Where to capo for C Aeolian
Put the capo at fret 3 and play C Aeolian using A Aeolian shapes. That is the easiest of the eight positions ranked below, and it is what most players reach for. Against playing C Aeolian open, it drops the mean difficulty of the key's seven chords from 5.6 to 3.4 and gains 15 ringing open strings.
You want C. Capo 3 and play in A.
All eight positions, ranked
Each row transposes C Aeolian down by that many frets to find the shapes your hand would actually make, then scores the best voicing of all seven chords — fewer fingers, less stretch, closer to the nut, fewer muted strings. Lower is easier. Standard tuning (E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4).
| Capo | Shapes you play | Open strings | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | A Aeolian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 1 | B Aeolian | 19 | 3.9 |
| 6 | F# Aeolian | 14 | 4.3 |
| 4 | Ab Aeolian | 8 | 5.2 |
| 5 | G Aeolian | 6 | 5.6 |
| None | C Aeolian | 4 | 5.6 |
| 7 | F Aeolian | 2 | 6.2 |
| 2 | Bb Aeolian | 0 | 6.3 |
What you are playing
The seven chords of C Aeolian are Cm, Ddim, Eb, Fm, Gm, Ab, Bb — the ones the ranking above is scored against. Their diagrams are on the C Aeolian key page.