Eli5 CAGED system on guitar
In: 177
The CAGED acronym refers to the five “basic” chord shapes down at the bottom of the neck you learn when you start to play guitar : the C major shape, the A major shape, the G major shape, the E major shape and the D major shape. The CAGED method involves using these same shapes all the way up the neck.
For example, take the C major shape.
e||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
B||–1–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
G||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
D||—–|–2–|—–|—–|—–|
A||—–|—–|–**3**–|—–|—–|
E||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
In a C major chord, the note you normally play with your ring finger (A-string, third fret) is the C, the base note (it’s in bold in the diagram above). So if you move the same shape up two frets, this note will be a D and you will be playing a D major chord instead (the D again in bold in the diagram below) :
e||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
B||—–|—–|–1–|—–|—–|
G||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
D||—–|—–|—–|–2–|—–|
A||—–|—–|—–|—–|–**3**–|
E||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
Note that if you know how to play barré chords **you are already doing this**. The traditional F major barré is the same shape as an E major chord, just moved up one fret to make the base not an F instead of an E.
This is an E major chord (the base note is the open E string):
e||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
B||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
G||–1–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
D||—–|–3–|—–|—–|—–|
A||—–|–2–|—–|—–|—–|
E||—–**|**—–**|**—–**|**—–**|**—–|
And this is an F major chord (the base note is the F on the first fret of the E string):
e||–1–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
B||–1–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
G||—–|–3–|—–|—–|—–|
D||—–|—–|–5–|—–|—–|
A||—–|—–|–4–|—–|—–|
E||–**1**–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
Note how the shape of the chord is the same, all the notes have simply moved up one fret.
To practice CAGED, try to work out how to play each chord using all of the shapes. Try playing a C major chord using a C shape, then using an A shape, then using a G shape, then using an E shape, then using a D shape. To do this, you need to know where the base note is for each “basic chord shape”. They are :
* C : third fret of the A string.
* A : open A string.
* G : third fret of the E string.
* E : open E string.
* D : open D string.
So to use CAGED, you have to know the notes on the lowest three strings of your guitar, and then you just move these shapes around the be in the right place. For C, for instance :
C shape:
e||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
B||–1–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
G||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
D||—–|–2–|—–|—–|—–|
A||—–|—–|–**3**–|—–|—–|
E||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
A shape:
e||—–|—–|–1–|—–|—–|—–|
B||—–|—–|—–|–2–|—–|—–|
G||—–|—–|—–|—–|–5–|—–|
D||—–|—–|—–|—–|–4–|—–|
A||—–|—–|–1–|—–|—–|—–|
E||—–|—–|–**1**–|—–|—–|—–|
G shape:
e||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–5–|
B||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–4–|
G||xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|
D||xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|xxxxx|
A||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–2–|—–|
E||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–**3**–|
E shape :
e||—–|—–|—–|—–|–1–|—–|—–|
B||—–|—–|—–|—–|–1–|—–|—–|
G||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–3–|—–|
D||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–5–|
A||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–4–|
E||—–|—–|—–|—–|–**1**–|—–|—–|
D shape:
e||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–4–|—–|—–|
B||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–5–|—–|
G||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–3–|—–|—–|
D||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|–**1**–|—–|—–|—–|
A||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
E||—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–|
This is useful because :
* You can vary your rythm playing by not always using the basic versions of each chord.
* When soloing, you can visualize where the chords your are soloing are on the neck and use the notes which are in the chords.
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