[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by janinep7

I'm sorry to read that you're not feeling well, Tony. I hope you are feeling better soon.

I've been reading about the CAGED system and have watched a few YT videos on the subject.

My take aways:

1) It's one tool of many for learning how to navigate the fretboard
2) It has its fans and detractors
3) People feel kind of strongly about it
4) Most of the people trying to explain it in the YT videos get do a great job on some aspects of it and a not so great job on others, leaving plenty of confusion among viewers
5) The concept of movable chords is very important to learn for guitar; however you get there is all good

Early on, a friend told me that if you're playing all closed strings, you can move them up and down the fretboard. So if you fret an open A chord, then move it up the neck, just playing those three strings, it will become an A#, B, C, C# as you go along.

I think as beginners we get stuck close to the nut because the first thing we learn is cowboy chords. Cowboy chords are easy but they're not moveable as such. If you fret an open C major and start moving that shape up the neck, the farther you go, the more dissonant the sound because the notes on your closed strings are getting higher, but your open strings are staying the same.

BUT if you move the shape, and you "move the nut" by barring across the strings with your first finger, then the chords are harmonious sounding again.

It may be easier for people to visualize with a diagram. I like this one:
https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarlesso...tem_locations/

This is for the major chords. I would assume it works the same for minors, 7ths, etc.

The other reason it's helpful to have some way of understanding how to move up and down the neck is for doing solos and riffs. If you play an open C chord, then want to do a little solo, you know where to find the other notes on the neck that will sound good with it and your fingers can frolic around in that area making you and your guitar sound awesome.

I think without even trying, you just explained the cage system just as well as anyone I have heard try and in a lot less words! Well done.

To the OP, well done also, I hope your friend learns from this.

For me, even knowing a little about the cage system is helpful to add variety to your arrangements, something as simple as playing a D shape on the 7th fret for a G or an open A shape for a D can be fun with fingerstyle or strumming if you just play those three strings etc.

Anything that gets you up the neck is great for added variety, single notes, solos etc.


To Barry and Tony, way to go fellas. Glad to see things end in a positive note and we can all learn from that. The intent of our writing on anonymous forums often seems clear to us as we know what we mean to say, but can come off completely differently to a reader who is not privy to our true intent.