Capo 1 chords

Capo on the first fret is actually, besides from other perspective, a tip for beginners who finds it rather challenging to play on steel stringed guitar and have problems pressing down strings. Its “hurts” less with a capo on since it lessens the pressure that is needed to press down a string. For a player that has passed the early beginner phase, capo 1 can makes techniques like hammer-on and pull-off easier by the same reasons.

On the other hand, some aspects of guitar playing are more difficult with a capo on. You have to recount frets. For example, fingerings at the third position will now be on fourth position and so on. You have to start think in both relative and absolute positions when it come to fingerings.

Chord with capo 1

C#

D#

D#m

F

Fm

Fm7

F7

G#

A#

A#m

Comments

C#m with capo 1 is possible, but the fingerings are easier with Am shape capo 4 or Gm shape capo 6.
G#m with capo 1 is possible, but the fingerings are easier with Em shape capo 3 or Dm shape capo 5.

Notice that , Db = C#, Eb = D#, Ab = G#, Bb = A#.

What happens in capo 1?

Concerning the common open chords, the capo on first fret will change chord as follows:

C > C#
Am > Bbm
D > D#
E7 > F7
Gmaj7 > G#maj7

This is just a few examples.

Which means, among other things, that the key of A, for example, will shift to the key of A sharp with capo on the first fret.

The new sound can be exiting since variation can fuel the inspiration. If you writing own songs, capo 1, can be a great inspiration for new songs. You will hear the sound a little different and perhaps automatically try new chords progression and position on the fretboard you haven’t done otherwise.

F barre can be played as open E

Not everyone is fond of barre chords. One of the most common barre chords, if not the most common, is F major. This can in “capo 1 mode” be played much more comfortable as an open E major. The same is of course true with Fm, Fm7, F7 and so on, which can be played as Em, Em7 and E7 shapes respectively.

Bb barre can be played as open A

Similar is the case of the barred Bb chords. These can now be played as open A chords.

Progressions

A progression to try is D#m – D#m/C# – D#m/B – A#7sus4