I've watched/read/listened to enough about the CAGED system to know I'll never get it. Oh wait...there's the nugget I've been missing all this time...focus on the root notes! Finally a glimmer of understanding appears. Thanks Chris!
@@alastairgordon2739 that is so good to hear! Remember that the CAGED system is best leveraged as a visualization of how the fretboard is designed. With the exception of the E A and C shapes, these chord voicing are not easily used musically. But their structure will allow you to see the entire fretboard much more easily. Stick with it Alistair!! It’s worth it, I promise!
I can't wait to watch when I get home from work. Chris, your pacing is excellent. I learn more from you than any other online teacher. Thank you so much for doing this!
Thanks, Chris! I just wanted to highlight the best part about knowing the sometimes awkward bar chord shapes (and their associated roots!) is that they remind you where all the triad components are. Then you can just fret and play the parts you need, making it easier and potentially less muddy sounding. This is how/why I apply the CAGED system anyway. I mean it's cool to see how all the same chords connect down the neck, but not as important to me as knowing where the roots are in each shape. ...then getting the 3's and 5's (and 7's) locations makes chord alterations much easier, but that's another story. 🙃
I just wrapped up harmonizing the E harmonic minor scale for the first time from your previous videos, and it was mind altering. I'm really excited to start piecing in chords now beyond just triads, so this was perfect timing. Thank you Guru Chris.
It's really so simple once I see it on the fretboard. I need to stop trying to learn theory without a guitar in my hands. Great lesson. Much appreciated!
ive been using the caged chords for some time and never realized that the c is followed by the a-g-e-d shapes and so on for the following chords im positive that one tidbit of knowledge will help with choices as I use the alternate shapes further up the board ,as always you are the root of a lot of AHHa moments
Thanks Chris! This is the method I really needed to visualize and use better use CAGED in my lead playing. Once again your logical approach cleared some blind spots for me. Thanks for always shining the spotlight where it needs to be!
@@stevebeatty5218 you bet! As you’ll probably see CAGED is a great visualization tool, but the chord shapes are bulky and some are difficult to use. After to really get this down, dive into triads because they are all attached here, but are much easier to play and more flexible in a musical application
@@curiousguitarist Thanks Chris - I love seeing the various triad shapes in so many positions on the fretboard. Really opens things up and creates so many options! Thanks again!
Thanks for showing the movable caged chord system that we can move around the guitar fretboard with ease and some level of difficulties for a beginner guitarist.
Ha! Airplanes and Guitars...makes me VERY happy. Glad you enjoyed this one Bubba, and so glad the new Studio is landing well too. Thanks for all your support!
Thanks for breaking it down! Clear explanation of how the chord shapes progress, how to refinger each and to remember the roots of each one. Great reference to help me step up from practicing open chords for the millionth time.
@@robt6127 yeah, this is going to change the way you look at the fretboard forever! But keep those open chords fresh, they will ALWAYS COME IN HANDY!!!!
I have Chris Sherland’s theory 101 course from Marty Music.This knowledge has given me confidence to supplement and improve my weekly guitar practice assignments.
Chris. All these lessons have really helped my progress over the past couple years and I highly recommend anyone to follow your channel if they’re serious about making marketable progress. Thanks for all you do 💯💪
Great lesson! Albeit, I’ve been taking formal lessons for a while now, I keep reviewing information I’ve taken in from many different sources. The CAGED system really gave me the “isms” in the beginning… Your video gave me a few tips I hadn’t heard before, and it offers a fresh approach!
Good approach showing how the different positions are connected. Guthrie Trapp really unlocked it for me, but it's good to see another person on the same wavelength. One thing I'll gripe about in your vid (though, to be fair, it's probably because it's an intro to CAGED) is that a beginner might come away thinking that they are "supposed to" play every note in a shape. That usually doesn't make the most musical sense outside of cowboy strumming (and even then, the adjacent low root and third in the G shape can sound a little muddy). On a philosophical note, I think CAGED is best understood as a teaching system, not an operational system, and I think a lot of players misunderstand it as the latter. As you point out in your video, it teaches us how the guitar is designed, but we have to hit the woodshed and practice the system so we internalize that design and flow from place to place without thought. To me (and for me), CAGED is a better way to learn the fingerboard, and if you take your time while working through the shapes, their corresponding arpeggios, pentatonics, and scales, it can be a useful tool to learn the notes and intervals in play, as well, and get yourself closer to that dream state of being able to play what you hear while improvising.
