If A Song Is In The Key Of C And I Put A Capo On Fret 3, What Key Am I Playing The Song In?

If a song is in the Key of C and I put a capo on fret 3, you will be in the Key of Eb. The following are the steps to figuring out what key you are in:

Step 1: Count From The Original Key
Step 2: If You Have To, Choose Between Two Keys

MUSICAL NOTES

In order to figure it out how we got to the answer, let’s use the following. This is the alphabet for music with all of the sharps and flats included. Between the A and B notes, there is a note that has two different names. Either A# or Bb.

STEP 1: Count From The Original Key

All you need to do is start with the letter of the key you are in and count up the number of frets for the capo. If you move up three frets/letters from C, you will end up at either D# or Eb. Choosing between the two letters is a little bit easier if you check out the sharps/flats that are in the key.

Key of D#	D#, E#, F##, G#, A#, B#, C##
Key of Eb	Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D

STEP 2: If You Have To, Choose Between Two Keys

Let’s choose the Key of Eb. The notes of Eb will be easier to think of while playing rather than trying to figure out double sharps.

Posted by Gregg Gascon

musician, singer/songwriter, & teacher