Capo for violin playing?

February 21, 2008 at 10:50 AM · It might be more analogous to a guitar bar chord, which allows you to use the same fingering to play in different keys. For instance, if you play an F major chord with the bar across the first fret, you can simply slide the whole business up to the sixth fret to play a B flat major chord. A capo, on the other hand, is a mechanical device that acts as a de facto nut, allowing you to change the pitch of the open strings, and thereby letting you use certain fingerings that would have been difficult or impossible with a EADGBE tuning. (Particularly if you want to play chords with open strings.) It's worth noting that when you play a bar chord, your finger basically acts as a capo. Figure that if you play a first position E major chord, with the low-E, B, and high-E strings open, and then play the aforementioned first-fret F major chord, the pattern basically remains the same save for your index finger which forms the bar across the first fret, turning the two Es to Fs and the B to a C.

As far as the violin goes, any quadruple stop chord can be transposed up or down just like a bar chord on a guitar. To use the A major example, if you keep the same fingering, but shift to second position, you'll have a B major chord. In third position, it'll be a C major chord, and so on and so forth. Hope that helps.

February 21, 2008 at 01:14 PM · Like a lot of fiddlers, Michael's applying the terms from one instrument to another. Works if you know the tech on the instrument referred to. Some Cajun fiddlers finger on all 4 strings for seconding patterns. If you're doing this, you can slide the entire framework to a new chord. But just like frets get closer on the guitar, you have to slightly compress the formation as you go up, re-open as you come down. Same string-length reason for how far apart (whole) steps are in 1st pos.vln.compared to each higher pos. Not all Cajun players use those twisty/crampy chord fingerings, including really skilled ones, so I wouldn't obsess on it. Other things make your sound more authentic than that particular skill. Sue

February 21, 2008 at 04:10 PM · Mike is one of the true geniuses of the guitar...-I didn't know you played the violin-

February 21, 2008 at 05:42 PM · That's not Mike. That's Mike's cousin Michael.

February 21, 2008 at 08:14 PM · Thanks, Jim, but that doesn't mean Jay's not onto something!

February 21, 2008 at 08:47 PM · In that case, the "is there a line, and should we cross it" thread could use some genius for once.