Video Cliffs:

0:00 – Intro Demo
0:55 – Lesson Intro
1:40 – Step 1: There are 5 “Movable” Shapes
6:15 – Step 2: Know Which String each of the 5 Shapes is Rooted on
9:15 – Step 3: Now you can Play ANY Major Chord…Anywhere on the Neck
12:15 – Step 4: Understand that the Shapes C – A – G – E – D always move in the same Order
15:40 – Step 5: Each Shape Contains only 3 Notes
18:15 – Step 6: Major Chords Become Minor Chords by Lowering the “3rd” by 1/2 Step
25:05 – Step 7: Play Chord Progressions Anywhere on the Neck
31:20 – Step 8: Connecting to the 5 Pentatonic Positions
38:15 – Step 9: Make ANY type of Chord from a CAGED shape

 

The Ultimate Goal

Before attempting to understand this system, you first need to understand WHY you may want to learn it. The CAGED system comes in handy for 2 primary things:

1.) Playing chords anywhere on the entire neck of the fretboard - Any chord progression can be played anywhere on the entire fretboard using movable chord shapes. You don't always need to play the full shapes either...you can play little "pieces" of the shapes using just 2 or 3 strings. This applies to all genres of music - Rock, jazz, blues, country, metal, etc. This is how you make full use of the neck of the guitar even if you aren't necessarily "soloing".

2.) Soloing - Whenever you are ripping through scale patterns, no matter which scale you happen to be using, the best sounding notes to sustain on will be the chord tones of the underlying chord in the rhythm section. The CAGED shapes will always let you know where the nearest chord tones are no matter where you happen to be on the fretboard.

 

Step #1 - Understand that There are 5 "Movable" Shapes

Let's take a chord diagram for each of the following chords:

 

• C major
• A major
• G major
• E major
• D major

 

...and view it from the perspective of a fretboard diagram instead.

 

C major

 

 

A major

 

 

G major

 

 

E major

 

 

D major

 

 

Therefore if this is C major:

The 'R' indicates the root note which is the note 'C', this would be a C major chord.

 

You could easily slide the shape up by 1 fret to make a C# major chord (or Db major):

The lowest note of the above chord shape is on the 4th fret of the A-string, which is the note C# (or Db). Therefore the above chord shape is a C# major chord (or Db major).

 

You can slide the shape up again to make a D major chord:

The lowest note resides on the 5th fret of the A-string, which is the note 'D'. Therefore the above chord shape is a D major chord.

 

This chord shape is a bit tricky to play if you intend to play the full chord shape, but keep in mind that you don't have to play these shapes in full. The purpose of understanding this stuff is so that you can "see" any major chord, anywhere on the neck of the guitar.

The same movability theory holds true for any of the 5 CAGED shapes.

An A major chord:

 

 

Could easily become an A# major (or Bb major) chord:

 

Or a B major chord:

 

 

This movability concept applies to all 5 of the CAGED shapes. It also applies to every other shape and/or pattern on the guitar fretboard.

 

Step #2 - Know Which String each of the 5 Shapes is Rooted on

There are only 5 shapes, so it's not too hard to remember which string each shape is rooted on. Let's look at the 5 shapes again:

C Shape:

 

 

A Shape:

 

G Shape:

 

E Shape:

 

 

D Shape:

 

 

Just remember these 3 things:

1. The 'C shape' and 'A shape' have their roots residing on the A-string
2. The 'G shape' and 'E shape' have their roots residing on the low E-string
3. The 'D shape' has its' root residing on the D-string

 

Step #3  - Now you can Play ANY Major Chord...Anywhere on the Neck

Believe it or not, but you can now play ANY major chord, anywhere on the entire neck of the guitar. The only thing you need to know is the name of the notes on either the low E-string, A-string and/or D-string.

Let's just try to play some of these CAGED shapes. Let's just take any random note on the low E-string....let's go with the 7th fret, which is the note 'B':

 

 

We can say that this random note, which happens to be the note 'B' is the root note. Knowing this, we can play a B major chord in either the 'G-shape' or the 'E-shape':

B major chord in the G-shape:

 

 

B major chord in the E-shape:

 

That was pretty easy considering that you understood step #2. You did understand step #2 right???

 

Okay, so let's pick a random note on the A-string now. Let's stick with the 7th fret again:

 

 

This is the note 'E' now. Again, we are calling this random note the root of the major chord that we are attempting to create. Knowing that we have the 'C shape' and 'A shape' available to us, we can create an E major chord in 2 different shapes...

E major chord in the C-shape:

 

 

E major chord in the A-shape:

 

 

Finally, let's pick a random note on the D-string. Let's stick with the 7th fret, which happens to be the note 'A':

 

 

Any chord that has it's root on the D-string will be in the 'D shape'. So let's create an A major chord in the D-shape...

