# AI Wiki - Music - CAGED System ## Overview The CAGED system notes that the five open major chord shapes (C, A, G, E, D) can be moved up the neck, using a barre or the index finger as the nut, to play the same chord in five positions. In that order the shapes connect along the neck, each sharing notes with the next. It's a way to map the whole fretboard from shapes you already know, and a framework for scales and arpeggios around each chord. JustinGuitar stresses that nobody invented it: "It is how the guitar works and comes directly from the tuning of the instrument combined with western harmony." Any chord shape played above a barre is a transposed open shape; CAGED names the five that cover the neck. ## The five shapes Each open major chord has its root on particular strings. Moved up the neck, the root stays on the same strings: | Shape | Open chord | Root on strings | |---|---|---| | C | x32010 | 5 and 2 | | A | x02220 | 5 and 3 | | G | 320003 | 6, 3 and 1 | | E | 022100 | 6, 4 and 1 | | D | xx0232 | 4 and 2 | The E and A shapes are the full [[AI Wiki - Music - Barre Chords|barre chords]] everyone uses. The C, G and D shapes are harder to play as full six-string barres; in practice they are used as partial chords on three or four strings, as arpeggio maps and as scale positions. ## One chord, five places: C major Start from the open C chord and go up the neck. The next shape up always begins where the previous one ends, and the order of the letters, C-A-G-E-D, never changes: ```chord columns: 6 --- symbol: C frets: x32010 fingers: x32010 title: C shape (open) --- symbol: C frets: x35553 fingers: x13331 title: A shape (fret 3) --- symbol: C frets: 875558 fingers: 321114 title: G shape (fret 5) --- symbol: C frets: 8-10-10-9-8-8 fingers: 1-3-4-2-1-1 title: E shape (fret 8) --- symbol: C frets: x-x-10-12-13-12 fingers: x-x-1-2-4-3 title: D shape (fret 10) --- symbol: C frets: x-15-14-12-13-12 fingers: x-4-3-1-2-1 title: C shape (fret 12) ``` Where the roots fall (C notes): - **C shape**: A string fret 3, B string fret 1. - **A shape**: A string fret 3, G string fret 5. - **G shape**: low E fret 8, G string fret 5, high E fret 8. - **E shape**: low E fret 8, D string fret 10, high E fret 8. - **D shape**: D string fret 10, B string fret 13. - Then the C shape again an octave up, at fret 12. Each pair of neighbours shares a root: the C and A shapes share the A-string root at fret 3; the A and G shapes share the G-string root at fret 5; the G and E shapes share the low and high E roots at fret 8; the E and D shapes share the D-string root at fret 10. That shared root is the "join" between shapes. The same [[AI Wiki - Music - Chord Tones and Improvisation|chord tones]], all at once: every C, E and G over the first fifteen frets, labelled as root, third and fifth. Each CAGED shape is one slice of this map. ```fretboard chord: C frets: 0-15 labels: intervals ``` ## G major: same order, different starting point For G, start with the open G shape and continue: G-E-D-C-A, then G again at fret 12. The sequence is cyclic; only the starting letter depends on the chord. ```chord columns: 5 --- symbol: G frets: 3-2-0-0-0-3 fingers: 2-1-0-0-0-3 title: G shape (open) --- symbol: G frets: 355433 fingers: 134211 title: E shape (fret 3) --- symbol: G frets: xx5787 fingers: xx1243 title: D shape (fret 5) --- symbol: G frets: x-10-9-7-8-7 fingers: x-4-3-1-2-1 title: C shape (fret 7) --- symbol: G frets: x-10-12-12-12-10 fingers: x-1-3-3-3-1 title: A shape (fret 10) ``` A quick way to find all five for any chord: locate the E shape (root on the low E string) and the A shape (root on the A string), which you know from barre chords. The other three fill the gaps around them in C-A-G-E-D order. ## Minor CAGED The minor shapes come from Am, Em and Dm (open), plus Cm and Gm, which have no comfortable open form but follow the same logic. In practice the Em shape (E-shape minor barre) and Am shape (A-shape minor barre) carry most of the load, and the Dm shape works well on the top four strings. The order and the joins are the same as for major. ## Scales and arpeggios around the shapes Each chord shape sits inside a matching scale position. The C major scale in its five CAGED positions, labelled with scale degrees (each position is drawn at the lowest place on the neck where it fits, so the C and A shapes appear near the nut rather than above fret 12): ```fretboard C major positions: all labels: degrees ``` The same idea works for the [[AI Wiki - Music - Pentatonic Scale]]: its five boxes line up with the five shapes. Box 1 of A minor pentatonic (frets 5 to 8) surrounds the Am E-shape barre at fret 5, and the same frets also hold the G shape of C major (875558), because Am and C are relative keys and share their pentatonic notes (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Relative and Parallel Keys]]). ```fretboard labels: intervals columns: 2 --- title: C chord tones, E shape (fret 8) chord: C frets: 7-10 --- C major title: C major scale, E shape shape: E ``` The