@@warshavianconnection best comment ever. I look at CAGED as an initial lens, and I teach, VERY EMPHATICALLY, that triads are the real core of harmonic construction. Thank for this comment, love it!
Thank you, Chris! This lesson really helps with understanding the shapes and moving them. Made it much easier to see how it’s moving on the fretboard. Appreciate it.
This awesome; i was using these chords in my regular song learning with respect to inversions, not realizing what i was doing was actually CAGED inversions; i hadn't connected the idea the way you've just laid it out. very useful knowledge!
Great lesson Chris! I struggle to strum the chords in some of those positions but once I "see" the shapes, arpeggios are easy and it makes one look like they know the fretboard.
I recently finished Molly Miller's fabulous CAGED pathway but I hope your lesson inspires folks to dig in. I suggest a companion video to describe what you can do with CAGED and how to practice it. For years that's what kept me from going beyond understanding CAGED on paper and putting it into action.
Another great lesson! It would be great to see a lesson on how you would put the caged system to use to jam along/improv to a backing track or write a song or riffs or something 😁👍
For me CAGED is a great educational system, much more a visualization guide, but not a very valuable musical tool. Triads are far more useful as a deployment of chord inversions for making or playing music.
CHRIS, Each CAGED Shape has a minor pentatonic box & also a major pentatonic box for each SHAPE which you should do a lesson on showing how to switch back and forth from minor pentatonic to major pentatonic per each CAGED SHAPE. Eric Clapton mostly uses the Dominant CAGED meaning "dominant SHAPES" which he often uses these dominant triads called "closing stacks" before he ends resolves on the M3 or 5th of the chord tone. When ending resolving on the 5th chord tone it give a darker tonality which BB king does also. I'm not sure what the correct theory term its called when you end the phrase on the 5th chord tone, but you have a degree in music so you might know? Also looking into those "closing stack" triad licks which are based on a tritone M3-5-b7 that clapton does often
@@curiousguitarist yes each CAGED SHAPE has a STACKED that Angus Young and Clapton use different types of STACKS using their ring finger to roll up down on adjacent strings using the CAGED system. Its a skill every guitarist should know where all these STACKS are at on the CAGED Systems. Angus Young uses this very often rolling his ring finger on adjacent strings
I really like that you add the root info for the shapes. I believe the thirds should be mentioned up top as well. If you know your Root and 3rd positions in a major chord shape then the minors are easy. The third is the real King of the chord anyways which become important targets for soloing.
I agree, but the main complaint I hear about CAGED is that there's STILL too much info. I figure once someone gets this much of it on the fretboard, the study of triads will dovetail right in. Thanks for the views and comment, Andrew!
Thanks for the lesson, I like what you said at the end of this video. It is more on the guitar than the CAGED system. I suggested we learn the interval and scales. The CAGED system is basically derived from them. If we understand the intervals and scales, we will not be bound by these 5 chord shapes. Your video is always good and easy to understand. That is why I subscripted your channel.
You are spot on, and I totally agree. The CAGED system really takes fundamental musical principles and cloaks them in a very "guitaristic" light. Triads and intervals and scale theory pulls it all together from there!
Great lesson and I like the way you emphasize the roots by referring to the stings in relation to the chord shape. For me applying the caged system is more useful if you look at it in relation to playing chords in a key like a 1,4,5. So, I don’t find it real useful to show all the C shapes let’s say in order across the fretboard but better to play say a 1,4,5 with different chord shapes using your great explanation on how to form the chord shapes. Just my 2 cents. Just subscribed based on seeing this lesson only.
Welcome to the channel! There's a lesson here on 1,4,5 triads, which for me are far more useful as musical tools. I see the CAGED system as almost exclusively an educational tool to help increase accurate visualization of the fretboard. But beyond that I actually see very little musical applications for the CAGED system. Thanks for the comment!
@@curiousguitarist HA! That's fun!! Donald and Walter came up with some of the very best lyrics! Loved this explanation of CAGED by the way. I sent it to some friends who are struggling. Hope they subscribe!
