baritone chord shapes

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    • #2594
      Hank
      Participant

        Does placing a capo on the 5th fret of a baritone guitar defeat the purpose of the lower C to C tuning and the longer scale length ?

        i guess my question is ….is a baritone still a baritone when it is fretted up the neck ??

        Hope this is not too stupid a question.

      • #2595
        indexless
        Keymaster

          Baritones…….(insert Homer Simpson drool here)  what a sound….Have you been listening to Joey Landreth?

          check here, http://don-guitar.com/BaritoneG.html

        • #2596
          Hank
          Participant

            I’m just curious about how capo would affect the tone of a baritone……..I’m still working on learning to play a ‘Normal” guitar.

            Although I did buy Dee a Luna ” Uke”….she has 10 days to learn two songs or back it goes…….or I’ll learn to play it.

          • #2597
            Daniel
            Participant

              Hi Zorro,

              Presumably the instrument has been built to take larger strings.  So bracing, action, and string gauge will still be the same if you capo up.  Therefore the general tone of the instrument should still be more baritone than standard guitar.

              The scale length of the bari at the 4th fret will probably be shorter than 25.5″ or even 24.9″.   So there will be that difference too.

              BTW, capo up to the 4th for E to E, capo up to the 5th for F to F.

              I think about this stuff because I’m trying to find the perfect spot between mandolin and guitar.  My 5 string emandos are 14.25″ and 15″ respectively.  I’ve got a 17″ mandola and a 19″ octave mandolin.

              When I capo the octave mando up to the 5th fret to catch the mandola tuning, I do mostly get the mandola tone.  But this is probably because I use the same gauge strings for both instruments.  The fretting is a bit tighter, but I’m comfortable with it.

              In the end I’ll probably need to have someone build me a 5 string octave emando, GDAEB, at 19″.

              Daniel

            • #2598
              indexless
              Keymaster

                This made me think of a Terz guitar or a standard in Nashville tuning capo’d up, music is wonderful

              • #2599
                Hank
                Participant

                  Your right about music being wonderful.

                  I have been playing a lot lately using Major chord “Grips” but playing up the neck positions to get different “Voicings”.

                  I used to always wonder why when I played a song it sounded so much less musical than the original even though I was playing the “Proper” chords…….now I have discovered the land of alternative voicing and am pleased with the improvement in my “Style” and sound.

                • #2600
                  Chrisakadigdog
                  Participant

                    Got to love that Lyle Lovett   KACHANG SOUND.  Capos are a great alternative for tone/voicing.

                    Traffic’s  John Barleycorn  capo’d at 7th fret is another iconic acoustic tune.

                     

                    Traffic’s John Barleycorn

                  • #2601
                    tadol
                    Senior Moderator

                      Think of it as playing barred shapes up the neck, but without having to work so hard. plus you get those nice open voicings that are almost impossible to get with barre shapes. Its not like playing a shorter scale instrument, because you still have the larger strings, larger body and soundboard, and all that –

                    • #2602
                      Hank
                      Participant

                        Oh Lord ….the faded memories of “John Barleycorn” ricochet through the box canyons of my mind….. shooting avalanches in Little Cottonwood Canyon and and listening to ‘Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys’ driving back to Park City in the Utah winter night…..with a little help from the “Herb”…..I was so much younger then,I’m older than that Now.

                        I’ll look that song up tonight.

                      • #2603
                        Chrisakadigdog
                        Participant

                          Stevie Winwood just recently added a newer take on the tune at his site//YouTube maybe.. D. Am  D , Am C ,G Am

                        • #2604
                          Matt Hayden
                          Participant

                            John Barleycorn’s a fun tune. I’ve got a relatively simple arrangement that glosses the melody if you’d like,   And it works, as Chris notes, way up the neck.

                            I remember capoing a Brozman baritone at the third fret and thinking “OK, I can reach things now!!”

                            • #2610
                              Hank
                              Participant

                                post it Matt…..I’ll try to find some “enhancement” while I learn it.

                            • #2609
                              Old 97
                              Participant

                                Tuned down to C and capoed at the 5th fret sounds different but very good on my Dread.

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