left diagram is the C [[AI Wiki - Music - Arpeggios|arpeggio]] in the E-shape area; the right one is the C major scale in the same area. Practising them together shows which scale notes are chord tones (R, 3, 5), which is the basis of melodic soloing over chord changes. ## Why it's useful - **Chords anywhere**: five places to play any major or minor chord, so a progression can stay in one area of the neck (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Chord Transitions]]). - **Fretboard map**: knowing where the roots are in each shape is a structure for learning the notes ([[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Fretboard Navigation]]). - **Soloing**: playing the arpeggio of the current chord within the shape you're in. - **Voicings**: small three- and four-string chords taken from the C, G and D shapes sound clear in a band and leave space for other instruments. Stripped to three adjacent strings, the shapes become the triad grips in [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads on the Fretboard]]. Common criticism: CAGED is shape-based, and some players stop at shapes without learning note names or [[AI Wiki - Music - Intervals|intervals]]. It works best combined with fretboard notes and interval labels, as in the diagrams above. ## How to practise 1. Know the open C, A, G, E, D shapes cold, and the E- and A-shape barres. 2. Pick one chord (C or G). Play all five shapes in order up the neck and back, saying the shape name. Use partial shapes where the full one is unplayable. 3. Name every root in each shape aloud. 4. Play the arpeggio (one note at a time, chord tones only) in each shape, from the lowest root. 5. Repeat for a minor chord (Am). 6. Take a simple progression (I–IV–V in G) and play it in one area of the neck using different shapes: G (E shape fret 3), C (A shape fret 3), D (A shape fret 5). 7. Connect the shapes to the pentatonic boxes and the major scale positions. ## Key Points - Five open shapes, five positions of the same chord. - The shapes connect in C-A-G-E-D order up the neck, cyclically; each neighbour shares a root. - E- and A-shape barre chords are the most used in practice; C, G and D shapes are used partially. - Each shape has a matching arpeggio, major-scale position and pentatonic box. - CAGED comes from the tuning; it works best combined with note names and intervals. ## Open Questions - When is it worth starting CAGED: before or after barre chords? Working answer: after the E- and A-shape barres and pentatonic box 1, since those are two of the five shapes and one of the five boxes already. - **Answered** ([[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Scale Systems|Guitar Scale Systems]]): Does the 3-notes-per-string system complement or replace CAGED for scale work? It complements it: same notes, grouped for regular picking and legato, while CAGED keeps the link to chord shapes. - **Answered** ([[AI Wiki - Music - Partial Chords and Movable Shapes|Partial Chords and Movable Shapes]]): Which CAGED partial voicings are most useful for accompanying songs? Top-three-string triads first, then the E-shape top four and the D shape, then the G-shape partial barre; the four-string C shape last because of its stretch. ## References - JustinGuitar, "CAGED System" module: https://justinguitar.com/modules/caged-system - JustinGuitar, "The CAGED System Introduction" (TB-031): https://justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/TB-031 - JustinGuitar, "The CAGED System E Shape" (TB-032): https://justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/the-caged-system-e-shape-tb-032 - Wikipedia, "Barre chord": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barre_chord - Wikipedia, "Standard tuning": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_tuning ## Related - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Open Chords]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Barre Chords]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Fretboard Navigation]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Pentatonic Scale]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Major Scale]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Arpeggios]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Relative and Parallel Keys]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Chord Transitions]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Lead Techniques]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Capo and Transposition]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Fretboard Interval Shapes]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads on the Fretboard]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Types Compared]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Partial Chords and Movable Shapes]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Scale Systems]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Improvisation]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Theory Shortcuts and Mnemonics]]