And Now, A Word From Our Sponsors

What follows is the result of a blatant and barefaced attempt at getting something cool for free…and succeeding.

I’d noticed on Instagram that one or two musicians I follow seemed to endorse G7th Capos (the finest capos around, dontchaknow) so I speculatively suggested to the good folks who make them that if I were perhaps to reveal the finer details of the capo trick I showed to yr actual Johnny Marr a few years ago, I too might be worthy of such endorsement. Johnny himself is a G7th Capo user – he favours the Gen 1 model – and was genuinely tickled with my capo trick, so it stands to reason that I should be in receipt of a spanking new G7th Performance 3 capo should I share the secret.

The good people at G7th Capos not only concurred with the idea, they went as far as personalising a sleek satin black capo, just for me.

Magic!

The capo itself is solid and chunky yet light enough that you won’t even notice its weight when you’ve attached it to your guitar (acoustic or electric, it will work on either). Due to its unique Adaptive Radius Technology, there’s none of the string buzz or muted notes you might get from your current capo. You’ll not need to fine tune any of the strings. It’s designed to ensure fidgeting with it is kept to an absolute minimum – there are no screws to turn and adjust at the back. Through research and wizardry, the rubber pad cleverly distributes even pressure across all strings. Basically, clip it on, play immediately and you’ll sound clean, clear and in tune. That tapping you might hear in the background is the sound of sexy people at your window wanting to see who’s playing this beautiful capo’d music. Really, every guitar player should have one.

The G7th Performance 3 features a super-cool mechanism that allows the capo to be slid single-handedly by the player, even mid-song should the need arise. If you’ve ever seen Teenage Fanclub perform I Don’t Want Control Of You in concert, you’ll notice that Norman Blake performs a similar sleight of hand with his capo when the song’s key change kicks in. Years of playing the song live has enabled Norman to do this smoothly and almost unnoticed, unless, like me, you’re a geek for this sort of thing. So, yeah, I’m sure after a couple of hours experimenting with it, a G7th Capo should let you do this effortlessly too.

I wish I’d had one all those years ago when I stumbled upon the move – my signature move, if I may be so bold – while I was playing around with different tunings and looking for interesting open notes and how they rung out.

Here’s the trick. Make sure your guitar is in standard tuning then grab yr capo – a G7th Capo is clearly the preferred capo of choice – and do as follows:

Attach the capo to the 4th fret, but…

…attach it only across the bottom 5 strings so that the top E (the thinnest string) is still open. If you’re not a lucky G7th Performance 3 owner, sorry, but you may need to put your old capo on upside down and fidget about with the screw to make it fit better.

Next, play a standard C chord, but also place your pinky on the relative 3rd fret of the top string. Practise between pinky on and pinky off. It’s got a nice ring to it, hasn’t it? That’ll be due to the open E string playing alongside the ‘C’ chord which, when played at the 4th fret is technically an E chord. But enough of the hokey theory…you knew that already;

Mastered the pinky on/off strumming pattern with the C shape? Course you have. Now replicate that pattern, 3rd fret pinky included, by playing an A minor instead of the C. Once you’ve got the hang of that, begin playing a pattern between the 2 chords. Sounding good so far?

Let’s change it up a bit. Go to a standard open G chord. Strum it, then intersperse those strums by moving your finger (possibly your pinky, maybe your ring finger, depending on how you play a G) from top string, 3rd fret to 2nd string, 3rd fret. That open top E you’ll get when you remove your pinky now rings out loud and clear, the finger on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string helping to add a previously hard to get pleasing harmonic chime to the riffage.

Resolve your chord sequence by going back to the C chord, still with pinky on top string, 3rd fret.

At this point in our telephone conversation, yr actual Johnny Marr said, “Oh! Right! Run that past me again…C chord with pinky? A minor? G plus open E? I’m off to try that. Bigmouth and There Is A Light are played in that position. That trick might add something to them. Cheers!”

I suggested to Johnny that he throw in the odd D minor or E minor for extra colour. “You’ll get a good tune out of all of that,” I ventured. He said he’d have a play around with it, and for the moment, that was the end of that.

You can imagine the thrill, then, when a month or so later, we’re standing side by side having a chat after a triumphant show at Kilmarnock’s Grand Hall. By this point, Johnny’s met the fans, heard the stories, signed whatever’s been put in front of him, packed the tour bus and is in the process of saying goodbye. “Bye guys! Great show!” And off he goes. Then he turns, looks at me and with a glint in his eye says, “Oh yeah – neat capo trick, by the way! I’m gonna use that on something!”

And now you should too. Get yourself a G7th Capo and change your playing for the better.

Here’s Johnny’s demo of Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others. No capo required, unless you’re playing along to the live version from Brixton Academy. Same picking pattern, only you’ll need your capo on  the 4th fret for that version.

The Smiths – Some Girls Are Bigger Then Others (demo)

 

G7th Capos can be found here.

The Performance 3 Capo can be found here.

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Check out Hope For Justice, the charity supported by Gth Capos.