learning CAGED system and why I feel angry

[richard1]

Today I started learning the CAGED system, and I'm catching on fast. Believe it or not I can play guitar to a fair standard. I've been at it long enough now to learn new songs pretty quickly, and I have a large repertoire.

So why do I feel angry? Because I watched a lesson on the CAGED system whereby I actually got taught something rather than got told it.

For years ( I'm 55 ) I thought I was stupid because no matter how much I watched lessons on the CAGED system I just could not get it into my head. It meant nothing to me. But then the penny dropped; Because I found a lesson quite by chance, In which the teacher actually taught how it works, rather than just told it.

I work in a job where we have students coming in to learn on the job, to meld their theory with their practice. Many of them are sent by the same 'teacher', and I can spot them outright. They are the ones who have been told stuff in college, and not actually taught anything. Their 'teacher' actually shakes her head in disbelief when they don't know something that they should, because 'She told them that'.

There is a world of difference between telling something, and actually teaching it. I am not a teacher, but even I know that.

So for forty years I have thought I was dumb, because I couldn't get a handle on the CAGED system. I have wasted forty years of learning opportunity because I didn't find a half decent teacher when I needed one.

So my advice to all new guitar students is to find a teacher who teaches, and not one that just tells you stuff. You are doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't.

Despite my late age, I'm going to continue to learn what I can. But I do feel a little annoyed that I missed out on so much given my rapidly advancing years.

[tomiv9]

Maybe share the teachers name for others?

[Silly Moustache]

Hi, I remember reading an article or two in various magazines, about CAGED which communicated nothing to me.

It was trying to transpose something that suddenly made the penny drop , and spent a little time playing around with it.

In fact I recently made a short video about it.
Please have a look and tell me if it is "telling" or "teaching" which is a very interesting perspective!

[Beakybird]

You were CAGED. Now you are set free.
I never learned the cage system, but in my 20's, I spent hours and hours learning major and minor triads all over the neck plus all kinds of other voicings. When I read a great book that presented the CAGE system, I saw that I already knew it intuitively.
These days, I just like to sing to stuff I made up, but it's helpful to know scales, intervals, and chords. Mastery depends on whether you want to play Wild Thing or Al Dimeola material. I personally prefer Wild Thing.

[richard1]

Originally Posted by tomiv9

Maybe share the teachers name for others?

By all means, I hope it helps others. This is just an introductory video, but you can use it to link to lessons 1 & 2 on the CAGED system by the same teacher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_CZPzBKato

[SongwriterFan]

Sometimes (not just in guitar lessons), you have to do the "teaching" yourself.

Not every student learns in the same way. A teacher/video that actually "teaches" me may not do anything for somebody else.

I suppose the perfect teacher can figure out what it takes to "teach" each person and adjust accordingly.

[richard1]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Hi, I remember reading an article or two in various magazines, about CAGED which communicated nothing to me.

It was trying to transpose something that suddenly made the penny drop , and spent a little time playing around with it.

In fact I recently made a short video about it.
Please have a look and tell me if it is "telling" or "teaching" which is a very interesting perspective!

Hi Silly, I am a fan of your videos, but please don't take offense if I tell you that personally I wouldn't have got past the first few minutes. I think you understood yourself it was a bit confusing, as you actually said so a number of times. I appreciate that it's a confusing thing to try to teach, but that is why I think the teacher that I referenced does such an admirable job. Take a look yourself. I know you already know what you are showing in the video, but you might get some ideas on presenting a topic without actually confusing it.

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Please have a look and tell me if it is "telling" or "teaching" which is a very interesting perspective!

Perfectly done except for two issues:

Still don't know how to play a barre chord.

Technically, a diad (two notes) can be a chord, too. Or more technically, imply a chord (actually more than one chord). Example, a C and G can imply a Cmaj or Cmin, depending on context. A minor quibble, though. I'd rather learn how to play barre chords.

[richard1]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

Sometimes (not just in guitar lessons), you have to do the "teaching" yourself.

Not every student learns in the same way. A teacher/video that actually "teaches" me may not do anything for somebody else.

I suppose the perfect teacher can figure out what it takes to "teach" each person and adjust accordingly.

Yes I wholeheartedly agree with you. We all learn in different ways, and figuring that out is indeed the job of a teacher.
I just got lucky stumbling on that video because it spoke in terms that made sense to me. It may not to others.
But that is why I say it's important to find a teacher who can adapt to various learning styles. One who is skilled in the art of teaching. If only Socrates was a guitar teacher!

[Earl49]

As someone who has taught various things in my life (while remaining largely unburdened by formal training as an educator) it is vital to figure out three different ways to present the information. Every student learns in a different way, and what clicks with one student will pass over the heads of others. Whenever I have taught something, I end up learning way more about the topic myself. That is part of why teaching is personally rewarding.

[Mr. Jelly]

In this YouTube era there are allot of poor teachers. Most drive me up the wall. First thing to do is click into the video about one minute to see if they have started teaching anything. If not keep clicking into the video.

It's odd to an old man like me that something like the cage system has become a standard. It makes the guitar players today sound generic and similar. Personal style and technic are a rare commodity.

[Beakybird]

There are hundreds of languages within Western music. Principles like CAGED is like learning the alphabet that underlies the language.

If you transmit soul, you don't need all that stuff, but just like Shakespeare combined soul and a great vocabulary, a musician that combines both is one for the ages.

[mercy]

Any book or encyclopedia will tell you that a chord is 3 notes and 2 notes are an interval. In common parlance some 2 notes may be called a chord but technically they arent. I think its important for communication to use standard definitions.

[agfsteve]

The video to which the OP links is one of the best I've seen on the CAGED system.

If someone pointed out how to use the black notes to find the notes in the C Major scale on a piano, that would be very useful to a beginning pianist--that's the equivalent of the CAGED system on guitar.

And that's all the CAGED system is, in essence. And that's the beauty of it.

[mercy]

I feel the same way. I had to learn it for myself over years of playing the guitar. There was no internet and no "good" teachers in my town.