Infographic, Transposing Guitar Capo Chords to Piano.
A semitone (or a half-step) is where you go from one note and the next. For example
C-Db is a semitone.
F-Gb is a semitone.
Ab - A is a semitone.
A whole tone (or a whole step), on the other hand, is where you move 2 steps. For example
C-Db - D is a whole tone
G - Ab - A is a whole tone.
And Db - D - Eb is a whole tone.
So! When the capo shortens the guitar strings, it raises everything by a number of semitones, one semitone per fret. So a capo on fret 5 would mean any chord you play on the guitar would be 5 semitones higher.
For example, if a guitarist was reading guitar tab with a capo on the 5th fret and they played Am, it would be Dm.
If you look at the diagram above, find the note A and count how many notes there are until we get to the note D.
A - Bb - C - Db - D.