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Playing in D: Capo vs. No Capo

guitar intermediate

In this lesson

Defend your position, Counselor! Jake & I debate how to approach the key of D–open D position, or capo 2 out of C position! We'll use "Whiskey Before Breakfast" as a case study. I've included a basic melody tab with both D & C positions tabbed. All the notes are the same so you can see the comparison between the two positions, and have rhythm tracks as well!

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6 replies Visit the forum โ†’
  1. Roy Ellender

    โ™ฅ 6

    Third time coming back to this lesson over two years. It's amazing what shows up when you're ready for it.

  2. Gary Feldman

    โ™ฅ 9

    Same here at first. What fixed it for me was practicing that measure by itself for a week, no B part at all.

  3. Katie Clark Support

    โ™ฅ 11

    Great question. That's a slide going into the B part — I play it as a slide but a hammer-on works fine if that's cleaner for you. Do what sounds right.

  4. Owen Brady

    โ™ฅ 9

    There's a slower jam track under the resources tab on this lesson, worth grabbing.

  5. Deb Carrigan

    โ™ฅ 5

    Try it without the pick for a few passes. Sounds silly but it told me my right hand was doing too much.

  6. Theresa Nickels

    โ™ฅ 6

    Count it out loud. Everyone says it and everyone's right.

  7. Dale Hutchins

    โ™ฅ 2

    Count it out loud. Everyone says it and everyone's right.

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