Tired of not knowing your way around the guitar? Can’t figure out where to play chords? How to build a cool solo over any song? The CAGED method can help.

Clearly, there’s no way to learn these things without doing the work. However, maybe there are ways to make doing the work more productive, getting the most goals out of our effort, and maybe even being enjoyable while we’re making the effort.

Scales: Building Blocks of Vocabulary

I know that there’s controversy around the CAGED system, but it’s just misunderstood. It’s not necessarily a technique or a style of learning. It’s just a tool for organizing one’s understanding of the fretboard in regards to music. Given the limitations of the standard tuning system of the guitar, along with our physical limitations of how we human beings can play the instrument, as well as the limitations of our Western 12-tone equal temperament tuning, there are fairly easy ways to organize the guitar neck into smaller pieces. 

In order to play what we consider music in the Western world, we use the Major Scale as the starting point. Today’s popular music is based upon the Do, Re, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do scale. We learn these syllables in order to internalize the sound of the Major Scale. All chords, riffs, licks, phrases, blue notes, pent scales, intervals, bends, hammer-ons, taps, slides, doo-dads, etc., are all configured around Major scales. Put together with the standard tuning of the guitar, we can intuitively organize the 6-string guitar with the CAGED System.

Simple. Really.

When we play chords on the guitar, we’re limited to 4(sometimes 5) fingers. The basic structure of those chords that can be played and understood is based around the C Major chord, A Major chord, G Major chord, E Major chord, and D Major chord. These chords are the basic triads, which is to say that they’re 3 notes each, with notes often doubled over the 6 strings. 

Notice that the “cowboy chord” C Major contains the notes C, E, & G.

C, E, G, C, E, from the 5th to the 1st string:

E, C, E, G, C, E, from the 6th through the 1st string:

G, C, E, G, C, E, from 6th through the 1st string:

These are labeled the C form chord, as it’s the collection of notes that represents the C chord at the first fret position of the guitar neck. We could move this form of the chord up and down the neck to change the pitches to a new chord, but using the same shape, or the same intervals between the notes.

This D chord is a C form chord, but with the fingering changed to allow for a first finger to bar across the open strings from the open C chord. It could be moved further up the guitar neck to yield D#, E, F, etc. 

Here is the A chord: 

The movable, or Barre version of this chord would look like this:

Notice that the 1st finger doesn’t really bar across more than on string. We could cover the 6th string as well:

We don’t usually bar the first finger to cover the 1st string, as it is too difficult to bend the 3rd finger out of the way. The 3rd finger is covering it’s own share of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings. This chord is a bit challenging and may take some extra focus on practicing. 

There are similarly built Barre chords for each of the CAGED method basic chords.

Along with each of these Basic and Barre Chord forms, there is a corresponding Major scale form. These CAGED system Major scales are built on making them most playable with four fingers on the fretboard. As the Major scale necessitates at least on note outside of the standard 4 frets, the CAGED fingerings allow for a change in hand position by one fret on the appropriate scale fingerings. 

CAGED Major Scale Fingerings(Shapes)

Along with the Major Chord forms, we have the Major Scale fingerings. I learned these fingerings from a major jazz guitarist who refused to call these the CAGED method. I believe that he didn’t like the idea of identifying the scale fingering with the basic triad. In fact, that particular musician preferred to label these pitch collections. A way to identify the scale fingerings is to call them by the lowest scale degree in the fingering shape. I like to consider them Shape 2, Shape 3, Shape 5, Shape 6, & Shape 7. 

Shape 5 in the key of C Major.

In the key of C, the 5th note in the scale is G. The first note in this shape, at the 3rd fret, is G. It covers all of the notes of C Major: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. No sharps, no flats. Here is the fingering:

Here is the scale shape(the pitch collection), with the C Major chord tones in Red, with the root note in Blue.

C Major Arpeggio C Major Barre Chord

Shape 5, IV Chord(F Maj) arp

F Major Arpeggio/ F Major Barre Chord/ F Major Barre Chord Inversion

Shape 5, V Chord(G Maj) arp

G Major Arpeggio G Major Barre Chord

Shape 6 in the key of C Major.

In the key of C, the 6th note in the scale is A. The first note in this shape, at the 5th fret, is A.

Shape 6 C Maj arp

C Major Arpeggio C Major Barre Chord

Shape 6, IV Chord(F Maj) arp

F Major Arpeggio F Major Barre Chord(C Form)

Shape 6, V Chord(G Maj) arp

G :Major Arpeggio G Major Barre Chord G Maj Barre Chord Inversion

Shape 7 in the key of C Major.

In the key of C, the 7th note in the scale is B. The first note in this shape, at the 7th fret, is B

Shape 7 CMaj arp

C Major Arpeggio C Major Barre Chord

Shape 7 F Maj arp

F Major Arpeggio F Major Barre Chord

Shape 7 G Maj arp

G Major Arpeggio G Major Barre Chord

Shape 2 in the key of C Major.

In the key of C, the 2nd note in the scale is D. The first note in this shape, 10th fret, is D

Shape 2 C Maj arp

C Major Arpeggio C Major Barre Chord C Major Barre Chord Inversion

Shape 2 F Maj arp

F Major Arpeggio F Major Barre Chord

Shape 2 G Maj arp

G Major Arpeggio G Major Barre Chord

After getting these for the key of C, work these throughall 12 keys. That will only be repetition of the same material we just went through above. To transpose to the next key, we’ll go around the circle of 4ths. The next key is the key of F. The difference between the key of C and the key of F is one note. If we go back to the shape 5 in the key of C, we change the B note to Bb. That yields the key of F, and it changes Shape 5 to Shape 2, starting on the note G. G is the 2nd note in the key of F. Shape 3 at the 5th fret, Shape 5 starting on the 8th fret, etc.

After finishing the key of F, work through the next key in the circle of 4ths, the key of Bb. Then the key of Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E, A, D, G.