How does the capo work?

Set a capo position in Settings and Fretscape shows you the shapes you'd actually play with a capo clamped at that fret. The capo is a Pro feature.

Turn the capo on

• Open Settings — tap the cog icon in the floating toolbar at the bottom of the app.
• Under Capo, switch Enabled on.
• Drag the Position slider to the fret your capo is on — anywhere from 1 to 12.
• Press Save Changes.

What it changes

With the capo on, Fretscape works out every voicing and diagram for a guitar that has a capo clamped across that fret. The shapes you see are the ones that actually work with the capo in place, not the open-position shapes you'd use without one.

You'll usually see fewer shapes with a capo on than without, because the capo takes some of the neck out of play. That's expected, not a bug.

To go back to playing without a capo, open Settings and switch Enabled off.

If the capo controls are greyed out

On the Free tier the capo is marked Pro and its controls are switched off. Alternate tunings and the capo are both part of Pro — see why can't I select a different tuning?.

Capo versus tuning

A capo and an alternate tuning both change where the shapes sit, but they're separate settings — you can use either on its own. If your chords suddenly look unfamiliar after turning one on, that's normal — see why your chords look different.