The CAGED System Summarized

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I have nothing left to say.

#shorts

Except you're a bitch.

[petergust]

Yk this concept came fairly easily to me to spite how hard people told me it was to grasp. Its just ascending half steps guys.

[tukachaka]

What many people do not understand (including me for a long time) is that this is not just about chords. The system really helps you find arpeggio shapes and chord tones when improvising also working great when visualized over a scale. That's the tricky part about the caged system and once it clicked it started to help out a lot

[rickr.]

This isn't how the CAGED system works. Like, at all. This is just the basics of movable bar chords.

In CAGED, the chords connect to each other front to back in that order, CAGED, going up the fret board and stay the same chord. An open C chord is a C, which then connects to an A shape at the third fret which is also a C chord, which connects to a G shape at the 5th which is, you guessed it, a C chord, and so on. You can start with any shape and as long as you follow the CAGED order, the chord will remain the same moving up the fret board changing from shape to shape. Once you hit the D shape, you just start again with the C shape.

The actual big part: each one of these bar chord shapes has scale patterns in it. Using those scale patterns in place of the bar chords is a way to learn how to stay in a specific key all across the fret board for playing lead. This is the purpose of the CAGED system. To learn how to navigate the fret board and stay in a given key.

Something to note: going by the letters in CAGED represent Major Keys. If you want to play in a minor key, you need to know the relative minors. A is the relative minor of C Major. So, playing the C Major patterns is also A minor. Starting with G Major would be the super popular E minor. Which is the order I would recommend learning first. GEDCA.

[gianb]

For those who don't know the CAGED system is more than just chords. It's pretty useful for remembering scales up and down the whole fretboard.
I'm trying to learn the pentatonic scale using it and it helped me remember something I never thought I would be able to. Yeah, I'm a beginner lol

[leeweilun]

This is something basic and every guitar player should learn it

[aldrinsaclolo]

It would be nice if you show how the CAGED chord shapes are connected throughout the fretboard, and how it's related to the pentatonic scales. That would be very useful for beginners.

[chasewebster]

Not only this. CAGED is the order of the progression of the SAME CHORD up the fretboard. Ie. If you make the “A” shape at the top of the “C” shape, the “G” shape at the top of the “A”, “E” at the top of “G”, and “D” at the top of “E”, they are all the same chord. Move up the shapes in the CAGED order, placing the next chord at the top of the previous one, you get the same chord all the way up the fretboard.

[nfius]

So basically open chords but becoming a barre chord when you add your first finger to every string.

[virtualnuke-blym]

Simpler method:
Every triad chord is 1 3 5 on that chords respective scale.

The 1 is the root note. Are you playing F major? Then the 1 Is an F. Are you playing G minor? Then the 1 is a G.

The 3 is the 3rd. This is the most important part. If it's a minor chord then you play a minor 3rd, if it's a major chord then you play a major 3rd.

Note that when talking about the major or minor 3rd, we are referring to the actual combination of the root note and the 3, because a 3rd is an interval. Without the context of a root note to compare it to, it's no longer a 3rd, it's just a random note.

A minor 3rd is your root note, and then you move one string up and 2 frets down. So if you're playing E minor then you can start on the 7th fret of the A string, move 1 string up (to the D string) and 2 frets down, giving you 7th fret A string and 5th fret D string.

A major 3rd is the same deal except you only move 1 fret down instead of 2. So for E major you can start on the 7th fret on the A string and go to the 6th fret of the D string.

Notice how a major 3rd is always 1 fret higher than a minor 3rd, and a minor 3rd is always 1 fret lower than a major 3rd.

Now for 5, this is easy. The 5 is always a power chord with the root. Usually, since the next string above the root note is taken by the 3rd, you would go another string up and play 4 frets down from there.

If you were playing an E minor chord again starting on the 7th fret of the A string, then you would have 5 be on the 4th fret of the G string.

Note that the 1 and 5 are always the same no matter if it's a minor or a major chord.

