Where To Keep Capo When Not In Use?

The best places to keep the capo when not in use is on the headstock, stand, pocket, on the strings, or in the case. Though there are pros and cons to each of these places.

PLAYING

What if a song you are playing requires a capo, but the next one does not. These are the places to keep your capo when you are not using it while you are playing.

Headstock: Placing your capo on the head stock is a great place to keep it. You can quickly take it off and put it there when you are done playing. If the next song require a capo, just grab it off the head stock.
On The Strings (Above The Frets): Some players keep the capo on the nut of the guitar, which is above all of the frets. Just make sure that the padding is just over the nut, otherwise your guitar will either go out of tune or be in the first fret.
Stand: One place to put the capo is on a music stand or clip it onto a mic stand. Just placing any capo on a music works, but only certain capos can be clipped onto a mic stand. Yes, there are different types of capos out there. Check out a post that I wrote describing the different types of capos out there.
Pocket: The good old pocket. One problem is that it can be hard to get out sometimes especially while playing: time is important. You would not be struggling with getting a capo out of your pocket when playing live.

NOT PLAYING

This is when you are done playing and storing your guitar.

Headstock: I would not recommend keep the capo on the headstock. Through some research, I found that the padding on the capo might react with and damage the finish on a guitar. This is typically from prolonged contact.
On The Strings (Frets): I would not recommend keeping the capo on the strings when storing. There are many reasons why not to do this. Check out this post that I wrote about it all.
In The Case: There is usually a dedicated area, in a case or on a gig bag, for small things such as a capo.

Here is a helpful chart for recommended places of where to keep your capo when not in use:

	PLAYING	NOT PLAYING
Headstock	✓
On a Stand	✓	✓
Pocket		✓
On The Strings (Frets)	✓
On The Strings (Above The Strings)	✓
In The Case		✓

Posted by Gregg Gascon

musician, singer/songwriter, & teacher