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A capo is a clamp that you can use on different frets of the
guitar to change the pitch of the open strings. Each fret on the
guitar is a half step, therefore if you put a capo on the 1st
fret, all of the open strings will sound a half step higher that
normal. This makes changing the key of a song very easy.
For example, if you have a song in the key of G with the chords
G, C, and D, you could change the song into the key of A without
having to relearn it. You would just put a capo on the 2nd fret,
and play the chord shapes G, C, and D. These chord
shapes will now sound a whole step higher. They will sound
like the chords A, D and E.
When learning more about using a capo, there are 2 basic ideas
to understand. Chord shape, and chord sound.
No matter what fret you have the capo on, when you play a G chord
shape, in your mind you will always think of it as a G
chord. This is a G chord shape. If you were to capo
the guitar at the 2nd fret and play a G chord shape,
then the chord sound would be that of an A chord.
This is the main idea of using a capo. You are using familiar,
maybe even easier chord shapes to get the chord
sound of less familiar, more difficult chords. If you
have a Bb chord in a song, you could put the capo at the 1st fret,
and play an A chord shape. But you will get a Bb
chord sound.
Page 2, Putting the capo on
the guitar 
Using
a guitar capo jump zone
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