Practice

Guitar only. CAGED relies on standard guitar tuning (E A D G B E). The same idea does not transfer directly to bass, mandolin, ukulele, or other instruments, because their tuning and number of strings change which open-chord shapes exist.

CAGED System (Guitar)

CAGED is a guitar-specific framework that uses five open-chord shapes — C, A, G, E, and D — as movable shapes that connect across the entire fretboard. Learn the five shapes and you can play any major chord in five places on the neck, and the scales and arpeggios that go with them.

The idea in one sentence

Every major chord has exactly five playable shapes on the guitar in standard tuning. The shapes are derived from the five open major chords whose names spell C-A-G-E-D, and they link together in that order going up the neck.

Once a shape is movable (barred or partially barred), you can slide it up or down so the root lands on any note. The shape keeps its interval pattern, so the chord stays major — just in a new key and a new neck position.

The five shapes at a glance

Each row shows the open chord, its lowest-root string, and the page with the full movable diagram.

The same numbering (Position 1 = C-shape through Position 5 = D-shape) labels every CAGED chord and scale diagram on the site, so a Position 3 box on a chord page lines up with a Position 3 box on a scale page.

# Shape Open chord Root string(s) Typical use Details
1 C-shape C major (open) A string (5th) Upper-neck voicings; bridges A and G shapes. C-shape →
2 A-shape A major (open) A string (5th) Classic 5th-string-root barre chord. A-shape →
3 G-shape G major (open) Low E (6th) & high E (1st) Wide, ringing voicing; often partial. G-shape →
4 E-shape E major (open) Low E string (6th) Classic 6th-string-root barre chord. E-shape →
5 D-shape D major (open) D string (4th) Compact upper-neck voicing; bridges E and C shapes. D-shape →

How the shapes connect

Going up the neck for any major chord, the shapes appear in the order C → A → G → E → D, then repeat (C → A → G → E → D → C …) an octave higher. The last shape and the first always overlap by a fret or two — that overlap is the point at which you change fingerings without changing chord.

Example, C major from low to high on the neck:

  • C-shape — open position (frets 0–3).
  • A-shape — barred at the 3rd fret (root C on the A string).
  • G-shape — spans about frets 3–7 (root C on low E, 8th fret, anchors top).
  • E-shape — barred at the 8th fret (root C on low E).
  • D-shape — around frets 10–12 (root C on D string, 10th fret).
  • Then the C-shape again at the 12th fret — one octave above where it started.

Using CAGED on the fretboard

Find any major chord

Pick any note on the low E, A, or D string. Each root lives inside one of the five shapes; barre or anchor that shape with the root on the correct string and you have the chord. Slide up through the remaining shapes to find the same chord four more times.

Minor, 7th, and other qualities

CAGED is taught with the five major shapes, but each one has a minor twin (lower the 3rd) and dominant, maj7, and m7 extensions built on the same root/5th frame. The shape stays; the third and seventh change.

Scales and arpeggios

Each CAGED shape comes with its own scale and arpeggio "box." The major scale has five boxes; the pentatonic has five. They line up with C, A, G, E, and D — so once you know where the chord is, you know where the scale and arpeggio notes live around it. Every guitar scale page on this site renders those five boxes for you under each scale.

Soloing across the neck

Anchor your soloing around the CAGED shape that matches the current chord. Moving between shapes teaches the neck as one continuous map instead of five isolated boxes.

Limits and caveats

  • Guitar & standard tuning only. The system is named after open chord shapes that exist because of the specific intervals in E-A-D-G-B-E tuning. Alternate tunings, 7-string guitars, and other instruments need their own framework.
  • Some shapes are hard to barre fully. The G-shape and C-shape are often played as partial voicings rather than full six-string chords when moved up the neck.
  • It is a map, not a method. CAGED is a way to organize what you see — it does not replace ear training, rhythm, or repertoire.

Each shape in detail

C-shape

Built on the open C major chord. Root on the A string; pairs with the A-shape three frets higher.

Root on 5th string

A-shape

Open A barred across five strings — the classic 5th-string-root barre chord.

Root on 5th string

G-shape

Open G moved up the neck. Wide voicing with the root on both outer E strings; often partial.

Roots on 6th & 1st strings

E-shape

Open E barred across all six strings — the classic 6th-string-root barre chord.

Root on 6th string

D-shape

Open D moved up the neck. Compact four-string voicing with root on the D string.

Root on 4th string

Use CAGED alongside the guitar chord, scale, and progression libraries — every shape you find here has full diagrams there.