The "Wrong Way" to use the CAGED System

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Timestamps:
0:00 - Lesson Intro
3:16 - Quick Explanation of the 2 "Layers"
5:32 - Mapping out the Notes of a C Major Chord
6:42 - Connecting the CAGED Shapes to Pentatonic Positions
9:15 - Labeling Diatonic Scale Positions
13:49 - Keeping up with the Chord Changes
17:26 - Switching Scales
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Relevant Videos:
➢ 9 Steps to FULLY Understanding the CAGED System: • The Most Comprehensive...
➢ The "Minor" CAGED System: • The "minor" CAGED system
➢ The "One Pentatonic per Chord" Approach: • Soloing Across the Nec...
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Enjoy!

[@zombieguitar]

Don't rip my head off because I used "wrong way" in the title!! If it works for you, than it is the right way 😁

[@thrashtronaut999]

hey man, i just want to thank you for the eye opening experience you provide with these videos. In the fullest possible extent, and i mean it brother, i love you for what you do. you’re a great guy.

[@robnic52]

Brian, I am beginning to realise that you really know what you are talking about. I reckon you have worked as a professional player and studied hard the theory you needed to get by onstage and then carried on much deeper to enable yourself to teach music effectively. Your practical approach has helped me swap to from acoustic cowboy chords and vocals to playing improvised on the fly, electric lead in a live band situation from chords and triads thrown all over the neck. I am still at a very early stage but it's falling together. The band and live gigs have really given me a pin sharp focus because I needed to get way better as soon as. It's still taking a long time, everything has to happen at once; ear training, fretboard mapping, chords up the neck, triads off the new chords, finding melodic riffs in the new chord shapes, manual skills like vibrato, phrasing, call and response, leaving space to let your riffs and fills breathe. Guys be patient and impatient at the same time and always laugh and learn something from your mistakes. Anyways, thank you for the assist and explanations I needed Brian. 👍 Chords are the skeleton of whatever song or tune is happening. Your lead and rhythm playing lives in those few chords so first take the five chord shapes: the C, A, G, E and D one at a time and move the shapes up the neck noting what 'natural' chord each shape becomes as it travels up and down. Learn where the C Shape makes an A chord or a G chord. Don't get confused between shapes and chords. Five chord shapes in five positions up and down the neck takes you from the nut to the 12th fret, past that everything repeats. There are only 5 shapes and five positions on the neck to memorise. Learn them like you know the nut sited cowboy chords. Then use 3rds and 6ths to connect the 5 shape positions together melodically, musical phrases start suggesting, offering themselves. It's a blast.

[@stevewheaton550]

Brian, I stopped playing guitar for decades. I retired a couple of years ago and have been trying to learn how to play 'compently'. Unlike my attempt to learn when I was young, there is the internet now. This has made a big difference. I have learned so much because of the availability of online info. But I still couldn't seem to find a way to pull it all together. I followed what you call Level 1. I knew about Level 2, but didn't really understand it. After watching this video, I sat down and tried practicing using the Caged system with the intent you explained in Level 2. I was amazed. The safe opened! I think I am unstuck!. I'm excited again. Thank you!!

[@zombieguitar]

That's awesome! Glad to hear it 😁🎸

[@scottharringtonSR]

For me, tying the 5 pentatonic boxes to the 5 CAGED shapes made navigation easy. You have to know the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the diatonic scale in each position and then you can move between each note in the position for chords, triads and chord tones....... this allows you to see the caged shape for each key function (I, IV, vi, V etc.) in each position regardless of whether you call it a number or caged shape position. If you know where the 3's are you can play that chord either toward the nut or bridge, depending on which one keeps you in that position or moves you in the direction you want to go. Modes come into this and when it clicks you will see that although you are playing the same 7 notes of a single key signature, you are actually reordering them over each chord and in effect playing I Ionian, ii Dorian, ii Phrygian, IV Lydian, V Mixolydian, vi Aeolian and vii Locrian. For me that was the big breakthrough in understanding modes. The more you play the more you see all of these things that are taught as individual concepts are all tied together and are actually one big thing called music.

[@darenwise8135]

1000%...It's the same 7 notes...it never changes...it's what the chords are doing underneath that dictate what you can play or what sound/mode you are going for.