OK, self taught player here (initially, anyway). I don't understand what this 'system' is meant to be. I've seen explanations like this one, and others, and there's this hype about a CAGED 'system', but all I see is a set of standard (and some rather impractical) bar chord shapes. That enunciates the same principle as the basic, beginner level bar chord techniques I learned 40 years ago from a beginner's book. Root note of the E shape bar chord is on the 6th string, thus the name: root 6 bar chord. Same with the root 5, etc. To the extent there's a system here, it's just the relationship of intervals between strings. Again, this is something one learns when learning how tune up by ear, and by learning your first 12 bar in A. ("Oh wow, the root of the I chord is on the 5th string, the root of IV chord is on the 4th string, and the root the V chord is on the 6th. So the IV chord is 5 frets higher than the I chord, and the V chord is 5 frets lower...or 7 frets higher, depending on how I look at it...that means I could play that here, too. Actually, I could play that up here, as well. Or here. I wonder how many ways I can think of to play an E?" And so on.) So the CAGED things promulgates a set of standard bar chords. That move. But that's like saying water is wet: bar chords are DESIGNED to move, so what's the insight?
@@Splattle101 sounds like none for you. The “CAGED chord shape relationship thingie” is a way to visualize all the things you’ve mentioned. So I would suggest you never think about it again and move directly to triads and scale relationships. The 40 years you’ve spent on the fretboard have given you a familiarity that bypasses the benefit of CAGED. I see no benefit for you in taking the time to study it. Thanks for the comment and views though, I appreciate it!
Very nice! I can understand it! Every teacher complains about how hard several of these shapes are. How does all this help the average player play a song any better? That part is still not clear to me.
The CAGED system is a visualization tool, and while valuable, not a great musical application. Triads are much better-suited to use in musical situations.
My guitar teacher taught me this and called it the CAGED system. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that this isn't "the system." The system is connecting those chord shapes to various scale boxes. It only took a couple of decades for me to realize.
Wow. I don't recall anyone pointing out how they follow each other, and that it is the same note on the next shape and how they connect. I'm sure some have, but they either did not, or it wasn't clear.....
I'm gonna bet it wasn't clear enough. For me, that represents 80% of the value in the system itself. Check out Molly Miller's take on CAGED, she's really got it down too.
@@danbromberg5909 yes it is, it’s not easy depending on the size/shape of your fingers, as well as where you are on the fretboard given the fret span. But, unless you really need that high 5th, there’s another one being played on the D string anyway…so it’s not a huge deal
If you have flexi fingers, you can try barre with 3rd finger pad and reverse bend 2nd knuckle joint, So finger is like z shape. Or use little finger to barre with the same knuckle bend to clear high e
Perfect video but I just wish there was more to this video and other caged videos like it. Not many people play a D or G or C shaped caged shape chord in reality to produce another chord.People play the triads of them and other voicings. Wouldn't it be great is someone presented CAGED but then went on to present but in reality and real world here is how you would play these chords around the neck and not according to the caged fingerings for those chords. I love your videos but a in reality flavouring with caged would be great.
To be honest I see CAGED as an educational system, not a musical one. Triads, as you suggest, are FAR more valuable in musical situations. GREAT comment!!!
@@curiousguitarist I agree. I think a guitarist learning this stuff may walk away with oh jeez, this is hard to finger and may give up as opposed to being told, look this is educational (as you say), don’t be put off by some of these difficult shapes, within them and knowing the root allows you to finger easier chord voicing like triads. Find a video of a musician playing a caged c, d or g shape and it will be scarce because what they do is… I genuinely love your videos btw, you are great, all caged videos just frustrate me because of not being told there is light at the end of the tunnel with some of these unusable chord shapes. I’m hoping you will be the first soon! Many thx
i dont bar anything try the c shape and bring just three fingers slide up to 3rd fret then 5th and play Midnight Rider, I dont have time for the bar nonsense
So, why? What's the point? So I can play an A chord 5 different places on the neck? Is that all there is to this? I feel like I'm missing some big ah ha moment.
@@daft4682 the CAGED system is simply a way to expose and catalog chord structures across the fretboard. If you already know the fretboard extremely well, this will indeed seem like old news to you. Understanding the fretboard being freedom to play anything you want, anyWHERE you want. CAGED helps bring that understanding.
@@curiousguitarist hmmm. I'm honestly not trying to be difficult here. I've been trying to understand this stuff for 30 years. I'm still 99% lost and I have seriously attempted to understand it a few times. "expose chord structures across the fretboard". I don't understand why. Is it simply so I can play a C chord at a different location? What I mainly can't wrap my head around, when someone is noodling or riffing around, what are they doing in their head. Are they following a pre-set pattern? Are they honestly taking a C shape and working it backward up the fretboard so they can quickly nail another C chord at the 15th fret? Because it seems like they are moving too fast to be doing all that calculation in their heads. Right now all I do is work up and down 1 position of a scale. It's either a major, a minor, a pentatonic, or a blues. Not sure which. I have seen the pattern I play shown as all of the above. There is nothing consistent I can find about this instrument. I want so badly to understand it and be able to play it. The only way I can think of to riff around on this instrument is to blindly memorize tab, but I struggle with this. I have spent a ton of money on music gear over the years, wanting to figure it out. I would pay someone $1000 who could make it make sense. I liked your video on stages of competency. I'm forever stuck in phase 2. Knowing I don't know, but any attempt to listen to lessons or theory or instruction, almost without fail, I'm completely lost in the first minute then it's just frustrating.
