Russ, I don't look down on say Jimmy Vaughan for playing with a capo. Or Jony Mitchell, James Taylor or Jeff Buckley for that matter.

And the electric guitar is so much more than just power chords....

Some players use a capo for lack of experience, to enable them to play other keys. Do I look down on them - no - it is ok to be an inexperienced player.

But some players use a capo to get a certain voicing that you cannot get without using a capo. Some use them partially, just capoing a couple of strings for other effects, such as creating open tunings and such. If you want let's say a I-III-V-I-V-I voicing in C major.. it would be pretty hard - if not impossible without using a capo on the 5th fret and an open G chord. It doesn't matter if it is an electric, acoustic, ukulele, banjo or other string-slinger instrument. A capo is a musical tool, just like a pedal, mallet, pick, or metronome. In the end all that matters is the music you are able to express and the feeling you are able to project onto your audience. It doesn't really matter how you are able to do that. Whatever works for you is fine. Even if it means you only play three chords in C.

DocZ

[This message has been edited by doc-z (edited 11-20-2010).]