Capo & Vocal Range Adjustments

Instructional PDF 5 pages

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About This Lesson

In this lesson I’ll explain how we can use a capo to change the pitch of a song’s vocal melody. For example, if we add a capo on any fret and then play & sing a song, everything will be higher in pitch. This can move the song’s melody into our vocal range, which can help us comfortably sing! This can be advantageous if a song is naturally too low for your vocal range.

Likewise, we can take a song that already uses a capo (e.g. Here Comes the Sun) and play it with a lowered capo — or just remove the capo altogether. This will lower the pitch of the entire song, melody included — which likewise may lower things into our vocal range.

Whether adding or removing a capo, it’s important to note we can still play any song using the riffs and chords we already know. It will still sound like that song, and allow us to sing along. Just know that adding a capo will change the pitch of the song – meaning we can no longer play along with the recorded version.

See my video above for explanation & walkthrough of all this! Here’s what I cover, with chapter timestamps:

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 1:29 What It Means to be “Outside” of Vocal Range
  • 3:35 If Melody is Too Low?
  • 6:51 If Melody is Too High?
  • 9:06 If Song Already Uses Capo?
  • 10:57 Summary

Next Lesson: Capo & Note Names →