Capo use

I played guitar with a friend of mine yesterday in the back yard of library. I were chatting about guitar capo on ukulele. He asked me if I tried to tune my ukulele with capo. I did not yet.

This soprano is very low tension with a fine fish line on the first string. But I can easily tune with strong grip guitar capo. It may because the neck is smaller than guitar. The capo is not too tight.



But this capo is very heavy for soprano. Weight is also an important point for ukulele capo. I still do not recommend guitar capo on ukulele.
 
To use or not use is a personal choice. A capo is a very useful tool. Many people have hand problems as I do - there is no cure for old age. I use capo when playing in the key of F or B and sometimes the key of Bb. Without a capo it would be impossible. I play a Kala Baritone.
 
To use or not use is a personal choice. A capo is a very useful tool. Many people have hand problems as I do - there is no cure for old age. I use capo when playing in the key of F or B and sometimes the key of Bb. Without a capo it would be impossible. I play a Kala Baritone.

I am so with you.

We can never know how long we can play without one anyways.

There is a person in this forum who constantly comes telling me that I am limited and whatever when I once told of preferring open chords and easy strumming, instead fingerpicking that my nails can't do. My fingers are also a somewhat weak and everyday I have to practise to keep the strength in them. So they could never anyways have his/her moving chord theories in praxis.

And I do worry also about how long I'm able to have my finger knuckles ok without some some rheumatism or wear that even younger people pick.

So yes, lets keep that arrogance that some guitar forum I have visited and seen away from here and enjoy the music, best we can produce. Of course we can always listen when we can't ourselves much play anymore ;)
 
I'm not a big fan of capos. I do use them occasionally when I play with my church band. I'll get my music the Sunday before, and glance at the chords, then spy the Capo 1, 2, or 3 notation at the top of the music sheet & grumble. I try to transpose first and see how that works. I'll use a capo if I don't like the transposing options. My big problem is that I need a capo that can go on & off in a flash. On for one song, off for the next, with only a 10 - 20 second break between songs. I've tried a bunch of them, and keep coming back to the Kyser uke capo. It's intrusive, but it goes on & off quick. I like the G7th Ultra Lite uke capo as far as comfort & being less intrusive.

One capo story ...... the guitar players at church use their capos constantly. One of them is relatively new to guitar & it gives her choices in easier chord shapes. She plays a Taylor GS Mini. One Sunday, she had forgotten her capo & was very bummed. I always have one in my bag. My Kyser uke capo worked on her GS Mini, just barely, but it worked. So, as much as I dislike using one, I always have one handy.
 
My feeling about capos on ukuleles is that I like to always have one and rarely use one. It’s an annoyance on such a short scale instrument and certainly gets in the way with some first position chords. On the mando (also short scale), I would usually just transpose on the fly (easier to do because of its fifths tuning) and almost never break out a capo (but I keep one in my case, just because). On guitar, I often capo. I run a local jam and will often need to capo to put a song that someone wants to play into a key that I can sing, if they don’t want to lead the song and it falls on me. I see the grimaces on the faces of ukers and I understand their dilemma. It’s often just one whole step up (capo2), so I encourage them to just move up one letter in their head (not hard to work out on the spot).
 
Maybe I don't know what I'm doing. I can sing in three or four different keys, but if I use a capo I end up trying to sing to it in a higher octave. If I were playing in the key of G I would get along fine, but if I moved the capo up the neck to turn the G into a C, I'm trying to sing soprano in the key of G. And I'm not a soprano singer. If I try to sing in a lower octave and I'm capoed off way up the neck it just sounds off to me. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. But it is so much easier for me to sing in the different keys if I transpose and keep the chords lower on the neck, regardless of the key.
 
I don’t sing in just one key either, it really depends on the range of the song. I’m an alto and generally like G or the surround keys. Occasionally I will be surprised that C will work (rarely happens) like on many Hank William’s songs. Problem is that lots of ukers will want to do a song in C (but they don’t want to lead it) that is just wayyyy too high/low for me to sing. If I weren’t leading it, I would try to sing along, maybe practicing harmony but it I’m leading it then it has to be in my key (or close)...transpose or break out a capo.
 
