Using a Capo on an ‘Ukulele

Using a capo is considered “cheating” by a lot of people (me included). That doesn’t mean they can’t be really handy when you don’t know the chords to a specific key. A capo can also be used to move the key of an open-string picking part. A capo is an accessory that clamps across the strings acting as a “movable nut”, stopping the strings on a certain fret. The most commonly used capo for the ‘ukulele is the Kyser banjo/mandolin capo. It is the perfect size for the ‘ukulele’s four strings.

A capo is not a substitute for learning chords and keys. But it will save your butt when you are called up onstage to play a song in F# that you usually play in F.

Using a capo is easy. You just have to think of it as a movable nut. Clamp it on the fret you will use for the key you are playing in, and just play chords from a key you know. You can play in G using chords from the key of F if you put the capo on the second fret. Using chords from the key of C, you can play in the key of D (with the capo still on the 2nd fret). And so on…

There are only a few “key shapes” that will be used with a capo, so figuring out where it needs to be and what shapes to play should be pretty easy. Here are some common capo “chords to keys“.

Capo on:

1st fret – E becomes F, D becomes Eb, Bb becomes B, A becomes Bb, etc…
2nd fret – C becomes D, F becomes G, A becomes B, G becomes A, D becomes E, Bb becomes C, etc…
3rd fret – C becomes Eb, F becomes Ab, G becomes Bb, A becomes C, D becomes F, etc…

So, say you are at a kani ka pila and they are going to play Ulupalakua in A, but you only know it in F. No biggie. Put your capo on the 4th fret and play along. Use this opportunity to get familiar with the chords you are playing (the actual chord names, not just the shape). If you learn the chords as you go along, next time you need to play the song in A you will know it. Almost all Hawaiian songs revolve around the same chords, so you just need to get familiar with what those chords are in each key.

A capo works with picking too.