People do not teach the caged system your way because this is a UA-cam video and therefore they draw diagrams where people can instantly see exactly what you're talking about instead of having to squint and try to figure out what note you're on and what note you're playing and how it relates to the entire keyboard. This is why people do not teach the caged system the way you suggest the way do. And it's a little insulting to them even though to my mind they have a far superior system.
@@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp it really comes down to preference, how you learn best. The vast majority of students that seek me out are curious enough to squint, squirm, dig and find what they are looking for. That has been the tell of the student who will progress the fastest and grow the farthest. The diagrams are all posted on my Patreon page if you’d like them. Heck I’ll even send them to you if you’d like. Email me at Chris at curiousguitarist dot com.
Great presentation, btw. I’ve grown up around music but I didn’t play guitar until recently. I never had a good grasp of the CAGED system but figured out what you’re showing here after a while teaching myself guitar. I can’t imagine figuring this out without the music background I had. Great info and presented without a lot of fluff and unnecessary commentary.
I don't know better than anyone else. I'm sharing what I've seen work with many MANY students. I truly hope you got some value out of this. Thanks for the view and comment no matter what.
I've watched/read/listened to enough about the CAGED system to know I'll never get it. Oh wait...there's the nugget I've been missing all this time...focus on the root notes! Finally a glimmer of understanding appears. Thanks Chris!
@@alastairgordon2739 that is so good to hear! Remember that the CAGED system is best leveraged as a visualization of how the fretboard is designed. With the exception of the E A and C shapes, these chord voicing are not easily used musically. But their structure will allow you to see the entire fretboard much more easily.
Stick with it Alistair!! It’s worth it, I promise!
I can't wait to watch when I get home from work. Chris, your pacing is excellent. I learn more from you than any other online teacher. Thank you so much for doing this!
I'm so glad to hear that, Erik! Thanks for being here~
Thanks, Chris! I just wanted to highlight the best part about knowing the sometimes awkward bar chord shapes (and their associated roots!) is that they remind you where all the triad components are. Then you can just fret and play the parts you need, making it easier and potentially less muddy sounding. This is how/why I apply the CAGED system anyway. I mean it's cool to see how all the same chords connect down the neck, but not as important to me as knowing where the roots are in each shape. ...then getting the 3's and 5's (and 7's) locations makes chord alterations much easier, but that's another story. 🙃
@@johnharreld4875 fantastic context! Thanks, John!
Triads are definitely my next big step. I've wasted enough time playing open chords and 6th-/5th-string root barre chords
@@R_Euphrates it opens up the fretboard very dramatically...looking forward to hearing about your progress!
@@curiousguitarist 🖤🖤
@@R_Euphrates Right? It's amazing how it cleans up and focuses the sound. Get more for doing less!
Solid!
The main take-away I got from this was changing the finger positions to play the chords up the neck :) Thanks Chris!
Yeah, just solidifying that alone, helps get these shapes moving more efficiently.
By far the best CAGED teaching I have ever seen. Where were you 38 years ago 🤔
Well, as luck would have it, I was at Music School in '86, building this very knowledge :)
I'm so glad you enjoyed this one, Anthony.
Dude...best caged teaching I've seen. By far! I'm gonna actually learn it now...thanks so much!
Awesome! That is the best news I could hear! Thanks, Jon!
Thanks Chris! You were showing us CAGED not teaching. Your methods work for me!
@@Pat-nl4wk so good to hear that! Thanks, Pat.
@@curiousguitarist you’re welcome!
Oooo-kay.. I’ll learn the CAGED system.. lol.. It really does have a lot of value.. Thanks Chris..!
You bet, Joe!
I just wrapped up harmonizing the E harmonic minor scale for the first time from your previous videos, and it was mind altering. I'm really excited to start piecing in chords now beyond just triads, so this was perfect timing. Thank you Guru Chris.
I love the chords that Harm Min generates!! My fave these days is that Aug Maj7 off of the b3 :)
It's really so simple once I see it on the fretboard. I need to stop trying to learn theory without a guitar in my hands. Great lesson. Much appreciated!
