— Daily Journal Entry 009 —
I never knew what the “CAGED System” was for guitar until about four, or five years ago. I had learned the concept of E-Form and A-From barre chords many years ago, and from that learned that there were elements of chords, and chord voicings that you can move up and down the neck of the guitar. I just never knew there was such a “system” that guitar players learned, referred to as, the “CAGED System.
With “CAGED,” serving as an acronym: “C” for open C-shaped chords, “A” for open A-shaped chords, “G” open G-shaped chords, “E” (you guessed it) for open E-shaped chords, and “D.“……
Again, I had learned early on how regular E-Form and A-Form barre chords worked, and had also learned the C7 chord and how it can move up and down the neck of the guitar. I just never realized that the F Major barre chord was actually in the shape of an open E Major chord, only you have to “barre” all six strings on the first fret in order for the chord to work. You are simply sliding everything up one fret to go from E Major to F Major.
The G shape is probably the most difficult to play as you move up the neck. Imagine the open G Major chord, then sliding that fingering and positioning up a couple of frets to where your ring finger is now on the 5th fret of the 6th string (A note). To hold this style of an A Major, your middle finger is on the 4rth fret of the 5th string, you have to barre the 4rth, 3rd, and 2nd strings, then your pinky finger is on the 5th fret of the 1st string. If you have small hands, like me, its not the easiest thing in the world to do.
Going beyond the CAGED system, there are tons of chord voicing variations that can be played up and down the neck. When you start to realize this, you begin to understand many more possibilities for your chord choices and just writing music in general.
Until Next Time,
- Featured Image: Me and my Fender Tele Deluxe that I purchased for tinkering around when I had the time in Afghanistan, which was more often than you would realize. In 2010, there were more F.O.B.s in the country, which had established military barracks of sorts. View on Flikr.
- Note: These “Daily Journal Entries” are part of a mini blog within the main blog where I make every effort to publish a 250+ word post per day on top of the regular, longer posts. The idea is to just create a daily habit of publishing written content. And also, to try and become a better overall writer… We’ll see…