Andrew from rock class 101 recommends the G7 (https://rockclass101.com/ukulele-accessories-buyers-guide/), which seems to work on my pono baritone. It does slide around if I hit it with my fretting hand. Maybe I should try a guitar capo? Anyway, the G7 is less intrusive than others I’ve tried and came in handy when a songwriter sent me the chords to her song for guitar capo’ed at the 3rd fret. I put the capo on my baritone at the 3rd fret and it sounded just right.
 
If one learns those easy cowboy chords in just the keys of C and F, G and Bb,D, then there is no more than 3 halftones between each keys. Selecting a suitable key to a vocal range should be possible. Those are all ukulele friendly and common keys.

Add to those also the keys of Eb and A, that are too in my opinion quite uke friendly keys and not that uncommon. And we will have at maximum 1 wholetone between subsequent 2 keys. Transposing is a fantastic mind tool. Assign degrees to chords in a song. First better into the paper of course.

Nothing against capos, I just don't like them in ukulele. The lower the chord in neck the better it sounds, usually I mean, in my opinion.
 
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I kinda use a guitar capo on my uke. It's always clamped on the headstock, and the main reason why I do this is because I like how it looks lol.

From a more practical perspective, I know just enough theory and technique to be able to get by without a capo imo. Like if someone tells me "Capo 5th and strum Am," I'd rather just bar the 5th fret with my finger and have those first couple frets available for other Dm(ish) chords like 2210, 0258, or 5500. Also, my fingers are strong enough to bar the stuff I need to bar on uke (but not guitar though omg I got my acoustic set up and I still can bar stuff on it).

For reference, I use Kyser acoustic guitar capos and my tenor uke's a Makala (MK-T).
 
I pretty much transpose everything that isn’t in a key that suits my voice or that presents difficulties with chord transitions that are easier to negotiate in other keys.

Honestly, I wondered whether a capo would ever work for me with a uke ... I always imagined they would get in the way of my fretting hand...that is until my wife bought a Daddario NS ukulele capo. It works!

I still hardly ever use it though. :rolleyes:
 
I play lead in a couple uke groups and lead guitar in a bluegrass group. I use a capo quite often to add a different sound(color) to a song. If you have a few other guitars or ukes all playing the same chord shape, it sounds rather dull and lifeless. If not using a capo, I just play up the neck with a different chord shape. Doesn't slide around or get in the way of the hand.

I've gone thru all the capos thru the 60 years of playing string instruments. I finally broke down and bought a custom capo from Bill Stokes of Showcase. It's a Elliot style yoke capo. It's very thin and sturdy. No need to retune after putting it on like other capos.

Most don't use a capo mainly due to their sliding or interference with the hand. It's because you're using a cheap faunky capo. Includes the G7, Shubb, Thalia etc. Once a person learns to use one properly and has a proper capo, it falls into place how valuable a tool they are. Probably the next best capo I've used was a pencil cut down to the proper width secured by. a taut rubber band.
 
Weight is not a problem in sitting posture on guitar. But A and B (see the photo below) are too heavy on standing posture with a strap for me. When we play ukulele, we often hold them even in sitting posture or many people use strap in sitting posture. A and B may be too heavy. Weight may be one of the most important things of capo on ukulele.


1.jpg
 
This is why I went with the Showcase Elliot style capos for my guitars and ukes. Thin, lightweight, yoke style that eliminates having to retune after putting or taking the capo off. They are expensive, around125.00 but considering all the capos in my "not right" drawer, pretty cheap. They are custom made for your instrument and come with a registration number. Bill Stokes is a well known banjo player who helped develop the Mckinney/Elliot capos. He also makes the pre '41 finger picks made out of German nickel silver like they did pre-war II.

They are a pleasure to use and love the never needing to retune after each use. In the photo of the top, the one on top is a Stokes capo and bottom is the G7 capo. In next photo, G7 on left, uke in the middle and guitar far right.
 

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