Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Finding Chords in Key of A

Hello
I am getting ready to try a jam session. I did the basic back up lessons and the Utility backup rolls and watched the jam session discussions. I am going over some of the pick along songs and noticed many are in the Key of A. I am guessing because they are fiddle tunes. So I capo the second fret and peg the 5th string on the 7 th fret. Now a G chord is still five frets above the capo is an A. Are there any charts available that show what frets to go to to form other other chords so you can follow the pick along chord progression.?

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Hey John, welcome to the forum!

I wouldn’t recommend using a chart in this scenario. All of your shapes will stay the exact same as they are when playing open; they’ll just be two frets higher, and your hand will get used to it fairly quickly, so a chart isn’t really needed.

If the dots/fret markers throw you off, it may be helpful to learn what frets they represent when capoed (e.g. the 5th fret is now the 3rd fret).

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Welcome to the forum, @jjhughes53!

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Hi @jjhughes53 John welcome to @BanjoBen 's forum. Playing the 5 string in A is as easy as playing in G. You just use all the same licks you learned in G. Be sure to capo the fifth string to A. In this same capo position you can also play tunes in D using the same tunes you learned in the C position.

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Great question! Also recommend you watch this lesson: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/banjo-capo-strategy-banjo

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