What is the point of using a partial capo?
The partial capo expands the realm of possibilities of what you can do with a guitar, similar to the way altered tunings offer new options. You only have so many fingers, and a partial capo changes the geometry of what your guitar can do. It has several advantages over altered tunings in that 1) you don’t have to retune 2) You don’t have to re-learn the fingerboard with each new capo configuration, the way you do when you try a new tuning, and 3) It allows you to sound like you are in an open tuning, while also allowing you to get out of the “drone zone” and still play “normal” sounding chords when you want to. So in the same song you could sound like you were in a different tuning and also sound like standard tuning. Just like a tuning, a partial capo gives you open strings in new places. Especially if you play solo, every extra string that you can keep ringing can really help your total sound.
