What Does CAGED Mean?
Here is a quick, non-music-major explanation of CAGED.
There are five basic ways to form MAJOR chords on the guitar neck. Open-string major chords at the lowest position look like this:
Major chords in the lowest position.
The chord names can be arranged C-A-G-E-D as an easy way to remember them. But there is no real musical significance to this sequence of chords.
These chord forms are not particularly useful because they rely on open strings (un-fingered strings), which makes them immobile. That is, you cannot take the fingered notes of any of them, move them a few frets higher on the neck, and wind up with a useful chord. Holding G as shown and moving the three fingered notes a fret higher does not yield a G#.
But, these chord forms can be made to move if we alter them a bit.
Here is a picture of the five CAGED basic chords moved upwards toward the middle of the neck, with some slight fingering modifications. (Note that there is also a sixth form that is just a way to play the upper part of the form for G.)(Also note, no unfingered strings are allowed to sound.)
CAGED Movable Chords Near the Middle of the Neck
If this is new to you, take some time to look closely at these forms. Try to envision the original forms in these. In the ‘F in C form’, for example, look to see the shape of the original open-string C form. It’s there, just with three dots above it, representing a bar fingered across the 5th fret. That is, the original open-string C Major chord has been moved five frets up to become an F Major chord. If this chord is moved one fret higher it will become an F# Major. One fret lower and it’s an E Major.
THESE ARE USEFUL. THESE CAN MOVE.
Not only do these major chords move, but every variation of the chords moves with them, the minor, augment, diminished, 7th, 9th, and so forth, ALL MOVE. As do the arpeggios and scales associated with each of these forms.
I have used the CAGED grouping of chords to organize my book ‘Building Blocks of Music for Guitar: Using the ii-V-I Sequence for Useful Chords and Progressions’. When the CAGED major chords move, so do all chords associated with them. So, if any of these chords moves up or down on the neck, ALL of its associated ii-V-I’s move with it.
If you would like an explanation of ii-V-I, try reading my Journal posting ‘Just What Is A ii-V-I ?’
