The CAGED System
The CAGED system: the five chord-shape positions — C, A, G, E and D — and how they link up to cover the whole neck in any key, each drawn on a real fretboard.
What the CAGED system is
Five open chords every guitarist learns first — C, A, G, E and D — are also five movable shapes. Put a barre where the nut was and the same fingering plays the same kind of chord anywhere on the neck. Because the five shapes fit together end to end, they cover the whole neck in any key: in every key the order up the neck is C → A → G → E → D, and then C again an octave up. That is the whole system, and it is why the name is spelled the way it is.
What makes it worth learning is that each chord shape sits inside a scale position. Learn where the G chord is in the E shape and you have also learned where the G major scale, the G arpeggio and every chord of the key sit in that same stretch of frets. Five shapes, one map of the neck.
CAGED guitar chords: the five shapes
Each shape is named for the open chord it comes from. The top row is the five open chords; the second row is the same five shapes moved to play G major — one chord, five places on the neck.
The root notes are the dark dots. Find the root of the chord you want on the string the shape roots on, and the rest of the fingering follows.
CAGED scale positions in G major
The same five shapes as scale positions. Each neck shows G major across the first twelve frets with one chord shape highlighted inside it; play the chord, then the scale notes around it, and the position is yours.
C shape — chord at frets 7–10
The G major scale around the C-shape chord; root, 3rd and 5th of the chord are marked. The C shape on its own page · Open it in the tool →
A shape — chord at frets 10–12
The G major scale around the A-shape chord; root, 3rd and 5th of the chord are marked. The A shape on its own page · Open it in the tool →
G shape — chord at frets 0–3
The G major scale around the G-shape chord; root, 3rd and 5th of the chord are marked. The G shape on its own page · Open it in the tool →
E shape — chord at frets 3–5
The G major scale around the E-shape chord; root, 3rd and 5th of the chord are marked. The E shape on its own page · Open it in the tool →
D shape — chord at frets 5–8
The G major scale around the D-shape chord; root, 3rd and 5th of the chord are marked. The D shape on its own page · Open it in the tool →
How the CAGED shapes connect
In G major, low to high, the chord shapes sit like this. Where two shapes share frets is where you change shape without moving your hand.
- G shape at frets 0–3 (shares fret 3 with the E shape)
- E shape at frets 3–5 (shares fret 5 with the D shape)
- D shape at frets 5–8 (shares frets 7–8 with the C shape)
- C shape at frets 7–10 (shares fret 10 with the A shape)
- A shape at frets 10–12
The order is the same in every key — C, A, G, E, D, then C again twelve frets up — only the starting fret changes with the root.
How to practice CAGED
- Play one chord in all five shapes, low to high, saying the shape name as you go. G is the easiest key to start in because every shape lands below the 12th fret.
- Around each chord, play the scale notes that surround it — the neck above shows exactly which — so the chord and its position become one thing.
- Sweep the G major arpeggio through the same positions: the chord tones you have been holding, played one at a time.
Shapes
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