players I know were never even taught WHY putting the capo on the nth fret and playing in x = y. That's the part that annoys me. When one has been taught the closed chords that is usually accompanied by enough theory to understand why that Bm up one fret is a Cm, for example. I've actually seen guitar "teachers" give students charts that show what fret to capo and what key to play in to achieve transposition to some other key. If they were really teaching then they wouldn't have to give out "conversion" charts because their students would know how to figure it out on the fly.

Sorry if I went off the deep end on this, but I once had one of those guitar players argue with me for thirty minutes that the "correct" way to play in F was to capo at the third and play in D. He even had the chart from his teacher to prove it, and had never been taught that, by gosh, one can actually make all the primary and secondary chords for the key of F quite nicely without a capo. The mere fact that I was playing in F using no capo was driving him to distraction so badly that he couldn't play...

Okay...rant over...for now...

John

-Emma- said:

Thanks . Hope you enjoy playing with your new capo .


Sorry my question didn't make sense...I'm going to a group class for beginners and one thing we are going to learn about is using a capo. Our teacher showed us an example of where it was difficult for her to play certain chords of a song, but when she put the capo on she was able to play it easily. I was after song suggestions where a capo might come in handy for a beginner.

Click to expand...

Glad it helped. I love my G7 capo.

OldePhart said:

Sorry if I went off the deep end on this, but I once had one of those guitar players argue with me for thirty minutes that the "correct" way to play in F was to capo at the third and play in D. He even had the chart from his teacher to prove it, and had never been taught that, by gosh, one can actually make all the primary and secondary chords for the key of F quite nicely without a capo. The mere fact that I was playing in F using no capo was driving him to distraction so badly that he couldn't play...
John

Click to expand...

So you mean all these years I've been capoing at the 12th fret so I can play in the key of B with C chord shapes is wrong?????? No wonder i keep running out of frets!