@@InsolentMusicalPeasant you bet! And yeah, I agree, put it on the fretboard as soon as possible and it’ll integrate quicker and deeper. Great stuff!
ive been using the caged chords for some time and never realized that the c is followed by the a-g-e-d shapes and so on for the following chords im positive that one tidbit of knowledge will help with choices as I use the alternate shapes further up the board ,as always you are the root of a lot of AHHa moments
Hey Tom! So glad there was a bit of insight in here for a CAGED vet like yourself!
Thanks Chris! This is the method I really needed to visualize and use better use CAGED in my lead playing. Once again your logical approach cleared some blind spots for me. Thanks for always shining the spotlight where it needs to be!
@@stevebeatty5218 you bet! As you’ll probably see CAGED is a great visualization tool, but the chord shapes are bulky and some are difficult to use. After to really get this down, dive into triads because they are all attached here, but are much easier to play and more flexible in a musical application
@@curiousguitarist Thanks Chris - I love seeing the various triad shapes in so many positions on the fretboard. Really opens things up and creates so many options! Thanks again!
Thanks for showing the movable caged chord system that we can move around the guitar fretboard with ease and some level of difficulties for a beginner guitarist.
You bet!
Love seeing the caged system explained on the airplane guitar, great lesson, thanks Chris.😎 P.S. loving the new Studio 👍👍👍
Ha! Airplanes and Guitars...makes me VERY happy. Glad you enjoyed this one Bubba, and so glad the new Studio is landing well too. Thanks for all your support!
Thanks for breaking it down! Clear explanation of how the chord shapes progress, how to refinger each and to remember the roots of each one. Great reference to help me step up from practicing open chords for the millionth time.
@@robt6127 yeah, this is going to change the way you look at the fretboard forever! But keep those open chords fresh, they will ALWAYS COME IN HANDY!!!!
I have Chris Sherland’s theory 101 course from Marty Music.This knowledge has given me confidence to supplement and improve my weekly guitar practice assignments.
@@taggart8 that is great to hear, thank you!
Chris. All these lessons have really helped my progress over the past couple years and I highly recommend anyone to follow your channel if they’re serious about making marketable progress. Thanks for all you do 💯💪
@@masterbuilder3166 I appreciate that, thanks for being here!
Great lesson! Albeit, I’ve been taking formal lessons for a while now, I keep reviewing information I’ve taken in from many different sources. The CAGED system really gave me the “isms” in the beginning… Your video gave me a few tips I hadn’t heard before, and it offers a fresh approach!
@@scubatrooper9895 that’s so good to hear, thank you for watching. Great comment.
Oh!!!! I see the triads now! Awesome!
@@christophervincent8420 yes!!!
I knew the CAGED system is 5 different ways of forming major chords, but I didn’t know they are connected in that order. Thanks Chris!
Ahhh, so good to have helped shed some light on it. The fit together like LEGO :)
Good approach showing how the different positions are connected. Guthrie Trapp really unlocked it for me, but it's good to see another person on the same wavelength. One thing I'll gripe about in your vid (though, to be fair, it's probably because it's an intro to CAGED) is that a beginner might come away thinking that they are "supposed to" play every note in a shape. That usually doesn't make the most musical sense outside of cowboy strumming (and even then, the adjacent low root and third in the G shape can sound a little muddy).
On a philosophical note, I think CAGED is best understood as a teaching system, not an operational system, and I think a lot of players misunderstand it as the latter. As you point out in your video, it teaches us how the guitar is designed, but we have to hit the woodshed and practice the system so we internalize that design and flow from place to place without thought. To me (and for me), CAGED is a better way to learn the fingerboard, and if you take your time while working through the shapes, their corresponding arpeggios, pentatonics, and scales, it can be a useful tool to learn the notes and intervals in play, as well, and get yourself closer to that dream state of being able to play what you hear while improvising.
@@warshavianconnection best comment ever. I look at CAGED as an initial lens, and I teach, VERY EMPHATICALLY, that triads are the real core of harmonic construction.
Thank for this comment, love it!
What an awesome lesson. Always the best Chris!!!
Mahalo!
Thank you, Chris! This lesson really helps with understanding the shapes and moving them. Made it much easier to see how it’s moving on the fretboard. Appreciate it.
@@dlmyrs you bet!
That was a really good lesson. I’ve seen many videos on the caged system, and all they did was confuse me more.
I'm so glad this one is helpful!
