What is the "CAGED" system?
Understanding it is easier than you think. (Part One)
The eternal mystery for many guitarists is the use of the "CAGED" system on the guitar. Those five letters (CAGED) represent the common open-string chord shapes you already know, that you can use anywhere on the fretboard. If you understand and can play "Barre" chords, you probably already have a pretty good idea on how these shapes appear in Barre chords. However, if you are not someone who plays Barre chords, you can use a Capo and the CAGED system to play chords anywhere on the fretboard.
How does it work?
Let's imagine the basic open-string "C" major chord. This particular chord shape is NOT subject to a static position on the fretboard. It can be moved up the fretboard to create other major chords.
You will need a Capo.
A capo is a tool that you position on the neck of your guitar to alter the pitch of the open strings. (They cost about $10 online.) The capo allows the player to use basic open-string chords on higher frets.
If we place a capo on the second fret of the guitar, the pitch of the open strings (E-A-D-G-B-E) have now all gone up one whole step to (F#-B-E-A-C#-F#). So the "C" major chord can be played with the capo on the second fret - and now becomes a "D" major chord. "C" to "D" is one whole step up. The shape is the same as the original "C" major chord, but the tone of each note has gone up one whole step.
Now, move your capo to the fourth fret. Now, if you play the "C" major chord shape, the tone of each note has gone up another whole step to create the "E" major chord.
You will need to know your keys!
I have several articles available on SoundHole Guitar Lessons to guide you in understanding "The Circle of Fifths" and how keys all relate to each other. Every key has seven notes that come from the first seven letters of the alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F and G). Each key must have one version of each of these seven notes in its key. All chords come from notes. There are twelve total notes in music. Knowing this, you must also understand that every note in every key has a Roman numerical value as well.
Why do you need to know this?
If a song is written in the key of G major, it might use six of the seven chords available in its key. Then again, it might only use four of the chords. For this example, let's use the following four chords:
G, C, D and Am
Each of these chords has a Roman numerical value. G = I, C = IV, D = V and Am = vi (notice the minor chord is in lower-case). So, the song can now be viewed as a:
"I, IV, V, vi" structure.
This structure is common in music as it can be found in nearly every genre of rock, country, jazz and pop music.
Let's imagine that your band wants to add this song to the band repertoire, but the lead singer struggles to sing the melody in the original key. The song is too low for the singer. Your singer requests to have the song be brought up to a higher key. Does the band scrap the song? Not necessarily.
The band now has the option to "Modulate" or change the key of the song to another key that will better fit the singer.
Someone in the band better know how to change the chords in the song. The suggestion at this point is to place the capo on the first fret of the guitar and try rehearsing the song with the singer to see if it fits his/her voice better. “Hmm, nope, it's still too low”. Okay, bring the capo up another fret. Finally! The capo is now on the second fret and the song is easier for the singer.
So, what do you tell your bassist and keyboard player? They don't use capos on their instruments. You need to be able to convey the new key to them so that they can alter the notes that they were playing in the original key.
Okay, so the lead singer said that the song was too low. The song was raised one whole step from the original key.
Which key is the song now being played to better accommodate your lead singer?
Did you answer: The key of "A"? That is correct! However, you still need to make sure that your bass player and keyboard player understand which chords will be used. Do you know what the chords are?
Here is where you need to know your keys.
If we use the simple formula of the Roman numerical value for each chord and apply it to the new key, you will find that the new chords are now:
A = I, D = IV, E = V and F#m =vi.
Your bass player simply needs to move everything he/she was playing in the original key, up one whole step. Your keyboard player will need to know how to play those four new chords.
Where does the CAGED system come in?
In this image, you can see the five shape options you can use to build the structure of the "C" major chord. As you can see, these five shapes correspond with the names of each chord shape: C, A,G,E and D. This means you have more than one place to play the "C" major chord.
What if you are someone who knows most (or all) of the open-string chords, but you struggle with "Barre" chords? This is where you use a capo and the CAGED system.
Some purist think of this approach as somehow "cheating". It is NOT cheating. It is about considering the use of alternative voicings in other available chord structures.
James Taylor uses a capo on many of his songs. I don't think I would ever tell Mr. Taylor that he is cheating by using a capo on his guitar.
More on this will be covered in - What is the "CAGED" system? Understanding it is easier than you think. (Part Two), which will be in your email inbox this Saturday October 7 at 10am.
Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment below.