The Caged Guitar Method – The CAGED method is simply the act of viewing the fret board in 5 separate positions based on the 5 common chord shapes that even beginner guitarist knows. C, A, G, E and D. In that order.
1. Here is a scale based off of the C chord shape. Called “C Form”. The C form shape is highlighted in red for easy recognition.
2. Here is a chord based off of the A chord form.
Here are the advantages of this method:
- It’s very easy to know what scale to use based on the chords you are playing at any giving point because all your scales and chords overlap each other.
- It breaks the fretboard down into 5 digestible chunks that work no matter what key you are in.
- You only need to add 2 notes (per octave) to your existing shapes to create a Major scale or any of its modes.
- It’s easy to visualize.
Disadvantages:
- It encourages people to play more vertical rather than horizontally up the neck which are equally important.
* I believe CAGED is fundamentally the best way to visualize the fretboard initially. It is not the only way and should be used in combination with other methods in order to give you a complete understanding of the neck. In order to fully understand anything it is important to be able to see it from different perspectives! I encourage you to master this first and then move on to other methods such as 3 note per string scales and 1 octave scales.
Next Lesson: The CAGED Guitar Method Part II
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