Capo Calculator
Type the chords of a song and find the capo position that makes them easiest. Or convert between the shapes you play, the capo fret, and the key you actually sound in.
Find the easiest capo position
Type the chords of the song as written. Separate them with spaces or commas.
Song key looks like B♭ major.
Best option
Capo on fret 3
Play G D Em C — shapes in G major. Every chord is an open shape.
| Capo | Shapes you play | Ease |
|---|---|---|
| Fret 3 | GDEmC | 100% |
| Fret 1 | AEF#mD | 88% |
| Fret 8 | DABmG | 88% |
| Fret 6 | EBC#mA | 75% |
What key am I really in?
Sounds in
A major
Where do I put the capo?
Put the capo on
Fret 2
Capo Chart
Find the shapes you are playing in the left column; read across to the capo fret to see the key you are really in.
| Shapes | No capo | Fret 1 | Fret 2 | Fret 3 | Fret 4 | Fret 5 | Fret 6 | Fret 7 | Fret 8 | Fret 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | C | D♭ | D | E♭ | E | F | F♯ | G | A♭ | A |
| G | G | A♭ | A | B♭ | B | C | D♭ | D | E♭ | E |
| D | D | E♭ | E | F | F♯ | G | A♭ | A | B♭ | B |
| A | A | B♭ | B | C | D♭ | D | E♭ | E | F | F♯ |
| E | E | F | F♯ | G | A♭ | A | B♭ | B | C | D♭ |
| Am | Am | B♭m | Bm | Cm | C♯m | Dm | D♯m | Em | Fm | F♯m |
| Em | Em | Fm | F♯m | Gm | G♯m | Am | B♭m | Bm | Cm | C♯m |
| Dm | Dm | D♯m | Em | Fm | F♯m | Gm | G♯m | Am | B♭m | Bm |
How to Use the Capo Calculator
The tool does three related jobs.
- Find the easiest capo position.Type the song's chords exactly as the sheet writes them, in any order. Every capo fret from none to 9 is ranked by how many chords become open shapes. The best is at the top. Expand the list to compare the rest.
- What key am I really in? Choose the shapes you are playing and the fret your capo is on, and read off the key the band hears.
- Where do I put the capo? Choose the key you need to sound in and the shapes you want to play, and the calculator gives you the fret.
Why Guitarists Use a Capo
Open chords are the easiest and best-sounding chords on the guitar, but they only exist in a few keys. G, C, D, A, E, Am, Em and Dm are all within reach of a beginner. A song in B♭, E♭ or A♭ is a different story: written out, it is mostly barre chords.
A capo solves that. Clamped across the neck, it becomes a movable nut, and every shape you play sounds that many semitones higher. A song in B♭ with chords B♭, F, Gm and E♭ becomes G, D, Em and C, the first four open chords most people learn, with the capo on the 3rd fret. Same pitches, same song, far easier to play.
Players who can handle barre chords use a capo for the sound too. Open strings ring in a way fretted notes do not, and a capo lets you keep that ringing quality in any key. Two guitarists often use it to share a song: one plays open shapes with no capo, the other plays different shapes higher up the neck, and the combination sounds fuller than two people playing the same chords.
The Arithmetic Behind It
Every fret is one semitone. To find what you are really playing, count up from the shape by the capo fret: C shapes with a capo on fret 3 are C, C♯, D, E♭, so you are in E♭. To find the shapes you need, count down from the song's key: a song in E♭ with the capo on 3 means counting down E♭, D, C♯, C, so you play C shapes.
The chart above does that counting for the eight most useful shape keys. The left column is what your hands do, and the rest of the row is what the audience hears. If you want to move a whole chord sheet rather than look up one key, the chord transposer will rewrite the sheet for you and suggest a capo position too.
Choosing Between Several Good Options
Many songs have two or three capo positions that score well. The calculator breaks ties in favour of the lower fret, but there are reasons to choose another:
- Sound. G shapes and C shapes have different characters even in the same key. G shapes have the low open E and A strings for a bigger sound; C shapes are brighter and lighter.
- The melody or riff. If the song has a signature riff, pick the position where it falls under your fingers naturally.
- Tuning stability. The higher the capo, the more it can pull the strings sharp. Lower positions stay in tune better. Retune with the capo on, using the tuner.
Minor Keys and Tricky Chords
The calculator treats minor-key songs the same way, and Am, Em and Dm shapes are just as useful as their major counterparts. Chords it does not recognise as easy, such as a B♭maj7 or an F♯m7♭5, count against a position. Sometimes the best answer still leaves you one barre chord. That is normal, and often that chord has an easier voicing in the chord library.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the calculator pick the best capo position?
For each capo fret from 0 to 9, it works out the shape you would play for every chord in the song, then scores those shapes: full marks for open chords like G, C, D, Em and Am, half for common barre chords like F and Bm, nothing for anything harder. The highest score wins, and ties go to the lower fret.
Does a capo change the key of a song?
It changes the key you sound in, not the shapes you play. Each fret raises the pitch by one semitone, so G shapes with a capo on fret 2 sound in A. That is why chord sheets write 'Capo 2' above chords that look like they are in G.
How high can I put a capo?
Physically, as high as the neck allows. Musically, above about the 7th fret the guitar starts to sound thin and the frets get cramped, which is why the calculator stops at 9. If a song needs a capo that high, try a different set of shapes: A shapes at fret 7 and D shapes at fret 2 both sound in E, and the second is much more comfortable.
What do the colours mean?
Green shapes are open chords a beginner can play. Amber ones are the barre chords most players learn early, such as F, Bm, and F♯m. Red ones are harder: less common barre chords and extended shapes. Hover over a shape to see the chord it actually sounds as.
Why does my guitar sound out of tune with a capo on?
A capo pulls the strings slightly sharp as it presses them down, especially if it is clamped too tightly or placed in the middle of the fret. Put it just behind the fret wire with the least pressure that stops buzzing, then check your tuning with the capo on.