Should I get a capo?

[Samuel David Britton]

There's this little lick in this song that goes like this.

-----3-------4--------3--------1------
---1---1---1---1---1----1---1----1---
-1-------1-------1--------1---------1-
---------------------------------------

Should I get a Capo?

[jazzjune18]

Use your first finger as a barre to hold down the two "1"s. then use middle and ring fingers for 3 and 4. It may be akward at first

[Samuel David Britton]

That could work but that lick is played for over 4 minutes

[Pete Counter]

That could work but that lick is played for over 4 minutes

Ive never seen chris thile use a capo!

[allenhopkins]

If you think it would help you, get one and use it. Some players use them more often; I have one but only use it when there's a particular passage where I want the "open string sound," but can't use open strings.

Some people make it a matter of principle not to use a capo, but IMHO it's just another tool. I use one all the time on mandola and octave mandolin, if needed. Whatever works -- at least, that's my perspective...

[Mike Bunting]

I don't see how that particular lick would need a capo.

[Tim2723]

I don't see how something played for four minutes would be called a lick.

[Markus]

If you are playing that again and again, would it not be more musical to vary the chord form? It looks like it is just a D# to D#sus again and again, which there are alternate fingerings for. I personally do not really enjoy the sound of that form and find the moving note at the top tends to stick out more than I would want except on solos.

If I had to repeat one thing for four minutes, exactly the same always ... I would use my looper pedal. It would be more perfect than I could ever be over that period.

[lukmanohnz]

You could transpose the song down a half step. My wife bought me a mandolin capo. It works great on my daughter's ukulele.

I'm just being snarky - I agree with Allen. But be prepared for looks of derision from the capo-haters...

[stevedenver]

get a capo
i agree with allen-its a tool

and-i agree you will get a different sound-like the open string sound

i dont have one, and i kinda like flying all over the board, and transposing on the fly etc for any key

but there are certain dorne type or open sounds that just arent the same fretted

and, most importantly -and very seriously-
why strain -why hold something continuously fretted for such along time?

my hands get plenty of work in a 2-3 hour gig and i wouldnt think twice about using whatever i might to occasionally use 2 finger chords on a song or two, as my hands fatigue-same with...those full sized gutiar style picks that curl around your thumb-ive come to the end of gigs where i am not holding my pick to tightly anymore

there are times that im trying to play to the back of some cavern hall, and between some death metal type wacking on the mando by me, and passing hours, and a banjo player doing the same, id take any respite i can get

this thread has made me think i need a capo too!

[Samuel David Britton]

I think I will get one because it is better to have a Capo and not need it, then needing it and not having one.
For that song I will just loop it after I get the recording equipment.

[Marty Jacobson]

I agree with everyone here.

Get a capo. It's really fun to capo at the 5th fret-- you basically have a piccolo mandolin at that point, and it can be really fun to play with.

But for that lick, learn to play it without a capo, that pattern is pretty standard fare, and you can use it as a finger strengthening exercise, if nothing else.

[mandroid]

Tune the D And A up a half step, while you do your part. then tune it back down for the next song.

[fatt-dad]

So my new jam mate is fingerpicking, "Lindsey Road" on the guitar. It's a fiddle tune in E (yes, I already told OldSausage), but I'm using a capo. I've owned a capo for the last 5 or more years. Finally got a use for it! It is a lot of fun and yes it does impart a new sound to the mandolin.

f-d

[mandopete]

Ive never seen chris thile use a capo!

Chris who?

[rico mando]

no capo ever .

[herbsandspices]

Some people make it a matter of principle not to use a capo, but IMHO it's just another tool.

+1 to this. There are some situations where that "open string sound", as Allen says, sounds really nice.

I have capos for all of my instruments (ok, except for fiddle) - heck, I even use capos on the ukulele. The Shubb banjo capo works great on the mandolin... just be sure to get the radiused version if you have a radiused fretboard.

john

[mandolirius]

I have a capo, which I rarely use. But I do on occasion, mostly because I've worked something out that uses open strings but the key got changed later on. For example, an oldtime kind of tune in D that got moved to Eb for the singer's sake. But it's also fun just to play around and experiment with for the way it changes the sound of the instrument, lengthens sustain and so on.

The "NO CAPO....EVER!" opinion is one I've never understood. If it's some kind of statement, well fine, but there's no need to try and impose that opinion. Capos are fine, they're not ruining mandolin playing and, imho, there is no capo controversy just a few people who like to say "that ain't right" over and over again.

[Patrick Sylvest]

Derision over capo usage is snobbish nonsense.

[Paul Busman]

I don't see how something played for four minutes would be called a lick.

I don't see how something with four minutes of one lick could be called a song

[rico mando]

If you ask for my personal opinion .then that is what you will get . just because I do not like something does not mean I would not support some one else's right to use it , but I am not going to pretend to agree with it. you should not need my approval to do something any how .

[JoshGriffin]

I use a capo when playing rhythm guitar in church. I want to be able to play my mandolin in church and I have also thought about using a capo. If I was to use a capo on my mandolin, is there a capo chart to help with playing with a mandolin? Thanks!

[Randy Smith]

That could work but that lick is played for over 4 minutes

Use both a capo and some Excedrin.

[allenhopkins]

If you ask for my personal opinion .then that is what you will get...

I think the OP was asking whether using a capo would help him play a particular repetitive "lick," which otherwise would probably require holding a barre for four minutes. Apparently looking for a general evaluative response, focused around a particular musical dilemma.

"No capo ever" is definitely a "personal opinion," but put in such absolute terms, it may be less than helpful in this particular situation. And it calls for a bit more explanation. Why "no capo ever"? Because capos cause cancer? Because a real mandolinist has no need of this artificial crutch? Because one was bitten by a capo in infancy, and has a lingering phobia? Because capos look dorky stuck on the necks of mandolins? Because capoing a short-scale instrument can result in tuning issues? All of the above? None of the above?

Reading a bunch of these "capo" threads, I often wonder about the absolute disdain for capos that some Cafe members express. You don't get that from players of most other plucked string folk instruments, but here it's treated like an admission that one's not a very good mandolinist if one puts a capo on. I hardly use one myself -- haven't found a need to -- but I'd never say "never" to capo use.

And, of course, that's just my personal opinion, whether it was asked for or not.

[AlanN]

What seems to be more repeating than that lick the OP talks about are certain members' takes on the capo. How many times does a person have to say the same thing over and over before we get it?