A major chord in the D-shape:

 

Not too bad eh?

 

Step #4 - Understand that the Shapes C - A - G - E - D always move in the same order

Any time you have any major chord, as long as you know which shape the chord is in, you always know which chord can be found immediately to the right and/or left of it. This is because the shapes always move in the same exact order...

Take a C major chord in the 'C shape' for example...

C major in the C-shape:

 

Since that chord is in the 'C-shape', you know the next shape in line is the 'A-shape'

 

C major in the A-shape:

 

Then, you will have a C major in the 'G-shape' close by...

 

C major in the G-shape:

 

Next, C major in the 'E-shape'...

 

C major in the E-shape:

 

Then,

 

C major in the D-shape:

 

Continuing up the fretboard...

 

C major in the C-shape:

 

 

C major in the A-shape:

 

 

C major in the G-shape:

 

 

You see how this is working?

Take ANY major chord, ANYWHERE on the entire neck of the guitar. As long as you know how to spell the word "CAGED", then you know how to find the next closest shape of that chord either to the left or right!

 

Step #5 - Each Shape Contains only 3 Notes

A major chord, also known as a <strong>major triad</strong> contains just 3 notes. There are only 12 major chords in total, each of which contains 3 notes.

Refer to this triad chart to see which notes are contained within each of the 12 major chords:

 

 

Don't worry about the minor chords for now. We will be getting to them next...

The important thing to notice is that each of the 12 major chords contains only 3 notes.

Looking at the triads chart above, you can see that the C major chord contains only the notes C, E and G.

Let's look at a C major chord in the C-shape for example.

 

C major chord in the C-shape:

 

 

Even though this particular chord shape spans 5 strings, there are still only 3 notes in total, some of which are repeated.

Try it with an F major chord (F - A - C), in the 'C-shape'...

 

Again, it's just 3 notes.

This '3 note concept' applies to any major chord, in any shape, anywhere on the entire fretboard!

 

Step #6 - Major Chords Become Minor Chords by Lowering the "3rd" by 1/2 Step

You already know that a major chord contains only 3 notes, regardless of the "shape" it is found in. The next thing you want to know is which of these 3 notes is the "3rd".

• A major chord consists of a "root", "3rd" and "5th"
• A minor chord consists of a "root", "minor 3rd" and "5th"

 

Let's take a look at that triads chart again:

 

 

Notice how the middle note is lowered by 1/2 step when converting a major chord into a minor chord...

The middle note is the "3rd" of the chord.

Therefore, as long as you know which note is the "3rd" within each of these CAGED shapes, you can easily turn a major chord into a minor chord.

Let's take a look at each of the 5 shapes, with the 3rd highlighted. The C major chord is used here for this example, but it really doesn't matter which chord is used. The important thing to note is where the 3rd is located within each of these shapes...

C-shape:

 

 

A-shape:

 

 

G-shape:

 

 

E-shape:

 

 

D-shape:

 

 

If you take the 3rd in any of these shapes and lower it by 1/2 step, the result will be a minor chord shape.

Just to reiterate, you DO NOT have to play these shapes in their full form. The CAGED system is simply there as a road map to show you where the chord tones are located.

Let's look at each of the 5 CAGED shapes altered to create 5 minor chord shapes...

 

Cm-shape:

 

 

Am-shape:

 

 

Gm-shape:

 

Em-shape:

 

Dm-shape:

 

 

Some of these minor shapes are impossible to play. In fact, the only 3 shapes that are possible to play in their full form would be the 'Em shape', 'Am shape' and 'Dm shape'. However, you already understand that you do not need to be playing these shapes in their full 4, 5 or 6-string form right??? You understand that this is all just a ROAD MAP of the chord tones right???

Good!

Let's move on.

 

Step #7 - Play Chord Progressions Anywhere on the Neck

This is where the magic happens!

You can use the circle of fifths to let you know the 3 major and 3 minor chords that are found in any key, simply by observing the grouping of 6 like so:

 

 

This grouping of 6 indicates the key of C major or A minor (relative major/minor pair)...

Knowing which chords are "in key" for whatever key you are playing in, you may then want to know how to find this "grouping" anywhere on the neck of the guitar. Whether you are a rhythm guitarist or lead guitarist (or both), it is extremely beneficial to know exactly where the "in key" chords are found... wherever on the neck you happen to be.

In the key of C major/A minor, you know you have the following 6 chords to be aware of:

• C major
• D minor
• E minor
• F major
• G major
• A minor
  
  

As long as you can find the notes C, D, E, F, G and A somewhere on the low E-string, A-string or D-string you can easily make any major or minor chord, anywhere on the neck.

