Your Opinion On The CAGED System

No disadvantages that I’ve ever found. Works even better when you integrate it with other methods, eg., 3/4nps

i think it’s jus one of the ways to improve fretboard understanding …

personally i prefer the magic triangle approach and using modes ..
this, i feel is more beneficial for lead playing

but ya like said above .. there’s no harm in learning caged system

I think it’s just a way of visualising the root notes (or whatever scale degree you choose) on the fretboard by the triangular pattern they form.Take the E-form barre chord: there are three E notes in it and if you join them up with lines you form a triangle. It’s very similar to the CAGED method in that respect.

@yupyup 9689 wrote:

Ok, I’ve heard of the caged system, actually it helped me a lot, but I never heard of the magic triangle system. Can you give a quick description or a link

sorry man ,, i should’ve been more descriptive …
well magic triangle is mostly what mandz said ..

to add, here’s my 2 cents
basically what i follow is i try to link every thing to the 5th and 6th string’s notes .. (which is pretty much imprinted in my brain from yrs and yrs of playin barre chords 🙂
so if i wanted to locate the F note all around the fret board ..
i’ll start with the 1st fret of the last string
then 3rd fret of the 3rd string
then 6th fret of the 2nd string and so on…
until u reach the close to the 12th fret ..
if u connect the dots it’ll be sort of a triangle ..

I dunno if that makes any sense .. but i got this from peter fischer’s rock guitar secrets .. so if ur really interested u can check it out

@billmeedog 9707 wrote:

Hey Guys,

Allow me to “chime-in!”

I had a teacher many, many years ago who referred to the “CAGED” system as “The 5-flips.” He never alluded to the word “CAGED,” but he did refer to each flip as containing a familiar open-chord “shape” within it. So in his teaching, he would demonstrate how there were five (5) G-Major chords (root-position and inversions included) whose BASS-NOTES were on the E-6 string. Thus:

G – ( “G” Form – Root Position – Open )
G – ( “E” Form – Root Position – 3rd Pos. )
G/B – ( “D” Form – 1st Inversion – 5th Pos. )
G/B – ( “C” Form – 1st Inversion – 7th Pos. )
G/D – ( “A” Form – 2nd Inversion – 10th Pos. )
*****************************************************
G – ( “G” Form – Root Position – 12th Pos. )
G – ( “E” Form – Root Position – 15th/3rd Pos. )
G/B – ( “D” Form – 1st Inversion – 17th/5th Pos. )

* If one wanted to use any of these chords as root-position ONLY, (without inversion options) then the E-6 string (or in the case of the “D” Form, E-6 & A-5 strings) would need to be muted-out!

* Also, the chords work there way up the neck “in the order of” the word “CAGED” but which “root-named-chord” you start with determines where in the word “CAGED” is your starting point. Thus, in my example above, “G” was our chosen “root-named-chord.” Therefore, our order went “GEDCA.” Interestingly enough, it’s conceptually how modes are related to their relative-root/key signature major-scale. The info doesn’t change, just the starting point! Beyond that, I am NOT trying to make any connection here to modes, nor do I care to open up THAT “can-of-worms” in THIS thread! (LOL!) 😮 :rolleyes:

As far as learning to really master one’s note-recognition on the guitar’s fretboard, I am a HUGE proponent of Mick Goodrick’s – “Science of The Unitar: Soloing on a Single-String.” This concept is one of the first chapters in his brilliant (albeit a bit intimidating and cryptic at times, and thus NOT FOR BEGINNERS AT ALL! :confused:- LOL!) book called “The Advancing Guitarist.”

Here’s a stripped-down/basic version of the method which I use with students:

1.) Record diatonic vamp in “C-Major” – Perhaps: ( C – Am – Dm – G7 ) for 3-5 minutes.
2.) Pick a single string and start improvising over the recorded vamp.
3.) *Verbally call-out every note played before proceeding to the next subsequent note.
4.) If you hit a “sour” (IE: non-diatonic, sharp/flat) note, keep hitting it UNTIL you’ve VERBALLY identified it by letter-name!
5.) Repeat steps 1.) through 4.) on the other (5) strings individually.

* Advancing Variations: Once you gain confidence playing linear-type melodies, additional challenges can include: Large interval-leaps (this mandates “true” note recognition, NOT alphabetical linearity!) Also, string-bending is a cool variation. Remember to stay diatonic/in-key! This of-course mandates (perfectly-intonated!) whole-step as well as half-step bends depending on the note being played (“B”–>”C” & “E”–>”F” are examples of half-steps in this key-of-“C-Major.”)

I hope some of this might help! 😉

~Bill Meehan~ 😀

i guess that’s pretty much the same thing as CAGED ..

I kinda learnt it by experimenting .. so didn’t really have a name to it ..

the single string thing sounds cool … gotta give it a shot

thx

@arc_of_descent 9925 wrote:

Hey Guys,

Sorry for butting in so late, but thought I’d share some info related to Bill’s above post. I’ve been reading this book called “Fretboard Logic” lately, and its quite a detailed book about the CAGED system and related chords, scales, arpeggios to it.

So, as Bill said, the chord forms literally follow the CAGED order. But also, the next form begins exactly at the position where the previous form ends. Except for the switch from the D to the C form, which is one fret lower. You guys might have been aware of this. I was not, and it now somewhat helps me to connect the forms. 🙂

Hey Rohan, 🙂

I hope you had nice holidays! 😎

Anyways, yes you are correct about the “positional-connection” of each shape going up (or down) the neck. I meant to mention that, but I never did. 😮 My old teacher (the one who called the “CAGED” chords the “5-flips,”) taught it that way (about the positions being connected,) I just forgot to make that point, but it’s an important part of the picture (especially for those who are just learning this stuff!) 😉

Dude, you are a voracious reader huh? That’s AWESOME! 😉 I read books & magazines about music, musicians (biographies), and sometimes sports, but you seem to read about all sorts of stuff. Good for you! 😎

~Bill Meehan~ 😀