# Joe Bonamassa on capos and cowboy chords

> How to unlock new sounds by pairing a capo with open-position chords.
- Title: Joe Bonamassa on capos and cowboy chords · Guitar World
- Summary: How to unlock new sounds by pairing a capo with open-position chords. A quality capo lets you play open chords in any key while enabling string bends and…
- Keywords: joe bonamassa, capo technique, cowboy chords, open chords, guitar lesson, driving towards the daylight, danny kortchmar, string bending, e minor, guitar playing, Joe, Bonamassa
- Source: Guitar World — https://guitarworld.com/lessons/artist-lessons/joe-bonamassa-capo-cowboy-chords
- Published: 2026-09-19T13:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: joe bonamassa, capo technique, cowboy chords, open chords, guitar lesson, driving towards the daylight, danny kortchmar, string bending, e minor, guitar playing
## Capos unlock new guitar sounds
Pairing a capo with 1st-position open chords, called cowboy chords, is a simple way to discover fresh sounds on guitar.
## The story behind Driving Towards the Daylight
Joe Bonamassa co-wrote the title track with Danny Kortchmar in 2012. He rediscovered the unfinished song on an old Korg multitrack machine 15 years later and completed it for his album.
## Playing in F minor with a capo
The song is in F minor to suit Bonamassa's voice, but he uses a capo at the 1st fret to play it as E minor. This lets him use open-string embellishments that 1st-position shapes provide.
## String bending works with a good capo
Many think you can't bend strings with a capo, but that's false. The capo must be affixed tightly so bent strings return to their proper unbent position.

> There's an old adage that you can't do a lot of string-bending if you're using a capo. The truth is that you can, as long as you have a good capo.
## Fret numbers shift with a capo
When playing more than five frets away from a capo, fret numbers become relative to the capo position. A note at the 9th fret is actually at the 10th.
## Stay in key with minor pentatonic
When soloing in E minor with a capo, use E minor pentatonic or hexatonic scales. Avoid country-style licks suited to E major, which don't fit the minor tonality.
## Capos enable chords otherwise unavailable
Driving Towards the Daylight blends rock with country elements inspired by the Eagles and Jackson Browne. The capo helps achieve chordal sounds that would be impossible without it.
## Key takeaway

A quality capo lets you play open chords in any key while enabling string bends and embellishments that would otherwise be impossible.