CAGED — five doors up the neck

v2 deepen: this page is full CAGED depth. The lite doors live in the Scales shape lab. Also: Scales · Modes · Jazz

CAGED names five open major chord shapes — C, A, G, E, D — and treats them as movable doors. Slide a shape, keep the same intervals, and you can find the same major chord (and its scale tones) anywhere on the neck. This is v2 depth; CAGED-lite technique lives on Scales.

Play buttons below use GuitarScales CAGED systems and open diagrams from GuitarCore. One model at a time; tempo follows the metronome.

Sources (two-check): conventional CAGED pedagogy as taught in modern guitar methods (Hal Leonard / Berklee-adjacent position thinking) · classical open-position chord spelling as the five seed shapes. Not a copyrighted course copy — named forms and practice habits only.

What CAGED is / is not

It is: a memory system linking five open chord forms to five overlapping scale / arpeggio neighbourhoods. Learn open C, A, G, E, D first (Open chords), then move each form so a chosen root sits under the same finger geometry.

It is not: a claim that every song uses only these voicings; not a substitute for reading or ear training; not the only neck system (3NPS and five-position majors live on Scales · shapes). Jazz harmony depth will expand on Jazz.

v1 note: Exercises keeps CAGED-lite — enough named doors to move. This page is the v2 course.

Five major chord forms

Open seed shapes. Click a diagram to hear the strum; the lab below moves the matching scale / chord-tone map to any root.

C form

A form

G form

E form

D form

Order of the acronym: C–A–G–E–D cycles as you climb the neck for a fixed major chord (each next door sits higher). In the lab, shapes are listed E–A–G–C–D to match the open-form doors in GuitarScales.

Connecting scale shapes through CAGED

Each chord form sits inside a major-scale neighbourhood. When you know the E-form door for G major, the next door up is often the D-form (or A-form, depending on which overlap you prefer) — same root, new hand position. Practice:

  1. Play chord tones (1–3–5) inside one CAGED letter.
  2. Fill the same box with the full major scale (Play scale in lab).
  3. Slide to the next letter for the same root and repeat.

Parent maps: Scales. Mode colour inside a door: Modes · shapes.

Finding any major chord up the neck

Pick a root (say F). Find that pitch on the low E or A string, then drop the matching open form so its root lands there:

  • E form — root on low E (barre the open-E geometry).
  • A form — root on A string.
  • C / G / D forms — roots on their characteristic strings; use the lab highlight (squares = roots) until the geometry is automatic.

Barre habits for movable E and A forms also live on Barre chords.

Minor via relative / Em & Am forms

Relative minor: take a major CAGED door and treat degree 6 as home (C major neighbourhood → A Aeolian colour). Same frets, new tonic — same idea as Modes · relative.

Parallel minor doors: Em and Am open forms (plus Dm / Gm / Cm neighbours) are the CAGED-lite minor set. In the lab, switch Quality to minor to load cagedMin.

Em seed

Am seed

CAGED lab

Root + CAGED letter + quality. Play chord tones (1–3–5) or the full scale in that shape.


        

        

      

    


    

      
Suggested order

      

        
    
          
  1. Clean open C A G E D on Open chords.
    2. 
          
  2. Move the E form and A form for one root (lab + barre).
    3. 
          
  3. Add C, G, D forms for the same root — tour all letters.
    4. 
          
  4. Chord tones, then full scale inside one door.
    5. 
          
  5. Minor via Em / Am; optional relative view with Modes.
    6. 
        

        

          

            
Beginner

            
Open five forms · E-form major at fret 3 or 5. Near 60.

          

          

            
Intermediate

            
E + A forms for two roots · chord tones then scale.

          

          

            
Advanced

            
All five letters · minor doors · connect to
              modes / jazz.

          

        

      

    


    

      
A 10-minute CAGED routine

      

        
    
          
  1. 2 min — strum the five open forms (diagrams above).
    2. 
          
  2. 3 min — one root, E form then A form (chord tones).
    3. 
          
  3. 3 min — full scale in one letter; next letter up.
    4. 
          
  4. 2 min — Em or Am door, or a mode lean on
            Modes.
    5. 
        

        
Lite gym stays on
          Scales · scale shapes (CAGED-lite).

      

      

        CAGED-lite gym
        Scales
        Barre