IMHO, the capo is the most overlooked and underrated songwriting tool.

Yesterday I went out and bought myself another capo for my guitar as my old one finally snapped its spring after 12 years of faithful service to me and my songwriting.

It prompted me to think about why I use one and how much of an influence it has over my songwriting process.

(I am assuming that the reader of this post has some guitar knowledge and knows what a capo is and what it looks like. If you dont know I suggest that you go here. It's very interesting stuff)

The capo is either loved or hated intensely by the guitar community. In the hate camp opinions range from 'it encourages laziness in playing technique' to 'you're not a real guitarist if you use one' (whatever that means).

I, on the other hand am in the love camp. My primary reason for my love of the humble capo is because it greatly helps my songwriting. Heres how...

Capo's are used to change the key of a chord progression whilst still playing the same chord shapes at the same time. One of the things that I like to do is to take a chord progression of a well known song and transpose it say up 3 semitones.

Once I start playing the chord shapes again I change the strumming and the rhythm and start humming some other melody. Of course if nothing comes of it that's ok but most of the time by doing this I get a flash of inspiration and thats when the fun starts.

I don't see anything wrong with adapting a new idea from an old source (apparently Bob Dylan has said in interviews that he does this a lot in his songwriting). Capo's are a great songwriting tool for facilitating this.

Capo's also take the headache out of transposing a song to another key especially crucial if you are working with a singer of the opposite sex to the player.

If you are a songwriter/guitarist and you have been resisting using a capo then don't anymore! Go and investigate getting one (at least for your songwritings sake).

Until next time, happy writing,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Capo User
www.coreystewartonline.com
www.soultradermusic.com
www.theliarsbench.com

While you're here check out my other blogs
The Bizzo - Indie Music Industry Tips
Recording Studio And Live Music Tips

Download my FREE eReport right now
"11 Ways To Eliminate Writers Block FOREVER!!"

Keywords: songwriting tool, songwriting, singer songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting resource, songwriting blog, corey stewart