As a beginner I was fascinated with moving my new beginner chords up and down the neck. I used to love moving these chords around and hearing the different sounds they make. I also thought this was the CAGED system. I wasn’t far wrong, but there’s much more to it than that…
The term CAGED comes from the open chords of C, A, G, E and D. It’s these chord shapes and their relative minors and other voicing that we can move up and down the neck to achieve different chords.
Moving the chords around the neck can sound great, but with the inclusion of the open strings as part of the chord these aren’t always part of the system.
We would use this system when accompanying another guitarists. If the first player plays open chords then the second player can play a CAGED chord to accompany them. This will make the two guitar together have increased harmony and depth.
The chord order of CAGED is NOT an accident. This system is fantastic for learning your notes on the fretboard. See 4.49 in the above video for more. Essentially the order of the chords is linked to the next chords bass note. But please watch the video for a better understanding of this.
HOMEWORK:
Play the chords of CAGED in the order explained in the video. So you’ll be playing the chord of C in 5 different places. The chord of A in 5 different places etc…