A Practical Look at the CAGED System

…or as Borat would say, “”Musical Learnings of CAGED for Make Benefit Glorious Students of Red Leafs”

This post was contributed by Jon H., a guitar student at Red Leaf (who is also half-responsible for our Feet of the Week feature). Thanks, Jon!

 

I’d like to share some revelations while learning the C-A-G-E-D system for guitar. My nature is to make sense of things, but understanding chord theory and the guitar fretboard were never intuitive to me. Fortunately, that started to change while learning this system.

The C-A-G-E-D system is based on five movable chord patterns. The name comes from the first position chord forms that most of us are very familiar with: C, A, G, E and D.

First Position Chords

 

(Click the image for a larger view)

However, it’s more helpful to view the moveable forms of each of these chords. Hopefully you can see that the moveable chord forms are identical to the first position forms, except that it’s necessary to fret the strings that are open in the first position.

Moveable Chord Forms

(Click the image for a larger view)

Barre Chords

If you’re familiar with barre chords, note that the moveable A and E-forms are the barre chord forms. Some people refer to these as the 5^th string and 6^6h string barre chord forms. Remember that when you slide the E-form up one fret, you now have an F chord. We refer to that as “F in the E-form”. When you slide it up 3 frets, you have a G chord in the E-form. Move the A-form up two frets and you have a B chord in the A-form. So hopefully you are starting to see how this system helps you find different chords in each of the five forms.

The beauty of these barre forms is that you can easily get full sounding chords, anywhere on the fretboard. I say easily because they’re not terribly difficult to learn if you invest a bit of time. Yes, I remember thinking it was something I could never do. The A-form, which seems more difficult at first was actually easier to learn. But don’t expect to be able to play the 1^st string as indicated for this form. It’s nearly impossible so focus on getting a clean sound from the inner four strings, and you’ll eventually learn to mute the first string with your first or second finger.

The Other Moveable Forms

If you look at the moveable G chord form, notice how the B, D and G strings (2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th strings) are open in the first position chord. When you move this chord up the neck, those strings need to be fretted. If you’re like me, you’re thinking this method is crazy because that chord is almost impossible to fret without a few extra fingers – and you would be right. However, I soon realized that there’s a method to the C-A-G-E-D madness because there are several advantages to knowing these chord forms.

Partial Chords

While learning the rhythm to Pink Floyd’s “Time”, I learned that it’s not always necessary to play five or six note chords – especially when playing with others. Partial chords are beneficial, and sometimes prefered. There are times when you need to cut through the other instruments, so using the treble strings of a particular chord will work best. This is where you might choose to play only the upper 3 or 4 strings of an E-form or D-form. There are other times when the treble strings are too harsh, or you part needs to blend in, so the midrange or bass strings might work best.

 

Multiple Forms of the Same Chord

When multiple people in an ensemble play the same chord form, the sound can be muddy. The C-A-G-E-D system makes it easy to find a different voicing (or form) for each member, whether they’re playing lead or rhythm. This creates a sound with more interest and texture.

Chord Variations

Another advantage is the ability to figure out other chords (such as minor, seventh, etc…) from the major chord forms. To do this, you need to invest a small amout of time to learn the makeup of each of the five chord forms.

As you may know, a major chord consists of a 1, 3 and 5 – that is the first, third and fifth notes in the major scale. These numbers are referred to as scale degrees or chord degrees. For a C-major scale, the first note is a C, the third is an E and the fifth is a G. Therefore, a C-major chord consists of the notes C, E and G. For chords that contain more than 3 notes, there are additional 1’s, 3’s or 5’s that may be an octave above or below. So it’s important to learn, and memorize, where the 1’s, 3’s and 5’s are for each chord form.

The Minor Chord

Ever wonder what the difference is between a major and minor chord? To make a chord minor, take the “3” and make it flat by moving it down a half step, which is one fret on the guitar neck. This is called a flatted third scale degree. So to make a C-minor chord, remember that the major chord is made up of C, E and G, where E is the “3” (or third scale degree). Therefore, you need to flat the E and make it an E^b. If you memorize the patterns for each of the five chord forms, then all you need to do is move each “3” down one fret. This is easier with some chord forms (such as the A, E and D-forms), but remember that you can use partial chords.

 

The Major 7 Chord (maj7)

For a while, I’ve kown how to play a Dmaj7 chord but never thought about where it came from. I like to play it in the D-form by fretting the first 3 strings at the second fret and also playing the open 4^th string (the D string). You’ll notice this is only one note different from a D major chord played in the first position. All maj7 chords include a “7” (the seventh note in the major scale) which in this case would be a C#. By knowing the makeup of a D-form chord, you would know that the note played on the second string is a “1” (a D in this case). Therefore, changing that note to a “7” (by lowering it one fret) changes the D major chord into a Dmaj7.

 

Easier Transitions

But there are also times when you can avoid moving several frets to play your next chord. For the verse in “Time” I needed to play an F#minor chord followed by an A chord. For the F#m, we chose the A-form which exists at the 9^th fret.

The F#m consists of F#, A and C#, and an A major consist of A, C# and E. Notice that of the 3 notes that make up each chord, two of them are the same! This means that the chords should be very similar. The only fingering change that’s necessary is to lift your fourth finger (pinky) when playing the A chord. We notate the A chord as A/C# which is read as “A over C#” or “A with C# in the bass”. This is because it’s a partial C-form where the lowest note is C#.

You may be thinking this is just dumb luck, but it’s not. Sometimes the musical gods reward us for our hard work. There’s a reason for this realationship and the fact that these chords work together in a song. The key signature of F# minor is the relative minor of the key of A, so their scales share the same notes (but in a different order) and therefore the chords have two notes in common. But that’s a topic for another article. For now, just know that these relationships exist.

Still not sold on C-A-G-E-D? Check this out…

Here’s my favorite part and the coolest thing about the C-A-G-E-D system. All of the chord forms connect! This didn’t click with me when first exposed to it. I needed to see it, so I went home and drew out all the forms of the C chord on the fretboard – and then played them to make sure I could locate each one. It was then that I realized that this “connectivity” exists up and down the fretboard no matter which key you are in, or which chord form you start with.

Since I already knew the forms and now realized that the connectivity was logical, I now had many more options for myself. At that moment, I began to realize how this seemingly complex system is actually rather simple, powerful, and best of all, useful.