Capos: By Aaron Vasquez
Aaron Vasquez
By Aaron Vasquez
Written for praiseandworshipguitarist.com
All worship leaders need to have at least a basic understanding of how to use capos. Purchasing a chord chart for your guitar player(s) that is in an uncomfortable key can have several negative impacts. However, there is always a “tool” that can be utilized to get around these “negative impacts”. That “tool’ is a capo. A capo, if used correctly, allows the guitarist to play the chord shapes for a different key, but they will still sound in the original key of a song (See the video on capos for more information https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtAvSC-mYFc). It is what it is; some keys are justbetter for your guitarist, and a capo allows the guitarist to always play in one of these better sounding and more comfortable keys.
First and foremost, a chord chart that is in an uncomfortable key can make things physically more challenging for your guitarist. This can cause disruptions during worship if the guitarist struggles during the performance. I have always strived to make things as easy as possible for my worship team, especially volunteers. Also, when things are easier for your team, it will allow them to relax and be more able to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If things are more physically challenging, the chances go up of them being distracted and losing an experience to truly worship. This is something we should strive to avoid with our musicians. Musicians have got to worship as well!!!
Next, uncomfortable keys, such as Bb, will not sound as smooth or good as the key of G, for example. The reason for this is because 1st position open chords are more prevalent in specific keys such as A, C & G major. The “Open Chords” in these keys naturally create smooth voice leading. Good voice leading, put simply, is sharing as many common tones as possible between chord changes (For more information on voice leading, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_leading). In a nutshell, these open chord shapes sound better than bar chords, especially on an acoustic guitar.
These are the 2 main reasons that you need to utilize capos and provide the best possible chord chart for your guitarist. Due to this, Praise and Worship Guitarist is providing a diagram that will help you find chord charts that will best suit your guitarist, and your praise team. The way this diagram works is simple. The first 5 keys listed in the diagramare key signatures that your guitarist will most likely prefer to use a capo on. After the first 5 keys, the capo becomes potentially less important. The last 5 keys are, for the most part, completely optional. However, we provide optional “capoed” keys that you may want to use in case you have several guitarists. Option 1 of each row, in our opinion, should be your 1st choice, Option 2, your 2nd choice and option 3 will most likely be your least utilized option. As helpful as we trust that this diagram can be to you and your team, always communicate with your guitarist. We highly recommend that you ask your guitarist what key they prefer. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Print up the diagrams provided on the next 2 pages. We truly hope and trust that this will be helpful for your church and praise team. God bless!