Guitar Capo Chart

A capo raises every open string by the same number of semitones. The chord shape under your fingers keeps its interval quality, but its sounding root moves upward by the capo fret. If you finger a C major shape with the capo at fret 2, the result sounds as D major. The shape is still physically a C shape even though the sounding chord is D.

Read the chart by starting with the shape name in the left column, then move across to the capo fret. The cell gives the sounding root. The chart does not tell you an entire song key from the capo fret alone, because the sounding result also depends on the chord shapes being played.

Use the calculator when you want a specific answer rather than scanning the whole chart. Choose the root of the shape you are fingering, choose major, minor or seventh quality, then set any capo fret from 0 through 12. The result keeps the chosen quality while transposing the root.

The chart and calculator are two views of the same transposition rule, but they cover different reference ranges. The comparison table stays compact at frets 0–7; the calculator extends the same arithmetic through fret 12. For the same shape and fret, both views should produce the same sounding root.

A capo transposes pitch; it does not automatically turn a major chord into a minor chord or a seventh chord into a plain major chord. A C minor shape at capo 2 sounds as D minor. A C7 shape at capo 2 sounds as D7. The root changes while the selected chord quality remains attached to the shape.

That is why the main table can show sounding roots without printing separate copies for every chord quality. Read a C-row cell as the sounding root, then keep the quality of the shape you chose. If your shape is Cmaj7, the cell at capo 2 tells you D, so the sounding chord is Dmaj7.

This rule applies to the chord symbol being transposed, not to every harmonic decision in a song. A capo does not analyze which key a progression belongs to, whether a chord is borrowed, or whether the music has changed mode. The tool only performs the stated shape-to-sounding-chord calculation.

If you are reading a song sheet, pay attention to the symbol after the root. C, Cm, C7, Cmaj7 and Cm7 are not interchangeable chord qualities. Moving the capo changes the root spelling but does not erase the suffix. Keeping that suffix visible is the simplest way to avoid a correct transposition with the wrong chord type.

Sometimes you know the chord you want to hear and need an easier open shape. The reverse finder checks the supported open-shape roots C, D, E, G and A through capo frets 0–7 and lists the combinations that produce the selected target root.

For example, if the target is D major, one option is a C major shape at capo 2. If the target is A major, a G major shape at capo 2 is one option. The same root relationship works for the supported minor and seventh qualities because the quality is carried with the shape.

The reverse list is not a ranking of the most comfortable choice and does not know the voicing, song arrangement or singer's preferred range. It simply identifies mathematically valid combinations among the supported shape roots and capo range. Choose among them based on the chord shapes and register that fit your music.

A reverse result can also help when one shape is uncomfortable. If two listed combinations produce the same sounding chord, you can compare the surrounding progression and choose the set of shapes that gives the most practical transitions. This tool does not choose for you because comfort depends on the full sequence, not one isolated chord.

Questions such as “What key is capo 2?” are incomplete unless the chord shapes or harmonic context are also known. Capo 2 raises every shape by two semitones, so a C shape sounds D, a G shape sounds A and an E shape sounds F-sharp. Those results are different sounding roots even though the capo is in the same place.

If someone says “play a G shape with capo 2,” the sounding chord is A. If a progression uses G, C and D shapes with capo 2, the sounding chords are A, D and E. That collection can help you infer musical context, but the capo fret alone cannot supply that information.

Treat the capo as a transposition device on the neck. It creates a new temporary nut and shortens the vibrating string length for open-string shapes. The chart therefore answers shape-to-sounding-root questions, not a general key-detection problem.

The same caution applies to phrases such as “capo in the key of G.” People often use that informally to mean a set of shapes or a performance setup, but the exact sounding key depends on which shapes and progression are used. This page avoids turning an ambiguous phrase into a single automatic answer.

C major shape + capo 2 = D major. G major shape + capo 2 = A major. D major shape + capo 2 = E major. These examples all use the same two-semitone shift, which is why each sounding root is two semitones above its shape root.

For a minor example, A minor shape + capo 3 sounds C minor. For a dominant seventh example, E7 shape + capo 1 sounds F7. The quality stays minor or dominant seventh while the root moves upward by the capo distance.

If you want to keep familiar open shapes while matching a singer's range, use the reverse finder to see which supported shapes can produce the needed sounding root. Then check the whole progression, not only one chord, because every chord in the arrangement must transpose consistently.

You can verify any example by counting semitones upward from the shape root. Capo 1 moves one semitone, capo 2 moves two and so on. The chart performs that counting for you, but understanding the direction helps you spot obvious mistakes when you transpose several chords by hand.