The CAGED System: Linking Chords and Scales

Fretboard9 minFive positions · CAGED · finding root notes

The shapes of the five open chords — C, A, G, E, D — can be shifted into any chord, and they line up one-to-one with the five scale positions.

Video lessons are in production — follow the notes and practice checklist below and you'll learn it just fine.

Stage 7 · Fretboard & Scales8 lessons

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What CAGED is

Take the “shapes” of the five open chords C, A, G, E, and D, barre them, and shift them as a whole anywhere on the neck — and you can play that same chord at any position. The five shapes link end to end and cover the entire fretboard.

For example, the E shape barred and shifted is exactly the big barre chords F, G, A you learned in Stage 4 — so you've actually already used the E shape from CAGED.

Chords ↔ scales, locked together

Every chord shape corresponds to a scale position: the C shape ↔ Mi, the A shape ↔ Sol, the G shape ↔ La, the E shape ↔ Ti, the D shape ↔ Re.

Know one chord shape and you can find its scale position right nearby (and vice versa) — when you improvise, “wherever the chord is, the notes are.”

💡 CAGED is the key step that upgrades “I can fret chords” into “I can read the whole fretboard.”

How to use it

Find one CAGED shape of your target chord → the scale position is right around it → build a melody or solo on top. Chords and melody are no longer two separate things.

Root

Labels

C Minor pentatonic · The first position for rock / improv — learn this one first

Red = root, orange = scale notes; open-string notes sit to the left of the nut (the thick line on the far left). Tap any note to hear it, or press "Play scale" to hear one octave ascending from the root. Switch the labels to "Degree" to see the relative intervals; change the root or scale and you'll see the same position shape slide as one along the fretboard — that's the heart of the five scale positions.

On the fretboard map, pick a key and scale and compare it to the CAGED chord shapes you already know — the scale sits right around the chord tones, and that's where your solo lives.

Chords in this lesson

Tap the 🔊 under each diagram to match every chord's sound to its shape.

⏱️ Cycle this lesson's chords to a beatPractice switching without stopping (one-minute changes) — first learn each chord by ear and shape, then drill clean changes between them.Expand

Switch back and forth between this lesson's chords to the beat below.

Tap “Start” to play along with the beat

CAGED

Speed80 BPM

Time

Loop

One bar of count-in first, then the chord changes automatically each bar. Get it smooth slowly, then speed up bit by bit.

Want to count how many changes you can do in 60 seconds? Head to the one-minute changes drill.

Go play these

Songs that fit this lesson's technique and chords — pick one and practice in the library:

See all songs →

Open the fretboard scale mapCompare how the chord shapes and scale positions line up.→

Practice checklist

Use the E-shape barre at the 3rd fret to play a G chord.
Say which scale position the C shape and the E shape each correspond to.