[@ColdCanadian911]

Very very good video here folks. Watch it and rewatch it over and over until it sinks in. I have a general understanding of the caged system and your explanation hits home with me. I know the positions of the pentatonic shapes but I’m unable to lift my hand and drop into another position that doesn’t over lap. I always need to slide and move between the shapes up or down to get to where I want to go. I’m hoping that just changes over time. Now that being said , the chord changes and knowing those caged shapes and scales around them (when staying in 1 area of the fretboard) is a current work in progress. Visualizing all that in a blink eye of an eye seems too daunting at times

[@isseyrox]

Thanks Brian, I was doing exactly the same mistake that you described here. Trying to map the scales patterns to the caged chord positions. And exactly like you said it was like untangling a bowl of spaghetti. When you put these in perspective as layer 1 and layer 2 it made it click for me and I understood. Thanks so much. You're a great great teacher.

[@lukesteverything627]

Brilliantly explained. Thank you for clearing up a lot of confusion I've had.

[@gertjanvangastel]

You are 💯 %on the money, it always confused me and knowing the pentatonic I only just saw the relation between the two. Thanks for your clarification!!

[@vladimirnikolic7601]

Brian, you are the best guitar teacher. Keep it up. Greetings from Serbia!

[@SensitivityIsland]

Brian is so good at explaining things.

[@shanehen]

Jazz tunes actually have a home key. But functionally, you're correct. It's not diatonic harmony. My opinion is that chord focus is necessary to play jazz lines--I don't use scales for that approach.

[@richardanderson4037]

Again thanks for the awesome video and clearing up confusion

[@TheChicagoTodd]

I am so far from fully understanding all of this.....but there are glimmers of understanding....so I'll keep working.

[@mykneeshurt8393]

If we can play all the chord shapes in "open / first position" Makes sense that we can play those same chords in the other five positions on the neck. But it took me far too long to realize that.... Great lesson, Brian!

[@rocstar1000]

I totally get CAGED as a means to hit chord tones in a chord progression to improvise solos. I understand how it works, now I have to practice to be able to do it on the fly.

[@richstelmach9957]

I always tend to "overthink" this stuff but you always have a way of getting me (us) out of the weeds!!! Another BK light bulb moment!!!! 👍👍👍

[@stainless641]

Gets the job done and gets you thinking in the right direction.

[@parmariet]

The best lesson ever for getting it all together !!! Thx Brian ! 😊

[@toddshepard3592]

Perfectly explained. Thank you!

[@jonshute8331]

Awesome explanation… again. Keep going!

[@duesenberger]

Thx for this video! Like Your story about the safe.

[@christopherfryda]

You're awesome Brian!

[@zombieguitar]

Thank you 🙏

[@jeffreywoelfel333]

Awesome!!

[@JonseyWales]

Very good lesson!! Many thanks!🙂👍

[@philjames1019]

Good job Professor ... another box ticked!!!

[@MohamedElHanoun]

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.

[@hizirkurtel3197]

thank you

[@ghfdt368]

Great video Brian. For me personally I think the CAGED systems biggest flaw from a playing situation is that its pretty difficult to change positions with it. What I mean is when you mentioned "keeping up with the chord changes" if you want to move to another area of the fretboard say for example from the G shape for the C major chord to the A shape for the G major chord it can be awkward to move to far away shapes like that. On top of that if chords are moving while you are getting there you cant always just run up caged shapes to reach it in every case because if it was say a blues and you were using a major shape on the dominant 7 1 chord and carried on using the major shapes while a 4 chord was playing as you are trying to reach a far away shape to play on the 4, that major 3rd note of the one chord would sound awful. If the song or solo is a fast tempo sometimes the CAGED system is almost impossible to implement or if there are a lot of really complex chord changes and cadences going on.

