15. The 7 Diatonic Chords - CAGED System

Over the past five chapters, you've learned how to play chords rooted on individual strings: E, A, D, G, and B. We started with the heaviest strings and moved to the lightest to help you remember the chord shapes.

Now, it's time to connect these chords and unlock the entire fretboard.

While learning by string weight was helpful for memorization, the shapes themselves follow a different, systematic order on the guitar.

You may have heard of a popular system for navigating chords across the fretboard called 'CAGED.' This system is widely used and refers to the five fundamental open chord shapes: C, A, G, E, and D.

As you move from the tuning pegs toward the guitar's body, the same chord can be played using five distinct shapes rooted on specific strings: C shape on B string, A shape on A string, G shape on G string, E shape on E string, D shape on D string. This rooting method simplifies navigation in the standard CAGED system.

I personally think that the C shape should be renamed the B shape, because it can be rooted on the B string, and it would make things simpler.

This approach provides a clear, consistent way to identify and apply chord shapes based on their most prominent root location on each string. The graph below illustrates this arrangement, showing where you root the C major chord on the B, A, G, E, and D strings using these shapes.

• This is what the C major chord looks like rooted on all these 5 strings.

The Power of the CAGED System: Flexibility and Fretboard Mastery

The true strength of the CAGED system lies in its versatility. While each shape can play any chord (by moving it along the fretboard), learning to associate a shape with its root on a specific string gives you incredible control:

• Varying Pitch and Timbre: If you're writing a song and find that playing a C major chord using the C shape is too low in pitch or has a certain tone that doesn't quite fit, you can find the exact same C major chord in a different position and with a different timbre by using the A, G, E, or D shapes further up or down the fretboard. This allows you to choose the perfect sonic character and register for your music.
• Ergonomic Comfort: Different chord shapes feel more comfortable in different areas of the neck depending on the preceding or succeeding chords. The CAGED system allows you to find the most ergonomic and seamless way to play a progression, adapting to your hand position and the flow of the song.
• Unlocking the Fretboard: By mastering these five fundamental shapes rooted on their respective strings, you gain the ability to play any chord in any key across the entire guitar neck. This eliminates the need to memorize countless individual chord diagrams and instead gives you a powerful framework for understanding the fretboard's logic.

This works for all chords.