Awesome deep dive into this to make it make sense to new players . Also , the next chord ALWAYS starts off on the prior chords root note .
@@donniefisk2252 yeah, those connections are the real gold! Thanks for the views and comment, Donnie!
I was either zoned out when I watched other CAGED videos or you just explained it in a way that finally clicked but thank you sir
@@johnswoodenware you are so welcome! Thanks for the views and comments.
This awesome; i was using these chords in my regular song learning with respect to inversions, not realizing what i was doing was actually CAGED inversions; i hadn't connected the idea the way you've just laid it out. very useful knowledge!
@@musicaleltd so glad you enjoyed this one!
Best intro of yours by far.
Ha, I had fun with that one :)
Great lesson Chris! I struggle to strum the chords in some of those positions but once I "see" the shapes, arpeggios are easy and it makes one look like they know the fretboard.
@@humbleviewpoint that’s the ticket!
This really is the easy way, thank you! A lot of the other videos I watched were confusing lol
@@soysaucetrauma so glad this one landed well for you!
I cannot believe that I'm just now understanding how these all connect. I feel so silly but also excited to get home and try it out on my guitar
I felt the same way...it's so logical, and appears so clearly obvious, but I was totally in the dark at one point as well.
Best breakdown of caged that I’ve seen
Ha! So glad to hear that, thanks Edward!
Now this finally makes sense to me
@@bluffhavenstudios happy to have been helpful!
Thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Of course!
Excellent instruction, I wish I had been taught this when I first started, years ago.!!
I have that same wish, Marvin. :)
I recently finished Molly Miller's fabulous CAGED pathway but I hope your lesson inspires folks to dig in. I suggest a companion video to describe what you can do with CAGED and how to practice it. For years that's what kept me from going beyond understanding CAGED on paper and putting it into action.
Molly's CAGED content is top notch...just the best. She is a gem.
Another great lesson! It would be great to see a lesson on how you would put the caged system to use to jam along/improv to a backing track or write a song or riffs or something 😁👍
For me CAGED is a great educational system, much more a visualization guide, but not a very valuable musical tool. Triads are far more useful as a deployment of chord inversions for making or playing music.
@@curiousguitarist ah yeah that makes sense. Thanks for the reply 👍
@@davidcrabb8516 Yeah, you bet!
CHRIS, Each CAGED Shape has a minor pentatonic box & also a major pentatonic box for each SHAPE which you should do a lesson on showing how to switch back and forth from minor pentatonic to major pentatonic per each CAGED SHAPE. Eric Clapton mostly uses the Dominant CAGED meaning "dominant SHAPES" which he often uses these dominant triads called "closing stacks" before he ends resolves on the M3 or 5th of the chord tone. When ending resolving on the 5th chord tone it give a darker tonality which BB king does also. I'm not sure what the correct theory term its called when you end the phrase on the 5th chord tone, but you have a degree in music so you might know? Also looking into those "closing stack" triad licks which are based on a tritone M3-5-b7 that clapton does often
Glad you enjoyed this one Wayne. Thanks for the context and comment.
@@curiousguitarist yes each CAGED SHAPE has a STACKED that Angus Young and Clapton use different types of STACKS using their ring finger to roll up down on adjacent strings using the CAGED system. Its a skill every guitarist should know where all these STACKS are at on the CAGED Systems. Angus Young uses this very often rolling his ring finger on adjacent strings
I really like that you add the root info for the shapes. I believe the thirds should be mentioned up top as well. If you know your Root and 3rd positions in a major chord shape then the minors are easy. The third is the real King of the chord anyways which become important targets for soloing.
I agree, but the main complaint I hear about CAGED is that there's STILL too much info. I figure once someone gets this much of it on the fretboard, the study of triads will dovetail right in.
Thanks for the views and comment, Andrew!
Thanks for the lesson, I like what you said at the end of this video. It is more on the guitar than the CAGED system. I suggested we learn the interval and scales. The CAGED system is basically derived from them. If we understand the intervals and scales, we will not be bound by these 5 chord shapes. Your video is always good and easy to understand. That is why I subscripted your channel.
You are spot on, and I totally agree. The CAGED system really takes fundamental musical principles and cloaks them in a very "guitaristic" light.
Triads and intervals and scale theory pulls it all together from there!
Why can't I stop thinking of brownies now? 😂❤ Thanks Chris!
...wait? You brought brownies? did you bring enough for EVERYONE?!?!?!?!?!
Now I understand better 🙂 Thank you sir 🙏
Glad to hear that this one was helpful! Rock on!
