First of all Welcome to the community 
Just come downstairs after working on the song. Not sure I have seen anywhere Justin uses a capo, but I could be wrong.
Might be to raise the pitch for singing but I am no expert on using the capo as only a Grade 1 Beginner.
Others may have a better answer
Cheers
Michael 
Hello @eric512 and welcome to the Community.
John Denver plays it in the key of A, Justin teaches it (with different chord shapes in the key of G.
So, yes, absolutely, you can capo at fret 2 with Justin’s chord shapes to match the original.
Note - if you see video footage of John Denver on his 12-string playing with a capo at fret 1 it will be due to him having tuned all his strings down one semitone (a common option on 12 strings to lower the string tension).
To play John Denver’s chord shapes you will need to be able to play F# minor as a barre chord - beyond grade 1 level.
I hope that helps.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Moderator, Guide & Approved Teacher
Richard Eric
When I started to learn this song, still learning it. I watched a live video version as I felt it was going to be more representative of what I was attempting to do as compared to listening to the official track. I do sing along to the track.
However now that I know more about the song I have looked at the video again . JD is playing open chords, a bit difficult to follow as you don’t always see his fretting hand but seems to be playing at least some of those that Justin has in his lesson and the app. The photo looks like a D chord of one sort or another.
Just thought it might be of interest.
Does look like a D maybe a Dsus4, perhaps with the thumb playing an F#. If so then Dsus4/F#. Otherwise thumb muting low E.
Looks like muting to me in this case so Dsus4
Yes, he does play a D chord.
It uses chords I, IV V and vi.
Justin teaches those as G, C, D and Em.
In the key of A they are the chords A, D, E and F#m
@Richard_close2u
Thanks Richard
Working my way through the theory course and just starting to getting an understand of what you have outlined.
Michael 
I just bought my first (probably not last) 12 string and revisiting this great tune. So glad to be around this crew, even though I’m mostly a lurker.
what’s the guitar Justin using in this video?
Welcome to the forum Sharath.
The guitar is a Froggy Bottom M Deluxe.
Sharath @sharath_chandra
I think this is the guitar Rick @stitch mentions.
Not the same guitar but you might be interested in this video, check out the cost!!!
Michael 
Hey y’all, although beginner level this is a great lesson.
I like do the hammer-on (i think its called that) for every chord in the intro and i think it sounds great. For the G chord i do base note 6th string (no hammer-on) then strum then A string amd hammer-on your first finger to the second fret.
Then for the Em chord i like to do that same thing. Base note E, then hammer-on A string to the second fret. Hammer-on to the D string sounds great as well.
Then for D chord I like to play the third string (Which would be the note A) and then hammer-on the same string to the third fret.
Then for C chord I play the second string (which would be the note C) then strum then hammeron to the same string.
It took a lot of practice for me to be able to play this, but it really sounds great. Sorry im not super great at guitar yet so i dont know all the terms for it, i just called them whatever i wanted. I recommend you try it cause i like the sound :)) Thanks!!! -Wet
Edit: I realize now that to do to C chord hammer-on, you must switch the bar of G after it to C, then continue. Yep thanks
golly this is fast. the chord changes are fine, but the strumming! i’m just trying to thrash out old faithful and its all quite ropey.
How many bpm would this be? It doesn’t seem to mention anywhere. Is that important to know?
There are apps and websites which can tell you this, but I don’t think it is important to play at the exact same speed as the original (who says John Denver always played it at the exact same bpm?). Rhythm is more important than bpm. No one will care if you play a bit slower/faster.
Hi @Kate_South: You could also figure it out yourself (it’s a good exercise): put the song on and go to a bpm calculator website (e.g. https://www.beatsperminuteonline.com/). You tap along with the song and it gives you the bpm. I get around 157 bpm for Country Roads.
Agree with @LadyOfTheCastle that knowing the exact bpm isn’t crucial, you can play at any speed you like. However, if you want to play at the full speed and you are working your way up to it using a metronome, then it helps to know your target bpm.
So true 
I like that actually, every concert sounds slightly different.
Not sure why I get around 80-84 then…are we counting different beats? Or are you counting the &s as well? It’ probably me, I’m terrible with timing
or a friend suggests I may be counting in 2/4, but I have no idea what she means
I think you’re probably counting every other beat. I checked against Justin’s demo at the beginning of the verse: at ~84 bpm I count 4 beats on the G chord. But that is 2 bars (as Justin explains when going through the chords), so I would be counting at half speed.
Even so, our bpm’s don’t quite agree. Your 84 should correspond to 168 for me. Perhaps we were listening to different versions. Or maybe one of us is a bit off.
By the way, there is some arbitrariness to all this: You could think of the song as 84 bpm and the G chord at the beginning of the verse as 1 bar. Or you could think of the song as 168 bpm and the G chord covers 2 bars at the beginning of the verse (as Justin does). The result is the same.
I think I must have been too. Aha, a more mathematical mind than mine, for sure 
I am probably the one a bit off, I am terrible at timing, as I said.
ahhh! complicated! 
even the abbreviation ‘bpm’ in a sentence stops my mind from working properly 
