Capo Positions Calculator For Guitar

Capolator

Same progression. Different shapes.

Capolator is a free capo position calculator and guitar chord transposer built by a guitarist who wanted total freedom to explore any key, scale, and chord progression whenever the moment struck. Enter any key, mode, and progression to instantly see every CAGED position across the fretboard. Whether you're transposing guitar chords to a new key, finding capo positions that fit your hand better, or seeing how the CAGED system connects shapes across the neck, Capolator shows you exactly what you're playing and why. It supports all seven diatonic modes, interactive 12 and 24-fret fretboard visualization, and installs as an app on any device.

Building Your Progression

Choose your original key and Section 2 instantly updates to show every diatonic chord in that key
If your chosen key has a cleaner enharmonic spelling, Section 2 will reflect that automatically. For example, A# Major and its modes will display Bb chords since Bb is the more conventional spelling. The results will note any adjustment made
Select Major, Minor, or any of the 5 other modes: Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, or Locrian. Presets update automatically to match the selected mode
Tap any chord numeral to add it to your progression. Your chords appear in the slots below, color coded as you build
Fine-tune any chord before adding: apply flat/sharp, change quality (maj/min/dim/aug), or add extensions like 7, maj7, sus2, sus4, and add9. Any tones that fall outside the key show purple on the fretboard and in Notes and Pentatonic modes, just like borrowed chords
Type any chord directly into the free-text field for anything outside the builder. Try bIII, #IVdim, Vmaj7 and more
Blue chords fit the key. Purple chords are borrowed or outside it. Both are fully supported. Note that borrowed chord spellings can get enharmonically quirky by nature. If a name looks off, treat it as a good ear-training moment: same pitch, different hat
Use Clear to start over, or remove any chord by tapping the × on its slot
Choose your target key and results update instantly as you build

Reading the Results

A small ● dot on a card means the key spelling was adjusted to avoid duplicate note names or problem notes like Cb or Fb. Tap it to see what changed. In a small number of keys no clean spelling exists and the app will use your original choice as entered
Results show your progression in the new key with 5 capo positions shown as dots at the top. Tap a dot to switch positions. Sorted lowest to highest capo fret
Dimmed cards are high-fret positions. Still valid, just less practical for most players
Tap the position header to see the full scale of the new key on the fretboard. Root notes light up in gold
Tap any chord box to zoom in on the fretboard. Root notes show in white, chord tones (3rd and 5th) illuminate in green, borrowed tones in purple
Each chord box shows the sounding chord in white and the shape to play in red below it. Use the red shape with your capo to sound the chord above it
Toggle between 12-fret and full 24-fret neck view
The red chord name is the open shape you finger. B comes from the A shape moved up (root on the A string). F comes from the E shape (root on the low E string)
Switch between light and dark mode anytime using the icon at the top
Add to your home screen for instant access

1. Keys

Original Key

Scale / Mode

New Key

2. Build Progression

Presets

Chords in C Major, click to add

Common Modifiers

Modifying:

or type any notation + Enter

Your progression will appear here…

What Pro Adds

Note names in dots : toggle Notes on to see the actual note name at every fret position
Scale degrees in dots : Degrees cycles through Off, Scale (relative to the key root), and Mode (relative to the active chord root)
Pentatonic overlay : highlight the pentatonic scale on any key, chord, or mode
Interactive audio : tap any chord box to hear it played. Cycles through Off, Chord, and Arpeggio. When audio is active, every fretboard dot is tappable and plays its note
Harmonic & melodic minor : all 7 modes of each, full fretboard support
6 alternate tunings : Drop D, Open G, Open D, DADGAD, Eb and D Standard
Export fretboard : save a print-ready PNG with the parent scale and every chord in your progression stacked and labeled

One-Time Purchase

Pay once, use forever : no subscription
Works on any device with your license key
Early adopters are grandfathered at launch price
Free version stays free : Pro is for the serious player

Your Controls

Notes : toggle on to see note names inside every fretboard dot. Works across all dots including borrowed chord tones and pentatonic notes
Degrees : cycles Off, Scale, Mode. Scale shows intervals relative to the key root (1, 2, b3 etc.). Mode recenters on the active chord root as 1. Borrowed chord tones that fall outside the key will not show a degree label since they have no fixed interval position in the parent scale
Pentatonic : toggle on to overlay the pentatonic scale. For diatonic chords it builds from the chord root using the chord quality, with avoided tones (4 and 7) visible at the Intensity level you choose. For borrowed chords it shows the full pentatonic of the borrowed chord root only, telling you which pentatonic to use over that outside chord. Degrees and Intensity are disabled in that view
Extensions : highlights the characteristic tone of the active chord in purple. The sus2, sus4, maj7, 7, add9, aug, or dim tone that makes the chord what it is. With a borrowed chord and Pentatonic on, Extensions adds that tone as an extra purple dot alongside the pentatonic shape so you can see exactly where it falls
Tuning : changes open string pitches on the fretboard. Six alternate tunings available. CAGED shape names are hidden in alternate tunings since they no longer apply. Audio is fully tuning-aware
Intensity : cycles Low, Medium, Full. Controls how visible the background scale dots are when a chord is active. Low keeps non-chord tones subtle so chord tones pop. With Pentatonic on, it controls how visible the avoided tones (4 and 7) are
Audio : cycles Off, Chord, Arp. Chord plays all notes at once. Arp plays them low to high in sequence. When active, every fretboard dot is also tappable to hear that individual note. All pitch is tuning-aware
Export : tap to open three options. Save downloads the current fretboard as a single image sized for phones and screens, with a capolator.com watermark — clean enough to share by message, email, or AirDrop. Share does the same but opens your device's native share sheet (Messages, AirDrop, Email etc.) directly — available on iPhone and iPad. Print All generates a full stacked document: parent scale, pentatonic if active, then every chord in your progression, rendered at high resolution on a white background ready for paper

Good to Know

Save your license key : store it somewhere safe. You will need it if you clear your browser or switch devices
Yellow dot on a chord box : the note name shown is the simpler enharmonic spelling of what your input implied. Tap the dot to see the original
Color guide : orange = key root, white = chord root, bright green = chord tone, purple = borrowed or outside key, light purple = borrowed chord root
Borrowed chords : purple dots are outside the key. When Pentatonic is on, the purple chord root shifts to light purple. The full color system still applies so you always know what is in and out of key. Borrowed chord spellings can be enharmonically unpredictable by nature. If a name looks odd, it is the same pitch with a different spelling. Good enharmonic awareness is part of the game
Degrees: By Scale vs By Mode : Scale shows all intervals relative to the key root. Mode recenters on the active chord root as 1, useful for seeing how the chord functions in its own modal context. Works across all modes including harmonic and melodic minor
Fretboard shows chord tones, not fingerings : every lit dot is a note in that chord. In practice you play a subset depending on position. Once you move beyond CAGED shapes the root may be omitted in one position and needed in a neighboring one. Use it as a map, not a tab

Have Fun With It

Take your time. There is no right order and no wrong move. The ah-ha moments come when you least expect them.
Try a chord you have never played. Throw a borrowed chord into a familiar progression and see where the pentatonic leads you. Turn on every button at once and just stare at the neck.
The guitarist who spends five minutes here comes out the other side understanding their fretboard better than they did before. That feeling of things finally clicking is what this was built for.
This is your fretboard. Finally laid out the way your ears always imagined it.