So there you go. You now know how to build any minor or major triad anywhere you want on the fretboard. With some experimenting and time you can discover different positions on the fretboard to place your 1 3 5 but they will always be the same notes, just in different octaves. One such popular alternate fingering for the 1 3 5 if your starting on the E string is root note, then 3 strings up and the same fret if it's minor or 1 fret up if it's major, then 1 string up and the same fret as the root note.

So for A minor you could play:
5th fret on the E string, 5th fret on the G string, and 5th fret on the B string.

For A major you could play:
5th fret on the E string, 6th fret on the G string, and 5th fret on the B string.

Anyway, there's many more chord shapes to discover if you just move around the 1 3 5. You can use it to help voice leading and making transitioning between chords easier. Also if you notice all the open chord shapes, they are just the 1 3 5 repeated multiple times as octaves on all 6 strings.

Have fun.

[sajjadanik]

Other YouTubers explained this for 30-40 minutes and it made me more confused. But you explained it within 1 minute and i have a cleae picture. Thank you and god bless

[Journey-of--Miles]

The five main chords on the guitar RCGDAE, there are five cords, because there are five different tuned open strings on a guitar. The E string is repeated.
The caged system shows how these chords are linked together, by playing sea chords up the neck using these shapes.
Learn to play these chords without using your index finger. Move them up the neck then use your first finger as a capo, in order to fret any open strings that need to be fretted.
Now, if you play an open C chord the next C chord will be played using the a inversion with the first finger used as a capo on the third fret.
The next sea cord is using the G chord shape, with the first finger fretted on the fifth fret.
Followed by the E chord shape, with the index finger on the eighth fret. This is the classic bar chord.
Finally, play the D chord shape, without using your index finger, and bar your index finger on the 10th fret, across the fourth and fifth strings.
And that is how you spell CAGED.
In order to change keys, simply move that entire net work up or down the fret Board.
Pro tip! The sea and G shape are essential for soloing in major keys!
Good luck! I hope this is helpful. Everyone just send me $20! L O L

[manmansgotmans]

It's actually about shapes, root notes and seeing intervals on the fretboard. Youcan easily learn all the notes in the first 3 strings if you learn how to connect the shapes based on the root note. This also works for both major and minor chords, too, since the open shapes are the same with a flat 3rd, just locate your 3rd and shift it one fret down. Or just jam in the minor shape where you would have connected a major shape, i dont care

[EhMichelle]

Thank you. This is so easy to understand. A lot of channels on here make it sound like some mystical riddle that can only be solved after watching their 2 hour video.

[montgomerygreentea]

I’ve never really used this system, however i find myself following the same principle when soloing or playing arpeggios. Knowing where all different shapes of chords are is just something i have figured out over the years and can now find them on the spot. Another thing that made this cone more naturally is mapping out the distance between notes withing scales. So when i play a certain note, i know what it means in relation to the key and can mentally map out the rest of the chord tones around it. What i an trying to say is that it is a really good method, but understanding chords and wholestep or half step relationships between notes within certain keys is more important. This what seems to work for me at least

[High_Groundd]

I’m just learning guitar and also how to write music for guitar (in rock bands) and wow this guy is so helpful and like seeing these shorts about all the things you can do allows me to learn stuff and also motivates me to research more into things to see what I can do. Thanks man, so glad I found ur channel👍🏼

[IamBoge]

This is literally so much simpler than I could've imagined and makes understand chords a lot easier

[jorgeliceaga]

Well done bro! Every guitarist must know this. It changed my life after i accidentally discovered it after a year of playing in 1976. Same deal if you change to 7th, minor, m7, 6th, etc

[TheAkdzyn]

When he said Db as opposed to C# I felt a great disturbance in the force! 😂

[yashasupreme]

i discovered this system on my own, so happy it came out right..

[kylegrover]

Thank you for actually explaining it by barring the chords with the open shapes. You're the first I've seen do this and it actually clicked with me. So thanks