Capo & transpose calculator

How the capo changes your key

A capo clamps across the fretboard and becomes a movable nut. Whatever shape you finger above it sounds higher — one semitone for every fret the capo sits at. So a familiar open G shape with the capo at fret 2 actually sounds an A; at fret 4 it sounds a B. Transposing does the same thing on paper: it renames every chord so the song sits in a friendlier key for your voice or another instrument, whether or not a capo is involved.

Use Transpose to shift a whole progression up or down by an interval, Capo at fret to see which shapes to finger so your written chords still sound, and Easiest capo to let the tool try every fret and pick the one that turns the most chords into open shapes like C, G, D, E, A and their minors.

How does a capo change the key of a song?

Each fret raises the pitch by one semitone, so a capo at fret N makes every shape sound N semitones higher. Fingering open-position chords with the capo at fret 3 sounds a minor third above open — an open C shape becomes a sounding Eb (D#). The shapes under your fingers do not change; only the pitch that comes out does.

Which capo fret gives me which key?

Count up from the shapes you already know. If you play in the key of G open, the same shapes sound in G#/Ab at fret 1, A at fret 2, Bb at fret 3, B at fret 4, C at fret 5, and so on. The capo chart above does this for the exact chords you enter, and Easiest capo works the problem backwards: give it the key you want and it finds the fret that lets you play open shapes.

Is transposing the same as using a capo?

On paper, yes — both move every chord by the same interval. The difference is practical: a capo only raises pitch (you can never go below the open strings) and keeps you in easy open shapes, while transposing on paper can move a song either direction and is how you'd rewrite a chart for a different singer or instrument. For lower keys you transpose down and either tune down or accept barre chords.