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What is the CAGED system?
CAGED is named after five open chord shapes almost every guitarist learns early on: C, A, G, E and D major. The idea behind the system is that these five shapes aren't just open chords. They're templates that repeat up and down the whole neck.
Once you move past the open position, the same five shapes keep reappearing, shifted higher, and always in the same order: C, A, G, E, D, then back to C. Learn how they connect and you can play any chord in several places, find the scale notes that sit around each shape, and move around the neck without getting lost.
Barre chords and movable shapes
Picture an open A major chord. Your fingers make a shape, and the open strings ring from the nut. Now slide that whole shape up two frets. The open strings would be wrong, so something has to hold them down at the new fret. That something is your index finger, laid flat across the strings like a movable capo. That's a barre chord.
Slide the A shape so the barre sits at fret 2 and you're playing B major. At fret 3 it's C major. The shape never changes; only the fret it starts on decides which chord you're playing.
How the five shapes connect
Each shape covers a few frets around its root notes, and the shapes overlap: the top of one shape shares frets with the bottom of the next. That overlap is the glue that turns five separate shapes into one continuous map, with no gaps from the nut to the top fret.
Here's how it plays out in G major. The open G chord is the G shape (frets 0 to 3). Next comes the E-shape barre at fret 3 (frets 3 to 5), then the D shape around frets 5 to 8, the C shape around frets 7 to 10 and the A-shape barre at fret 10 (frets 10 to 12). At fret 12 the G shape comes back round and the whole cycle repeats, so a 24-fret neck holds two full cycles.
CAGED chart: G major across the neck
Here are the five CAGED shapes of G major in standard tuning, in the order they appear up the neck. Each row gives the frets from the low E string to the high e string; an x means the string isn't played.
| Shape | Position | Frets (low E to high e) |
|---|---|---|
| G shape | open position | 3 2 0 0 0 3 |
| E shape | fret 3 | 3 5 5 4 3 3 |
| D shape | fret 5 | x x 5 7 8 7 |
| C shape | fret 7 | x 10 9 7 8 7 |
| A shape | fret 10 | x 10 12 12 12 10 |
Playable G major CAGED voicings
Start with these chord-box shapes, then use the full fretboard below to see every chord tone.
G shape, open position
Low to high strings: 3 2 0 0 0 3
E shape, fret 3
Low to high strings: 3 5 5 4 3 3
D shape, fret 5
Low to high strings: x x 5 7 8 7
C shape, fret 7
Low to high strings: x 10 9 7 8 7
A shape, fret 10
Low to high strings: x 10 12 12 12 10
Interactive CAGED map
Every G major chord tone on the neck. Switch on the CAGED shapes to see how the five positions tile together, and play any of them.
Frets 0–24. Select a position or tap a note to hear it.
The dots are colored by interval, the same way across the whole site: red is the root, green is the major third and cyan is the fifth. Those three notes are the whole major chord. The shape buttons use their own colors, so green there means the G shape.
The five CAGED shapes
Here's each shape on its own: where its root lives, what it's good for, and what it looks like on the fretboard, with the chord on the left and the scale pattern that surrounds it on the right.
The pictures use the same interval colors as the map: red roots, green thirds and cyan fifths. Those are the notes to aim for when you solo.
The C shape
Root on the A string (5th string)
In open position this is the classic C chord. Moved up the neck it gives full, warm mid-neck voicings. Barring the whole shape is a stretch, so most players use its top four strings.
Chord position
Scale position
The A shape
Root on the A string (5th string)
One of the two everyday barre chords. With the root on the A string, it is the shape behind countless rock, pop and blues songs, and its scale pattern is usually the second box players learn.
Chord position
Scale position
The G shape
Root on the low E string (6th string)
The widest of the five shapes. A full barred G shape is hard on the hand, but its partial voicings on the top four strings are used all the time and sound great.
Chord position
Scale position
The E shape
Root on the low E string (6th string)
The most recognizable barre chord on the guitar. With the root on the low E string it gives full, powerful chords, and its scale pattern is often the very first one guitarists learn.
Chord position
Scale position
The D shape
Root on the D string (4th string)
A bright, compact shape that lives on the top four strings. Moved up the neck it makes small, clear voicings that work well for funk, R&B and jazz comping.
Chord position
Scale position
CAGED and scales
CAGED really pays off when you connect it to scales. Every chord shape has a scale pattern wrapped around it, so if you know the C shape of a chord, you also know where that key's scale notes sit in the same few frets.
That's the difference between playing memorized patterns and understanding the neck. A chord is just a few notes picked out of a scale, and the scale pattern shows you every other note available in that area.
The pentatonic connection
The same idea explains the five pentatonic boxes. Each box sits around one CAGED shape: box 1 surrounds the E shape, box 2 the D shape, and the rest follow the same order up the neck. Learn the shapes and you've learned where the boxes come from.
Try it yourself: open the A minor pentatonic scale or the C major scale, switch on the CAGED positions, and watch each box wrap around its chord shape.
Using CAGED in your playing
CAGED isn't just theory; it's useful every time you pick up the guitar. Rhythm players use it to find the same chord in different places on the neck, which makes accompaniment sound richer. Lead players use the scale patterns to solo in any position without running out of room. Songwriters use it to find inversions and fresh voicings when arranging parts.
A good way to practice: build a simple progression such as G major, C major and A minor in the fr3t.app sequencer, then solo over it using one CAGED position at a time as your map.
Who should learn the CAGED system?
Guitarists at almost every stage get something from it. If you know some open chords and want barre chords to make sense, this is where it clicks. If you feel stuck in one position, CAGED gives you the map to break out. And if you've played for years, it reveals voicings and connections you may have walked straight past.
New to chords? Start with the beginner chords guide and come back once the open shapes feel comfortable.
Quick answers
- What does CAGED stand for?
- C, A, G, E and D: the five open major chord shapes the system is built from. Each one becomes a movable shape you can play anywhere on the neck.
- What order do the CAGED shapes go in?
- Always C, A, G, E, D going up the neck, then back to C. Where the cycle starts depends on the chord: for G major, the open G shape comes first, followed by E, D, C and A.
- Do I need to learn all five CAGED shapes?
- Start with the E and A shapes, the two most common barre chords; between them they cover most of the neck. Add the other three when you want more voicings or need to connect scale positions.
- How do the CAGED shapes relate to the pentatonic boxes?
- Each of the five minor pentatonic boxes sits around one CAGED shape. Box 1 surrounds the E shape, box 2 the D shape, and the rest follow the same order up the neck: C, A, then G.
- What does the green color mean on the CAGED map?
- On the fretboard, dots are colored by interval: red is the root, green is the major third and cyan is the fifth. Those three notes make the major chord. On the CAGED shape buttons in the app, green is the G shape.
Try the CAGED visualizer
Open G major with all five CAGED positions switched on, then explore the color-coded shapes, play each one and add a scale overlay. It's free, with no sign-up.