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Location: Charlotte NC | So tonight our church had our big quarterly congregational town hall meeting which started off with some lively music. I've recently been moved back to guitar/vocals full time with a newbie taking my place on bass. We did one song where in order to play it in the key of A instead of Bb (I hate the Eb chord) I just put the capo on the first fret. The only problem was that I completely forgot about this when we went into the next song in the key of G, which of course now made it the key of Ab. The keyboard player caught on right away and just slid up to join me. The poor noob bass player however didn't have any idea what had happened, nor did anyone else. He was trying all kinds of notes trying to figure out what went wrong. The more he tried, the worse it got. It sounded like a wounded cow in a flock of sparrows. Our pastor sitting in the front row was giving him puzzled looks and I was thinking "Man, I've drilled and drilled these songs into you and you still can't play them?".
Then I noticed that I was having to reach a little on my vocals and looked at my neck. That's when the horror set in. It was ME that was causing this train wreck and there was a chorus coming up that I could barely hit the high notes on in the right key, let alone a higher key. I made it through with some singing that sounded like Mickey Mouse. When we were done, the poor bass player, still not having a clue, mouthed "I'm sorreeeee" to me. I pointed to my capo and then the lightbulb went on for him. We all got together after the service and laughed so hard about it and the looks from the pastor that my stomach hurts. We definitely made a joyful NOISE! |
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Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | That story is too funny and the fact that it really happened makes it even funnier. Thanks for sharing! |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Even with my very limited performance experience...
Been there...done that.
Great story. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | tell'm next time you were attempting to compensate for low barimetric pressure. |
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Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | I made a similar mistake at our Easter Sunrise service. At 6:15 AM it was bad. I was supposed to move Capo Down 2 Frets. :o |
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Posts: 782
Location: Waurika OK | I can sympathize with your bass player. We were playing at a nursing home for Valentines day and the other guy had not removed his capo. It was really bad and I was really confused. |
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February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Yesterday morning we did Heart of Worship (Matt Redman) which is written in E. We do it in D, and my keys player modulates down. But she forgot to reset for the next song, which WAS in E. Since the lead vox for that particular song cues from the keyboard, it was fine until the bass player and I came in. There were a few awkward measures until we received the revelation.... |
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Posts: 580
Location: NW NJ | Same thing happened to me at our second (of three) Easter services. My keys player happened to be my goddess of a wife, and left the keyboard transposed for the next song. Funny thing is she figured that the rest of the band was wrong ... ;) |
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Location: closely held secret | Don't you know the keys player is always right? (ask one, they'll tell you...) |
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Location: Minden, Nebraska | I didn't get an apology, so settled for a grimace and an "oops!" Adding the guitar and bass later in the song may have improved the dynamics!! |
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Location: closely held secret | That's when you signal for an acapella verse while everyone regroups... |
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Posts: 13997
Location: Upper Left USA | Capo Capers happen more often than we want to fess up to. Had to accompany a young lady on a song – usually capoed at the 4th fret. Started out and she stops me and says “that’s not right”. Doh!
This last Sunday the prerequisite practice was cancelled due to majority sickness and such. We did some “standards” with a quick practice before. I had a little trouble catching the Capo changes.
There was a period where our Leader was using a “Cut” capo, sometimes in conjunction with a full capo. Took my visual references right out!
Since I’m usually on a 12 string I avoid F, Bb and couldn’t tell you what an Eb even looks like anymore! |
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February 2004
Posts: 171
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma | Way back when...I was the song leader in college at my frat house and the pledges were singing for the sorority pledges... They were singing "I Will" by the Beatles (John Lennon really)... I forgot my capo and they had to sing it acapella because I couldn't really play it in a singable key without the capo.... They did great but I did have to buy alot of beer for them to calm 'em down... I've since learned how to transpose almost any song into different keys without even thinking about it... Strange how the gift of transposition "appears" after a capo-less performance is forced upon you... |
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Posts: 2246
Location: Yucaipa, California | yup...me too... we were playing at Church two weeks ago, the song was in "G".... then a nice little old Church member sat at the piano and started to join us.. but she was in "A"... I did a quick capo slide... still wrong... I just stepped back from the mic and played "air guitar"... afterward I found that the pianist moved from "A" to "F" without telling anyone. I was in "A", the other guitarist was in "Eb" and the pianist was in "F"...whooie! |
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Posts: 338
Location: Omaha | Okay, I confess, I've done the same thing, but hey, so has our keyboard player!!!! So we're about even!
