Subject: RE: capos
From:
Don Firth
Date: 17 May 04 - 12:09 PM
Matai, a capo is not just a "cowboy's crutch" as some jazz and classic guitarists mistakenly assume. There is more than just one reason for using a capo, all of which are musically perfectly sound. The usual assumption is that anyone who uses a capo is not a very competent guitarist and can only play in a limited number of keys. But note that the difficulty in playing in certain keys is inherent in all musical instruments. A guitarist, including a virtuoso classic guitarist, is not going to be real happy playing compositions written in a key anywhere on the left side of the Circle of Fifths (from F around to Gb). Stringed instruments are easiest to play in sharp keys, whereas brasses and woodwinds tend to be easier to play in flat keys. If you lay a composition in, say, C# minor, on a flautist, he or she is going to be tempted to flog you about the head and shoulders with their instrument.
Orchestral music is written in the full spectrum of keys, but it when it comes to assigning parts to the various instruments, the capabilities of those instruments must be taken into consideration. A good orchestrator does this. One of the things that makes a good orchestrator good is they never demand more from an instrument than it's capable of in the hands of a competent player. For example, Beethoven and Rimsky-Korsakov were excellent orchestrators. Tchaikovsky was absolutely brilliant. Mussorgsky was a good pianist, but a lousy orchestrator, which is why Rimsky-Korsakov and others did him the favor of re-orchestrating much of what he wrote.
Those who compose for the classic guitar write in keys for which the guitar is well suited. This means a fair use of open strings, especially the basses. You will note that most classic guitar works are written in keys on the right side of the Circle of Fifths—from C (at 12 o'clock) on around through the sharp keys. One of the Fernando Sor studies (No. 19 in the folio of Sor Studies with fingering by Segovia) is in Bb—bar chords almost all the way—and it's considered one of the most difficult pieces in the guitar repertoire. It's a beautiful piece of music, but it doesn't get played much, even by guitarists such as Williams, Bream, Isbin, Romero, Boyd, or Fernandez. I've only heard one recording of it, and that was on a very old record by Vincente Gomez.
Where the capo comes in is that a singer who accompanies himself or herself on the guitar has to work within the limitations of his or her own vocal range. Since I am most familiar with my own voice and its characteristics and limitations, I'll use it as an example. I'm a bass, and what I consider to be my best range (most comfortable and fullest sounding) is from a high of middle C (2nd string, 1st fret) down to the G on the 3rd fret, 6th string. I can vocalize up to F (1st string, 1st fret and down to the low D off the edge of the fingerboard, but my most reliable and best sounding range is where I have indicated.
Take the ballad The Three Ravens. It has a range of an octave and a fourth. As far as the guitar is concerned, I could accompany that easily in the key of Am. But that would take me down to a low E (6th string, open). I can sing it with no difficulty, but that's getting pretty growly. I could also accompany it easily in Dm, but that takes me to the D above middle C, and I would rather not go there. So I sing it in Bm. Top note, B, a half step below middle C, bottom note, F# a half-step below my most comfortable bottom note of G, but since I hit in only briefly a couple of times in each verse, no problem. I could actually raise it to Cm, but it's more comfortable for me in Bm and I fell it actually sounds better there. I could do it without the capo, barring the Bm and the F#. But I chose to put my capo on the second fret and play the accompaniment as if it were in Am. This frees my fingers to play some lute-like counterpoint, which is stylistically appropriate for that particular ballad. I would not be able to do the same thing if I were inhibiting my left hand by having to bar the Bm and F# whenever they came along. The use of the capo enhances the accompaniment, which, in turn, enhances the performance of the song.
I sing Bonnie Dundee in the key of C, which for that song, is the best key for my voice. I have no difficulty at all playing the guitar in C (who does!??). But if I put the capo on the third fret, I can accompany Bonnie Dundee using the A cycle of chords, where the voicings of the chords allows me to get a drone in fifths while I play a bit of the melody between verses, an effect that hints at bagpipes. This same effect is not possible if I use the C cycle of chords. The voicings aren't right. Once again, the use of the capo enhances the accompaniment and the performance of the song.
Now, as far as my competence on the guitar is concerned, I studied classic guitar for several years, and when I'm practiced up and have a good tailwind, I can play a number of pieces from the standard concert repertoire, including such things as Fernando Sor's Minuet in C from Sonata No. 20 and Francisco Tarrega's Recuerdos de la Alhambra, which is full of bar chords all over the fingerboard, in addition to having to maintain a fast, smooth tremolo for several minutes. I also play several flamenco pieces (flamenco guitarists use the capo—the cejilla—all the time, not to change keys, but to alter the sound of the guitar), so I don't think my competence on the guitar can be questioned merely because I chose to use a capo from time to time.
And I'm not the only one. There are a lot of folk guitarists out there who can play the bejesus out of a guitar in any reasonable key you care to name, but when it suits them, chose to use a capo to good effect.
Consider the possibilities of two guitars being played together. One guitarist plays without a capo, the other uses a capo and plays up the fingerboard. Lots of possibilities for different chord voicings and textures of sound.
Don Firth
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