Day 1 - Get to Know CAGED

Your only goal today is to take in a high-level overview of the CAGED system. Molly will quickly run through the five shapes so you can start to see what the CAGED system is all about.

Don't feel like you need to master these shapes right now. If you get stuck, just keep moving to Day 2 where we will zoom in on the C shape and take it much more slowly.

_{Hot tip: shapes aren't the same as chords}

CAGED is all about seeing the same chord up and down your fretboard using different shapes.

• These shapes are simply named after familiar C, A, G, E, and D open chords.
• Playing them through the CAGED cycle gives us the same chord up the fretboard (depending on what key we are in).
• In this lesson, we are in the key of C. So the C, A, G, E, and D shapes are all C chords.

_{What's with the numbers?}

So what are the R, 3, and 5 in the circles on the CAGED diagram all about anyway? They're don't represent frets. And they don't represent finger numbers.

They represent ... drum roll please ... scale degrees.

Let's get acquainted with this concept:

• The major scale is made up of these scale degrees: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
• If we take the 1, 3, and 5 from those scale degrees we get chord tones which identify the quality of a chord or arpeggio. ‍
• R = Root (this is also your "1")
• ‍3 = Major 3rd ‍
• 5 = Perfect 5th

So chord tones and scale degrees are cut from the same cloth. Eventually you will be able to visualize them that way as well.

We'll spend a lot more time in future days breaking down the scale degrees and chord tones across the CAGED system. So don't fret (pardon the pun) if you're not crystal clear on this right now.

Once you've watched the lesson video above, dive into the practice exercises below. Again, it's ok if you can't play through these exercises perfectly. It's fine to keep moving to Day 2.

Note: the TAB and notation are available as PDFs by clicking the downloads button above each day.

Exercise 1. Strum the shapes

Let’s start practicing our five CAGED shapes in the key of C.

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Hot tip: It’s totally normal for these shapes to feel alien at first.

• We promise it’ll get easier with practice.
• You’re building muscle memory.
• With practice, the shapes will start to feel very natural.

Remember that the goal is visualization, not strumming perfect chord shapes.

Exercise 2. Play the roots

Next we’ll identify the root notes in each CAGED shape. Visualizing the root notes within CAGED is super important. With practice, the root notes should start to feel like home across the fretboard.

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Jam

Let’s try our first CAGED jam with Sam Blakelock. These jams will help you to build muscle memory with the shapes and root notes.

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Now you might have noticed that there's no TAB for these jams. No TAB?! Agh!!!! Deep breaths. There's a method to this madness. The point to the jams is to start to 'go off book' with what you've learned. While it can be a bit more challenging at first, practicing with your ears instead of your eyes is going to give you much better results over the long term.

Awesome work! You're on the steepest part of the learning curve. It only gets easier from here. When you’re ready, jump into Day 2 where we'll go deep on our trusty old C shape.