[@zombieguitar]

Whenever you "switch positions"...you are simply jumping to a new portion of the scale pattern on the neck. No matter where you jump to, and no matter which scale pattern you choose to use...the chord tones will ALWAYS be right there, "lighting up" right underneath your fingertips as the chords change. The CAGED system is one way of identifying these chord tones, but of course not the only way 😁

[@dingopes3847]

I see, visualize under CAGED form chords Example G shape : triads aka core tones :lower part , midle part , higer part. Good practice is playing progresion in one spot like u show in video.. then implementing diads.Great video maybe for b3giners a lo of infos but depends where we are guitar players in our jurney.Anyway learned a lot from ur chanel..Thanks

[@martynspooner5822]

Well that has cleared up so much shyte for me , I was using the diatonic and changing per chord approach and was thinking, no why am I hitting notes that just do not feel right. So if I have this right stay in key but be aware of the passing chords and play the chord tones which the different scale shapes will give you all over the neck or all within 5 or 6 frets. Thanks a lot

[@davidturner9266]

When it all becomes one❤ putting your time in your passion

[@robertcanedo7607]

I'm just glad to hear accurate information, go ahead and rant.

[@jbin2756]

For me, using the caged shapes makes it easy to locate pentatonic positions for layer one. It is not easy to see the location of pentatonic positions jumping from positions not adjacent like 4 to 1 or 3 to 5 as easy but thinking caged shapes makes it much easier for me. I am not sure there is another way to visualize pentatonic positions except finding box 1 on the e string. If someone said find pentatonic position 3 for A minor i would have to find position 1 and then figure out position 3 in relation to position 1. With caged I just find a D shape A rooted on D string and I am in position 3

[@GlobalEnglishSupernaturals]

Hi Brian, Thank you for your great vids! I wondered if layers 1, 2 and the caged system is at all transferable to the piano as I’m more familiar with keyboard… or would that blow my mind? 😅🙏

[@zombieguitar]

I actually made a video called "why there's no CAGED system on the piano". Check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnTMmXyuf8l6oLs But there are absolutely the 2 "layers" still since layer 1 is about the scale and layer 2 is about the chord tones within the scale 😁

[@GlobalEnglishSupernaturals]

@@zombieguitar oh wow! Thank you so much! 💐🙏💐

[@annemarie1507]

In your example of a C-G-Am-F progression, sticking to the C pentatonic scale for the entire progression doesn't include all the chord tones. For that you have to use the C diatonic scale. Maybe you mentioned that and I just missed it.

[@zombieguitar]

Yup exactly. That is why I had to wait until the full diatonic scale was displayed on the screen before highlighting the chord shapes 😁

[@MelodyMaker]

Fired up the guitar after this with an A / D / E progression an A major pentatonic and just did what you said to do. Used the C shape only for each chord. That's right. I played A rooted on the twelfth fret (5th string), D rooted on the 5th fret (5th string), and E rooted on the 7th fret (5th string) as the chords arose from looper and kept the same scale throughout. Used open string also. S'pose if you stuck to one CAGED shape per day and rotated them around during each practice session.....we would become lead guitarists. Some of us are listening Brian.

[@zombieguitar]

I appreciate that! 🙏

[@martynspooner5822]

So if you are using the same shape ie C shape you are actually changing scales for each chord ie A maj over the A D maj over the D etc is that right?

[@zombieguitar]

@@martynspooner5822 no he is not changing SCALES. He is changing CHORDS. That is a 1 - 4 - 5 progression in the key of A major, so the only SCALE needed is the A major scale.

[@martynspooner5822]

@@zombieguitar Sorry missing something he says he is using the C shape but starting off of different roots, I undertand that D and E are the 4 and 5 chords of A but not getting if he is using the exact same shape but rooted on different places how he is not playing A scale over A D scale over D I am a bit thick obviously but do get you play chord tones of each passing chord so for the D chord D F sharp A for the E chord E Gsharp B but if using same scale pattern shapes but rooted off of different notes how not a different scale sorry I feel really dumb.

[@zombieguitar]

@@martynspooner5822 no worries! An A major chord will always be A C# E A D major chord will always be D F# A An E major chord will always be E G# B All 3 of those chords are found in the key of A major, which has the 7-note key scale: A B C# D E F# G# The scale remains constant over all 3 chords, but the notes of focus are determined by the underlying chord that is playing in the rhythm section. You can play any of those 3 chords in the "C-shape", and you will simply be playing the chord. In order to "fill in" the surrounding notes, you would use the notes of the A major scale to do so. Make sense?

[@markwelsh9068]

That was a bit of a rant right enough! LOL But I get it.

[@davros666]

🤘

[@eathummus]

Thanks and BTW what guitar is that?