(Whoever said it was right: keyboard players ALWAYS think they're right! I've got it doubly bad: both my keyboard player and our main drummer have Master's degrees in music - when those two get started...fagedaboudit!! Everyone else just starts rolling their eyes!)
Like this:
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: |
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Posts: 398
Location: So. Cal. | This is a very interesting topic. I haven't used a capo for quite some time now. I love the sound of certain voicings in the upper range with a capo. The bands that I play with involve horns, and as some of you know, that means Bb, Eb, Ab etc. In this case, a capo may not work somtimes because the bright tone with a capo up may not befit the music. If you don't want to deal with all the barr chords, try this - just do the chord without the barr and don't play the open strings. For instance, on a Eb chord just do the D shape on the third fret but don't touch the fourth string (or A shape on the 8th fret 5/4/3 strings); simiarly an Ab chord could be a open E shape on the 5/4/3 string (4th position). You'd be surprised how easy it is and the voicing is quite unique too. Furthermore, the unfretted strings might actually help - C#m (Am shape 4th position) the open 1st E string doubles with the 2nd string fretted on the same E note. |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | ...I keep waiting for it.....aLeX? come on, you know.... |
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October 2004
Posts: 180
Location: Chicagoland | That happened once at my chruch when I was playing bass. Me and the other guitar player slid up, but the rhythm guitar/singer/ worship lead took his hand from his instrument, threw them into the air and said. " Wait wait, stop." Band stopped, total silence. He said quietly " I forgot to take my capo off."
Okay so mabye you had to be there. :-p |
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Posts: 2246
Location: Yucaipa, California | ...ok, St. Al seems otherwise occupied (hope you're ok Al!)... I'll say it for him:
"Real men don't use no stinkin capo!" |
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Location: NJ | thanks Tim I am asleep at the switch once again |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | ...keepin yer back... |
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Posts: 1300
Location: Madison, Wisconsin | How 'bout an alternative way to play Bb. Seems like it always sounds like crap when I play it as a bar chord or even leaving off the lower strings and just playing the upper 4. |
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Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | I've got a tune that I do that just works best in the key of Bb, but lays out so well in G chords. I have no problem with capoing at the 4th fret.
I have no shame. I'll do whatever it takes to get the job done in the best way possible. |
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Location: Madison, Wisconsin | Paul,
Do you realize that you probably just put Al back into the hospital? |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | ". . I have no shame. I'll do whatever it takes to get the job done in the best way possible. . ."
In that case, you should have no problem moving the capo to the THIRD fret to get the G to sound like Bb . . . ;) |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Jeez, I don't use a capo, playing mostly blues and punk, and just jamming. In descending order of use are E, G, D, A, C, F, Bb. As for anything outside of those, with the exeption of some minor and sevenths, they seem to be enough for my limited musical world. On the other end, when you explore the inner envelope of the limitations sometimes something cool pops up. |
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Posts: 1300
Location: Madison, Wisconsin | He likes the 4th fret and then he can play a F#, or is that a Gb. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | . . . OR . . he's tune DOWN a half-step . . . |
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March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | I think it's great that people play without a capo. I'm one of the few people I know who grabs an Eb at the 3rd fret with no problems. But if I'm fingerpicking, I want open strings.
As I tried to imply earlier, a capo is a tool. Use it or don't. Just get the job done. |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | For me a capo means getting the song into a vocal range that won't scare the dog. |
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December 2004
Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | I've seen Glen Campbell and Chet Atkins use a capo.
Can't be all that bad of a thing to do. I often use a capo just to use the same chords the original artist uses to get the song in a singable key for me. I am a baritone. When I try to sing like a tenor all the dogs in the neighborhood go crazy.
Of course when I sing Baritone, the people do. :D |
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March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | I stand corrected. I capo at the 4th fret and play in the key of B, using G chord formations.
I tend to pay more attention to getting the job done than worrying about details. |
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A capo is great, when you remember to take it off!