[Cathy]

jj, it's not that I don't know most of those diminished, augmented, major 7th, and the rest of the chords. I used to play in a jazz band, back when I was young and foolish, and I HAD to know them, and how to transpose from one key to another without using a capo. Using a capo has nothing to do with that. Certain types of chords sound better on certain styles of songs. Open chords happen to sound better on Lightfoot tunes. In order to get songs in my vocal range, and still be able to play open chords, I use a capo. It's as simple as that. Nothing annoys me more than some guitarist that's too full of himself, trying to chord along using barr chords that sound like "chumpity, chumpity, chumpity..." Believe me, there's one at fiddling who plays this way. Erks me every time!