How to play chords from a tab where a capo is used
I am using Ultimate Guitar to get chords to play songs. I have noticed that most songs start out by giving you a background, tuning, and where to put the capo. Afterwards, it gives you the chords and lyrics, looking something like this:
www.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/42283781
In the song, it tells me to use a standard tuning, capo on the second fret, and play a C, Em, G, D, and F chord thoughout the song. My question is, should I be playing the shapes of those chords when I play, or should I be transposing the chords and playing the chord that, with a capo on the second fret, would sound like a C or a G or the others mentioned above. I'm very confused, as most of the songs I want to learn use capos and have barre chords which I, at the moment, can't do unless playing a chord that sounds like it.
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You simply need to play the chord shapes as indicated in the tab. They will sound higher with the capo. So, e.g., with the capo on the 2nd fret the C shape you play will sound like a D chord, and this is exactly the purpose of the capo. The Em chord will sound like F#m, which would normally (i.e. without capo) be played as a barre chord. Note that often it's hard to completely avoid barre chords, even when using a capo.
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