If you are a beginning guitarist there is no better way to get good fast then to learn guitar songs. The problem with learning a lot of songs is that the technical skills required can often times be too cumbersome to the new player. So, how can you open up a complete list of songs with out having to learn a ton of chords and voicing’s? big surprise here, use a capo.

Using a capo will allow you to play all open chords while allowing you to stay in the key the song was written in. If you are a singer/songwriter you will find this especially useful because you can spend your time working on the song and less time figuring out chords.

Here is an open tuning chord progression in the key of C(open position, no capo). The chords are the I (one), IV (four), and V (five).

The I chord
C major;

E |~——–|———|———|———|———|
B |~—1—-|———|———|———|———|
G |~——–|———|———|———|———|
D |~——–|—-2—-|———|———|———|
A |~——–|———|—-3—-|———|———|
E |~——–|———|———|———|———|

The IV chord
F major;

E |~——–|———|———|———|———|
B |~—1—-|———|———|———|———|
G |~——–|—-2—-|———|———|———|
D |~——–|———|—-3—-|———|———|
A |~——–|———|———|———|———|
E |~——–|———|———|———|———|

The V chord
G major

E |~——–|———|—-3—-|———|———|
B |~——–|———|———|———|———|
G |~——–|———|———|———|———|
D |~——–|———|———|———|———|
A |~——–|—-1—-|———|———|———|
E |~——–|———|—-2—-|———|———|

Learn to play these three chords and you will be able to play a ton of songs out there. Change the tempo or the progression and you can create a whole new song.
Like anything there is a bit of a learning curve but stick with it and you will get there.

Why does my guitar buzz when I use a capo? If your guitar buzzes when you use a capo I would venture to guess it also buzzes when you play with out the capo. Buzzing occurs when a vibrating string is hitting another fret, or residual vibrations in the guitar cause other loose components to rattle/buzz. This can happen quite easily with acoustic electric wiring and hardware that had become loose over the years or was not installed correctly.

If it is loose wiring or components the fix is quite simple, tighten things up. Make sure all of the mounting hardware is tight and all of the loose wires are bound. In some cases it may even be a battery vibrating against an internal wall. In cases such as this one can simply wrap a shim around the battery so it doesn’t have any room to move. Be sure not to use a conductive material.

If on the other hand the buzzing is coming from a string hitting another fret the fix is a bit more involved. The easiest thing to do is to bring the guitar to a luthier and have them take care of it. They have the skills and tools to dress your frets, correctly adjust your truss rod, or make any number of other adjustments that may be required. It is a good idea to bring your guitar in every so often for this any way. Like a car your guitar if used regularly will need a tune up.

So the short of it is that it is not the capo that is causing the buzzing, it is the guitar.