Great lesson and I like the way you emphasize the roots by referring to the stings in relation to the chord shape. For me applying the caged system is more useful if you look at it in relation to playing chords in a key like a 1,4,5. So, I don’t find it real useful to show all the C shapes let’s say in order across the fretboard but better to play say a 1,4,5 with different chord shapes using your great explanation on how to form the chord shapes. Just my 2 cents. Just subscribed based on seeing this lesson only.
Welcome to the channel! There's a lesson here on 1,4,5 triads, which for me are far more useful as musical tools. I see the CAGED system as almost exclusively an educational tool to help increase accurate visualization of the fretboard.
But beyond that I actually see very little musical applications for the CAGED system.
Thanks for the comment!
That fearsome excavation on Magnolia Boulevard. Couldn't unhear that. 😉
OH MY GOD I was SO hoping SOMEONE would get it!!!!
@@curiousguitarist HA! That's fun!! Donald and Walter came up with some of the very best lyrics! Loved this explanation of CAGED by the way. I sent it to some friends who are struggling. Hope they subscribe!
@@Sammywhat so kind of you, thanks!
And yeah, Donald and Walter were the bomb!
OK, self taught player here (initially, anyway). I don't understand what this 'system' is meant to be. I've seen explanations like this one, and others, and there's this hype about a CAGED 'system', but all I see is a set of standard (and some rather impractical) bar chord shapes. That enunciates the same principle as the basic, beginner level bar chord techniques I learned 40 years ago from a beginner's book. Root note of the E shape bar chord is on the 6th string, thus the name: root 6 bar chord. Same with the root 5, etc. To the extent there's a system here, it's just the relationship of intervals between strings. Again, this is something one learns when learning how tune up by ear, and by learning your first 12 bar in A. ("Oh wow, the root of the I chord is on the 5th string, the root of IV chord is on the 4th string, and the root the V chord is on the 6th. So the IV chord is 5 frets higher than the I chord, and the V chord is 5 frets lower...or 7 frets higher, depending on how I look at it...that means I could play that here, too. Actually, I could play that up here, as well. Or here. I wonder how many ways I can think of to play an E?" And so on.)
So the CAGED things promulgates a set of standard bar chords. That move. But that's like saying water is wet: bar chords are DESIGNED to move, so what's the insight?
@@Splattle101 sounds like none for you. The “CAGED chord shape relationship thingie” is a way to visualize all the things you’ve mentioned. So I would suggest you never think about it again and move directly to triads and scale relationships.
The 40 years you’ve spent on the fretboard have given you a familiarity that bypasses the benefit of CAGED. I see no benefit for you in taking the time to study it.
Thanks for the comment and views though, I appreciate it!
Very nice! I can understand it!
Every teacher complains about how hard several of these shapes are. How does all this help the average player play a song any better?
That part is still not clear to me.
The CAGED system is a visualization tool, and while valuable, not a great musical application. Triads are much better-suited to use in musical situations.
My guitar teacher taught me this and called it the CAGED system. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that this isn't "the system." The system is connecting those chord shapes to various scale boxes. It only took a couple of decades for me to realize.
@@murfbass all the connectivity is in the roots, you can attach anything to that scaffolding.
@curiousguitarist Yes. And once you do, then you have a system instead of a scaffold to get there.
@@murfbass perfect!
Wow. I don't recall anyone pointing out how they follow each other, and that it is the same note on the next shape and how they connect. I'm sure some have, but they either did not, or it wasn't clear.....
I'm gonna bet it wasn't clear enough. For me, that represents 80% of the value in the system itself. Check out Molly Miller's take on CAGED, she's really got it down too.
❤
Is it possible to barre the A shape without muting the hi E string?
@@danbromberg5909 yes it is, it’s not easy depending on the size/shape of your fingers, as well as where you are on the fretboard given the fret span. But, unless you really need that high 5th, there’s another one being played on the D string anyway…so it’s not a huge deal
If you have flexi fingers, you can try barre with 3rd finger pad and reverse bend 2nd knuckle joint,
So finger is like z shape.
Or use little finger to barre with the same knuckle bend to clear high e
this is exactly how caged system should be taught.
Hey thanks man! I appreciate the up vote here :) Glad you enjoyed this one!
Perfect video but I just wish there was more to this video and other caged videos like it. Not many people play a D or G or C shaped caged shape chord in reality to produce another chord.People play the triads of them and other voicings. Wouldn't it be great is someone presented CAGED but then went on to present but in reality and real world here is how you would play these chords around the neck and not according to the caged fingerings for those chords. I love your videos but a in reality flavouring with caged would be great.