[@zombieguitar]

That's my Shecter CR-6 🎸

[@kenkelly382]

Hi Brian, Can you still use the 1 Pentatonic per chord approach if you come across a borrowed out of Key chord? Ken

[@zombieguitar]

It depends...you have to try it and see if it sounds good. If all else fails, just play the chord tones of the borrowed chord and you're guaranteed to sound good doing that!

[@kenkelly382]

Thank you Brian. I'll give that a try. Have a Bountiful Thanksgiving and Thank You for all your sage advice and wisdom.

[@abraralvi4831]

brian, after learning all the scale shapes and the caged shapes im confused now, how do i learn the intervals?

[@zombieguitar]

Whenever you play a scale patterns, think of it in terms of numbers instead of just the patterns (layer 1). Then whenever you play a chord shape, think of it in terms of numbers instead of just the shape (layer 2) 😁

[@stevec9972]

I've been memorising the triads/ inversions. Id where the Root 3rd 5th, are, the other intervals are above and below them in the overlaying scale

[@abraralvi4831]

​@@zombieguitarhey brian can you make a video om how to internalize intervals? i love your internalization excercises

[@guitarizard]

23:53 when I'm playing the G shape C chord, i know I'm in pentatonic position 1 for that chord and and the D shaped G chord I know I'm in pentatonic position 3. For the C shaped F chord I know I'm in pentatonic position 4. For the E min shaped A chord also position 1 because minor goes back one position. Am i doing this wrong? I also know all the 3nps and 2nps scales that flush out the shapes but if I'm playing in C I just base the scale off of what chord shape i would be in and just use 2nps 3nps or pentatonic.

[@zombieguitar]

It sounds like you are still trying to relate the CAGED system to scales. I would suggest to stop doing that. That is my main point with every single CAGED video that I make. The CAGED system is about CHORDS, not scales!!

[@guitarizard]

@@zombieguitar thanks I'll try. I'm just overcomplicating things i guess

[@mikemph7779]

Got any dmt I could borrow ?

[@jimbeard2952]

Hay brian hows the family. Hopefully amazing brother anyway im still buying you beers one of these days brother

[@luketinney6375]

👍

[@ladc8960]

😮

[@Barchenhund]

You should upgrade your camera. 🎥 To this old guy you appear quite blurry. Not to be nasty just my observation. You are a superb teacher.

[@zombieguitar]

I have a super nice camera. Maybe one day I will actually figure out how to use it 🤣

[@timtaylorguitarnut]

I think it's more of a lighting issue, sometimes uploading to KZbin that messes video and audio, too. 😊 Regardless the message is what's important.

[@talltodd]

What’s B minor?! I think you meant D major since there’s only 12 keys. 🤷‍♂️

[@zombieguitar]

In nerd speak we could equivalently say that the song is played in the Aeolian perspective of the key signature of D major. But yes D major and B minor are the same key signature 🎸

[@imitatefirst]

Keep ranting, my friend, we are learning from you!😅

[@richardanderson4037]

Chord tone targeting 😂

[@jeffearle1687]

I don’t hear any ranting !

[@kenlelon369]

No, you don't rant too much!! Please, keep talking. You are showing me things ignored throughout years and years and years of playing! You were saying?...

[@1cut1kill]

If you know the 7 chords of any scale you're already mostly there. It takes some ear training to pick out the sus chords, add9 or add 11 or what ever. Also if you know how to use the CAGED system in any key, then you already know all the triad shapes all over the fret board and you don't even realize you know it. Once you have 5 pentatonic shapes... it's stupid easy to turn them into the diatonic scale! If you have a decent ear, you can hit the chord tones with ease while doing a solo. Just my opinion.

[@zombieguitar]

Yup with time and practice it all gets easier 🎸

[@joerotorhead]

DUDE WHAT THE PPHHUUUKKK ! LOL....... WHY has NOBODY explained it like this ?? I've been using this system for years, it works pretty good for an advanced beginner like myself. I literally had no idea you could get all of those "chords" in the same position.... LIGHT BULB MOMENT..... THANKS

[@zombieguitar]

Yup and this is the fight that I have been fighting for almost a decade now. Knowing this new information, you can now go and watch all of my other CAGED videos with the understanding that it is about CHORDS 😁...starting with this one here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJzJi4eBbttmqrssi=tzctt7cbODLnTr8B