Six Strings
In this section: Course
Course

Intermediate · step 1 · Not started

An introduction to CAGED

You can already move two barre chord shapes around: the E shape and the A shape. The CAGED system adds three more and links them together. Goal: play the same C chord in five places, and know where its root is in each shape.

Time
15 minutes a day for a week
Before you start
Moveable barre chords everywhere
You’ll be able to
Play a C chord in all five CAGED shapes

Five shapes you already know

C, A, G, E, D: these five open chords give the system its name, C, A, G, E, D. Each of their shapes can move up the neck: your index finger (or a barre) takes the place of the nut. You’ve already done it with two of them:

  • the E-shape barre chord is the E shape;
  • the A-shape barre chord is the A shape.

That leaves three shapes to discover, C, G and D, and above all their order: on the neck, they always fit together in the same order, C, A, G, E, D, then C again, one octave higher.

One C chord in five places

Click each shape to see it on the neck and hear it:

EGCEGCEGCEGCEGCEGCEGCEGCEG
EGCEGCEGCEGCEGCEGCEGCEGCEG

High E at the top, just like in tab.Neck seen from the front, headstock at the top: low E on the left, just like a chord diagram.

Play them in order, from the nut up to the 13th fret:

  1. C shape (frets 0 to 3): the open C chord.
  2. A shape (frets 3 to 5): the A-shape barre chord at the 3rd fret.
  3. G shape (frets 5 to 8): the hardest one. Play only the three high strings, barred at the 5th fret, with your pinky on the high E string at the 8th.
  4. E shape (frets 8 to 10): the E-shape barre chord at the 8th fret.
  5. D shape (frets 10 to 13): the D chord shape, on the four high strings.

Does your neck show 12 frets? Switch it to 15 with the setting above it: the D shape goes up to the 13th fret.

The landmark: the root

In each shape, one or more notes are C, the root. On the neck below, they’re in orange. They act as bridges: two neighboring shapes always share a C, in the same place.

EGCEGCEGCEEGCEGGCEGCCEGCEEGCEG
EGCECEGEGCGCEGCEGEGCE

High E at the top, just like in tab.Neck seen from the front, headstock at the top: low E on the left, just like a chord diagram.

  • C → A: the C on the A string, 3rd fret.
  • A → G: the C on the G string, 5th fret.
  • G → E: the Cs on both E strings, 8th fret.
  • E → D: the C on the D string, 10th fret.

Why it’s useful

  • Play rhythm differently. A second guitarist is playing the C shape near the nut? Play the same chord in the E or D shape, higher up: the two guitars complement each other instead of doubling up.
  • Stay in one place. With all five shapes, you can play a whole chord progression in a single area of the neck.
  • Get ready for solos. Each shape matches a scale position. You’ll see it in step 4 with the pentatonic scale.

The CAGED system page shows how to transpose the five shapes into other keys.

Exercise

Play the five C shapes going up, one bar each, saying the letter out loud. Then come back down. Then pick a shape at random and find it without looking at the diagram.

You’ve got it when…