Who uses the CAGED system

joe10

You know, I'm a big fan of the CAGED system for explaining the freatboard - it realy codifies how the freatboard works, like, when someone asks you "how do you know that chord up the neck is the same as this other one... you can show them very visually... and logically. It's great for fretboard familiarity when folks first move out of the first position... Ernie Hawkins videos are particularly salient, and the Freatboad Logic series is very thorough.

Additionally, nucleus shapes, string pairs, formulas, and lots of other little systems are good for linking in different ways... It's like all the hooey about picking patters - one bluegrass picker will be all strict about Cross-picking, then Tony Rice will say "Well, I pick the next string in the direction I'm heading". One fingerstyle dude will be all PIMA strict, and Roy Bookbinder will say "I pick strings with whichever finger is the first on to get there", so, in the end you just have to play the music...

A.K. Kibben

What?!
It's a guitar for Chris' Sake!
Caged!?
It's all mathmatics and patterns based on the theroy of if you can count to 5
you can play folk guitar!
If you can count to 7 you can play funk guitar!
If you can count to 9 you can play blues guitar!
If you can count to 13 you can play JAZZ GUITAR!
Simple..............................................................
Arpeggio's, scales, chord shapes and inversions...
ask Birelli as I did in San Diego...
BWTF!
I cant play like Bireli

:evil:

joe10

I saw a cat with 13 toes one time...

but remember, I said "for explaining the fretboard"; remember when you first picked up a guitar, and the 12th fret seemed a mile away from the nut? And barre chords seemed like arcane magic?

For the new player not steeped in music theory, the 7th of a scale is a tad vague, and the 13th shear mystery, but with a couple easy rules can spell caged and "see" that a D shape connects to a C shape, and that most of an A shape is shared with a G shape... I think maybe it's good for the visual learner...

BluesBop Harry

The CAGED thing is good to map out the fretboard so you can learn to intuitively associate sounds with fret positions.
If you're a genius of Bireli's caliber you don't need it... but if you're a mere human it'll sure help.
With this system you learn to use the whole fretboard and after a while you break free from boxed patterns as you begin to visualize the shapes and how they connect, then you won't be caged anymore... you'll be free.

Learning never hurts, does it?

StephanieCarta

I agree with Harry. Don't take CAGED literally.. it doesn't mean caged, as in a cage. lol.

It helped me really get around the fretboard for the first time when I learned it several years back. It will let any student start improvising for the first time. The way you don't get caged by CAGED is by learning how to link all the forms and seeing the fretboard as a whole unit rather than merely in box shapes.