If you don't already understand how to do that, make sure that you do prior to moving forward...

Good to go?

Cool!

So now let's just pick some random area on the fretboard:

 

 

This random little box contains a bunch of notes, but all we are concerned about are the notes C, D, E, F, G and A.

These 6 notes can be found all over the fretboard, including this random little box...

Let's just quickly make the diatonic chords based on the location of their root notes within this little box.

C major (in the G-shape):

 

 

D minor (in the Am-shape):

 

 

E minor (in the Cm-shape):

 

 

F major (in the C-shape):

 

 

G major (in the D-shape):

 

 

A minor (in the Em-shape):

 

If you don't understand how these shapes were found, then go back and re-read this lesson (or re-watch the video)...

To reiterate, you simply need to understand how to:

• Find the root note of each chord on either the low E-string, A-string or D-string
• Know the available shape based on which string the root note for each chord resides on
• Find the "3rd" within each shape if you are attempting to create a minor chord and lower it by 1/2 step
  
  
  

Step 8 - Connecting to the 5 Pentatonic Positions

The 5 pentatonic positions are a common way to visualize the fretboard. Each of the 5 positions coincides perfectly with the "I chord" of the key that you are in.

Let's take the key of C major for example:

 

 

The red dot indicates the note 'C', and the rest of the dots are the remaining notes of the C major pentatonic scale.

You may be more familiar with looking at this pattern as the A minor pentatonic scale:

 

The white dot indicates the note 'A', and the rest of the dots are the remaining notes of the A minor pentatonic scale.

C major and A minor are a relative major/minor pair, so they contain the same notes.

Got it?

Okay, cool.

So in the key of C major, the "I chord" would be the C major chord.

 

The "I chord" in the "G-shape" always coincides with pentatonic position #1:

 

 

The "I chord" in the "E-shape always coincides with pentatonic position #2:

 

 

The "I chord" in the "D-shape always coincides with pentatonic position #3:

 

 

The "I chord" in the "C-shape always coincides with pentatonic position #4:

 

 

The "I chord" in the "A-shape always coincides with pentatonic position #5:

 

 

The "I chord" in the "G-shape always coincides with pentatonic position #1:

 

and so on...

 

Notice the patterns:

• The 5 pentatonic positions always move in the same order: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
• The 5 CAGED shapes always move in the same order: C - A - G - E - D
  
  

If you are able to find your "I chord" for the key that you are in, then you can ALWAYS find all of the other available diatonic chords nearby.

 

Helpful Exercise:

As an exercise, pick a key and try to locate the 3 major and 3 minor chords all up and down the fretboard for that key. Simply by doing this one exercise, you will solidify your understanding of CAGED in your mind immensely! The exercise WILL require a bit of thinking at first, but if you manage to work through it just one time, then everything that has been discussed in this lesson so far will all make perfect sense to you.

 

Step #9 - Make ANY type of Chord from a CAGED shape

The final thing you need to understand are the intervals of each chord, in each of the shapes.

• The red dot indicates the "root" of each chord shape
• The yellow dot indicates the "3rd" of each chord shape
• The black dot indicates the "5th" of each chord shape
  
  

C-shape:

 

 

A-shape:

 

 

G-shape:

 

 

E-shape:

 

D-shape:

 

We already talked about how a major chord contains just 3 notes - a root, major 3rd and a 5th.

...And you already know that a minor chord is created by simply lowering the 3rd by 1/2 step.

 

You can EASILY create other chords by simply moving a note around here and there. Maybe you want to take an E major chord...

 

 

...and you want to create a dominant 7th chord.

Well, the first thing that you'd want to know is what the chord formula for a dominant 7th chord is.

• Dominant 7th chord formula: R - 3 - 5 - b7

You already know that the CAGED shapes have the R, 3 and 5. Now you just have to add in that 'b7'.

Knowing a bit of chord theory, you know that the b7 interval is always found 1 whole step below the root.

Here's the most logical root to pick for this shape:

 

 

Lowering that by 1 whole step, you have:

You see how this is working?

 

Let's try one more.

Maybe you want to take that same "E major chord in the A-shape"...

 

 

...And you want to create an E augmented chord.

You would first need to know the chord formula for an augmented chord.
 

• Augmented chord formula: R - 3 - #5

Now, just take a little "piece" of the chord that you know contains the 5th:

 

 

...and raise it by 1/2 step to create an augmented chord:

 

It's really that easy!

 

Any chord, no matter how complicated it may seem, is just a combination of a few notes. It all stems from the basic major triad though. As long as you understand basic chord theory, you can easily manipulate these 5 CAGED shapes into any other kind of chord that you want.

Well, that's it. Have fun with it!