MusicReasonPitch, Tuning, Intonation, and Fret Geometry
What does this fret actually sound like with a capo on?
Choose a tuning and a capo position. This tool maps every displayed fret's sounding pitch, clearly separating the physical fret (where your finger presses relative to the capo) from the sounding fret (the note's true position relative to open pitch). It does not represent partial capos in this launch scope.
Answer
Want to learn more? Fretboards, Tunings, Capos, and Sounding Pitch
Understand
A capo shortens every string's vibrating length by the same amount, which is equivalent to adding a fixed number of semitones to every open string at once. Fingering "fret 2" with a capo already on fret 2 does not sound like the plain fret 2 of an uncapoed guitar; it sounds like fret 4 relative to true open position, since the capo's own two frets stack on top.
Worked examples
With a capo on fret 2 in standard tuning, the low E string's open sound (physical fret 0) becomes F-sharp, two semitones above its uncapoed open pitch. With the capo at fret 0, meaning no capo at all, every mapping exactly matches the plain uncapoed fretboard, confirming the capo contributes nothing when set to zero.
Method and limitations
Every position's sounding MIDI pitch is the string's own open pitch, plus the capo's semitones, plus the physical fret pressed; the sounding fret label is simply the physical fret plus the capo fret, the position that fret would occupy on an uncapoed instrument. Only full-width capos spanning every string equally are represented; a partial capo that covers only some strings changes each string's own relationship independently and is outside this tool's declared scope.
The distinction between physical and sounding fret matters most when reading a chord chart written for a capoed instrument: a chart that says "play a G shape" at physical fret 0 with a capo on means finger nothing beyond the capo itself, while the actual sounding pitch is whatever that shape produces once the capo's semitones are added. Confusing the two labels is a common source of miscommunication between players using different capo positions for the same song.