To be honest I see CAGED as an educational system, not a musical one. Triads, as you suggest, are FAR more valuable in musical situations. GREAT comment!!!
@@curiousguitarist I agree. I think a guitarist learning this stuff may walk away with oh jeez, this is hard to finger and may give up as opposed to being told, look this is educational (as you say), don’t be put off by some of these difficult shapes, within them and knowing the root allows you to finger easier chord voicing like triads. Find a video of a musician playing a caged c, d or g shape and it will be scarce because what they do is… I genuinely love your videos btw, you are great, all caged videos just frustrate me because of not being told there is light at the end of the tunnel with some of these unusable chord shapes. I’m hoping you will be the first soon! Many thx
i dont bar anything try the c shape and bring just three fingers slide up to 3rd fret then 5th and play Midnight Rider, I dont have time for the bar nonsense
@@alanhoxie6950 the barre is just a technique, the word really just refers to holding down more than one string with a single finger.
So, why? What's the point? So I can play an A chord 5 different places on the neck? Is that all there is to this? I feel like I'm missing some big ah ha moment.
@@daft4682 the CAGED system is simply a way to expose and catalog chord structures across the fretboard. If you already know the fretboard extremely well, this will indeed seem like old news to you.
Understanding the fretboard being freedom to play anything you want, anyWHERE you want. CAGED helps bring that understanding.
@@curiousguitarist hmmm. I'm honestly not trying to be difficult here. I've been trying to understand this stuff for 30 years. I'm still 99% lost and I have seriously attempted to understand it a few times.
"expose chord structures across the fretboard". I don't understand why. Is it simply so I can play a C chord at a different location?
What I mainly can't wrap my head around, when someone is noodling or riffing around, what are they doing in their head. Are they following a pre-set pattern? Are they honestly taking a C shape and working it backward up the fretboard so they can quickly nail another C chord at the 15th fret? Because it seems like they are moving too fast to be doing all that calculation in their heads.
Right now all I do is work up and down 1 position of a scale. It's either a major, a minor, a pentatonic, or a blues. Not sure which. I have seen the pattern I play shown as all of the above. There is nothing consistent I can find about this instrument. I want so badly to understand it and be able to play it. The only way I can think of to riff around on this instrument is to blindly memorize tab, but I struggle with this.
I have spent a ton of money on music gear over the years, wanting to figure it out. I would pay someone $1000 who could make it make sense. I liked your video on stages of competency. I'm forever stuck in phase 2. Knowing I don't know, but any attempt to listen to lessons or theory or instruction, almost without fail, I'm completely lost in the first minute then it's just frustrating.
@@daft4682 I can totally help you, email me at chris@curiousguitarist.com and we'll see if we can make this happen for you.
People do not teach the caged system your way because this is a UA-cam video and therefore they draw diagrams where people can instantly see exactly what you're talking about instead of having to squint and try to figure out what note you're on and what note you're playing and how it relates to the entire keyboard.
This is why people do not teach the caged system the way you suggest the way do.
And it's a little insulting to them even though to my mind they have a far superior system.
@@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp it really comes down to preference, how you learn best. The vast majority of students that seek me out are curious enough to squint, squirm, dig and find what they are looking for. That has been the tell of the student who will progress the fastest and grow the farthest.
The diagrams are all posted on my Patreon page if you’d like them.
Heck I’ll even send them to you if you’d like. Email me at Chris at curiousguitarist dot com.
I see the plane on your guitar, do you fly?
Great presentation, btw. I’ve grown up around music but I didn’t play guitar until recently. I never had a good grasp of the CAGED system but figured out what you’re showing here after a while teaching myself guitar. I can’t imagine figuring this out without the music background I had. Great info and presented without a lot of fluff and unnecessary commentary.
@@jwcaldw Thanks, glad this landed well!
Only virtually, but have been a huge WWII fighter aircraft buff since I was 8 years old :)
Are you a pilot?
@@curiousguitarist I have a Korean War era plane, L17-A. The typ was use for transport, spotting and signaling during the war.
@@jwcaldw Wow that's fabulous!
Same old rubbish, another fast talking American who thinks he knows it better than anybody else.
I don't know better than anyone else. I'm sharing what I've seen work with many MANY students. I truly hope you got some value out of this. Thanks for the view and comment no matter what.
John, I take offense to your statement! On average, Americans are very slow!!!
@@donaldfox6976 hahah, oh Don; you are one of the best people on earth :)