I Love My Capotasto

Okay, so this is basically a rant about how much I love the new capo (short for capotasto, Italian for “head of fretboard”- thank you, Wikipedia!) I have been bought and the sound I am able to produce with it.

For those of you less string-inclined, this is a capo.

By being placed tight on the fretboard of a stringed instrument- in my case, guitar- it changes the length of the strings (hence the Italian translation, since it does become the new fretboard-head), thus the pitch, and thus the entire key of the instrument. It’s an ingenious little device actually, first mentioned by musicologist G.B. Doni in his Annotazioni of 1640, though capo use began earlier in the 17th-century (so Wikipedia informs me). Some muscians use capos to help them with holding certain chord shapes as if they were playing with ‘open’ strings; I myself use one because I think it sounds divine!

I have come to the decision that my favourite  capo position is on the third fret, the regular barre positon of G, creating a tone that brings up the fallen red of a sunlight across a sandy beach. Yay, slight synaesthesia!  It helps that my Music GCSE enabled me to complete cadences by ear, as well as with some complex thinking about which key requires what cadence where. Ironically, I advanced my barre chord skills by playing Lady GaGa’s song ‘Pokerface’ over and over again.

I had a good session of composing yesterday, though it probably didn’t do my nails any good- not that I should actually have long nails on my left hand. Now, they’ve been brittle, chipping, breaking and peeling, calcium layers like an onion. My fingers flake themselves too; it’s lucky I’ve been playing for so long that my calluses are automatic.

I could go on and on about capos, but I shan’t, since a capo-specific post could come in the future. If you would like to know a little more, you need only ask!

Ruby, my darling guitar, steel-string, and acoustic with amplifiable qualities

Music is so much a part of my life. I love the wisdom that can be sought from it, the inspiration that is gained without much effort, and the ability that is honed and will always become better. There are many great musicians in the world, there have, indeed, been some remarkable , but there will never be a ‘perfect’ musician. Music may have the appearance of sounding perfect, complete, but it can never be the best music, as such a thing changes with the turn of life. In any case, let music rein on so well!

Alexandrina 🙂

(Wikipedia page) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capo