Banjo · Chapter 18 of 23
The Capo and the 5th String
A capo clamps across the neck and moves every open string up. With it, the same G-position fingering plays in A, B♭ or anywhere you need, and the short 5th string comes along with a little help.
Fiddle tunes come in the fiddle’s favorite keys: G, D, A and C. Singers need songs in the key that suits their voice. A capo lets the banjo play in any of them without learning new fingerings.
How a capo works
A capo presses all four long strings down at one fret, as if the nut had moved up the neck. Put it at the 2nd fret and the open strings are two frets (a whole step) higher: open G tuning now sounds like an A chord. You play the same shapes and rolls you know, counted from the capo, and everything comes out in A.
| Tuning | Capo at | Shapes you play | The tune sounds in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open G | 2nd fret | G, C, D | A (A, D, E) |
| Open G | 3rd fret | G, C, D | B♭ |
| Open G | 4th fret | G, C, D | B |
| Double C | 2nd fret | C, F, G | D (D, G, A) |
The short 5th string
The capo can’t reach the 5th string, so it has to be raised separately, by the same number of frets. There are three ways:
Retune it
Turn the 5th-string peg up: G to A for a capo at the 2nd fret. Easy, but strings don’t like going up too far.
Spikes
Many players have small “railroad spikes” put in at the 7th, 9th and 10th frets. Hook the 5th string under the spike and it plays two, four or five frets higher.
A 5th-string capo
A little sliding capo mounted along the side of the neck, which clamps just the 5th string at any fret.
Reading tab with a capo
In tab, fret numbers are counted from the capo: a 0 means the string at the capo, a 2 means two frets above it. Chord names are the shapes you finger, G, C and D, even though the band hears A, D and E. Our song pages say “capo at fret 2” at the top and show the music as it sounds.
Here are the first two bars of Devil’s Dream with a capo at the 2nd fret. The tab looks like G; the notation and the sound are in A.
Devil’s Dream
A busy reel, but its roll shapes repeat. Start at 50% and use the loop.
Check each one on your own banjo.
- I can put a capo on just behind a fret, so the strings stay in tune.
- I can retune the 5th string up two frets (to A) when the capo is at the 2nd fret.
- I read tab frets from the capo, as if it were the nut.
Remember
- A capo at fret 2 raises everything a whole step: G shapes sound in A.
- Raise the 5th string by the same amount: retune, spike or 5th-string capo.
- Tab frets and chord names are counted from the capo.