CAGED Unleashed

Norfolk Bill

norfolk uk, just knoodling along
it doesnt read the post properly hes on about playing an F bar chord at the first fret using the E shape
 

jmin

Student Of The Blues
Boxes and cages! Blues zoo? It's been a clever ploy by Griff to makes us think he was "unleashing" us, only to get us to run right into his trap, and now we're boxed and caged!
 

david moon

Attempting the Blues
The CAGED system is usually presented with major chords, most of them have barre chord versions. It works as well with minor chords, Cm and Gm might not have a easy barre form, but the connections between the chords using the root work the same way. The minor pentatonic boxes also fall under the chords.

For a I IV V progression, you could use (in any key)

E shape, A shape, A shape 2 frets up
C shape F shape (actually the E shape) E shape 2 frets up,
or C shape, F shape, and G shape with the root on the 6th string same fret as the root on the 5th
I guess that was confusing. What I was trying to say, once you see that all the chord shapes can be barred, or played in "little" versions, you can move a chord progression around the neck in different keys, but the relationships between the chord shapes stay the same..

So if you took the progression C F G down at the nut and then moved it up the neck, (and barre where needed) you could get for example in key of E

E X76454 the I using a "C form"
A 577655 the IV using a "E form"
B 764447 the V using a "G form" ( this one probably wouldn't play all the lower notes- it's quite a stretch,but shows you where the "little" versions of the chord come from.

I hope I got all those numbers right- working from my head, no guitar in hand.:sneaky:

None of the above include a 7th, but you should be able to figure that out

The CAGED concept is more about being able to quickly find all the voicings/shapes of a chord all over the neck. I.e., if you're looking for an A, how many and where are they?
 

david moon

Attempting the Blues
I guess that was confusing. What I was trying to say, once you see that all the chord shapes can be barred, or played in "little" versions, you can move a chord progression around the neck in different keys, but the relationships between the chord shapes stay the same..

So if you took the progression C F G down at the nut and then moved it up the neck, (and barre where needed) you could get for example in key of E

E X76454 the I using a "C form"
A 577655 the IV using a "E form"
B 764447 the V using a "G form" ( this one probably wouldn't play all the lower notes- it's quite a stretch,but shows you where the "little" versions of the chord come from.

I hope I got all those numbers right- working from my head, no guitar in hand.:sneaky:

None of the above include a 7th, but you should be able to figure that out

The CAGED concept is more about being able to quickly find all the voicings/shapes of a chord all over the neck. I.e., if you're looking for an A, how many and where are they?

OK here are the 7th chords

E7 X76754 the I using a "C7 form"
A7 575655 or 577685 the IV using a "E7 form"
B7 767447 or 764445 the V using a "G7 form"
 

patb

Blues Junior
I have just gone through the entire course with differing degrees of depth on different sections.
I found the discussion of chord formulation, ( minor, 7th etc.) very interesting and useful.
The section on chord progressions is useful and expands nicely with the minors. I suppose people at our level are prone to pick out the chord shapes we are most comfortable with. (avoiding the D, I settled on the 3 finger version )
The endless arpeggios are mind numbing. This section could use additional explanation and demonstration of practical use. Maybe I'm blinded by scales and boxes.
I made a leap of faith, went completely through it and I'm waiting to see the light. For now I have set the course aside.
I'm not giving up now as I have too much time in it but I don't know how to best approach it . I have never given up on a Griff course.
Help? Encouragement ?
 

Norfolk Bill

norfolk uk, just knoodling along
Heres on tip :) imagine your playing say,,,,,,a G chord but C shape barring at the 7th fret,,,,,,right under your fingers are plenty of hammer ons and pull offs in major ala Jimi,,,john frusciante,,,et al now if you use the C shape for all your chord progression you can strum and embellish to your hearts content

if you look at it you are doing a D shape G chord as well if you remove the last two finger of the C chord :)
 

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
I have just gone through the entire course with differing degrees of depth on different sections.
I found the discussion of chord formulation, ( minor, 7th etc.) very interesting and useful.
The section on chord progressions is useful and expands nicely with the minors. I suppose people at our level are prone to pick out the chord shapes we are most comfortable with. (avoiding the D, I settled on the 3 finger version )
The endless arpeggios are mind numbing. This section could use additional explanation and demonstration of practical use. Maybe I'm blinded by scales and boxes.
I made a leap of faith, went completely through it and I'm waiting to see the light. For now I have set the course aside.
I'm not giving up now as I have too much time in it but I don't know how to best approach it . I have never given up on a Griff course.
Help? Encouragement ?
 

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
I can't imagine effectively processing the material in that course in the little time it's been out, go through it sure but to get the full benefit much of it will require several weeks of practice to Internalize it and get any benefit, I think it's great, btw
 

david moon

Attempting the Blues
First. I don't have the course. But here's my take on the whole CAGED thing. I may be repeating some things I said above.

1. I view CAGED as a handy memory device for seeing how the the same chord can be played all over the neck using different "chord shapes". Probably the most familiar example is playing an A chord using an "E shape" with a barre on the 5th fret.

2. There's nothing special about starting with the C shape. If you start with A, the next chord shape up the neck (which is the same chord) has a G shape, and the next one (again the same chord) has an E shape. Don't confuse the chord with the shape! The familiar barred E shape can be a G chord at the 3rd fret, and A chord at the 5th fret, a C chord at the 8th fret, etc.But all are "E shape".

3. The pattern repeats. For a D shape, the next chord up the neck will be a C shape (again, same chord, new shape in new position). CAGED is easy to remember. But GEDCA or EDCAG have the same information about how the shapes connect.

4. Often the full 6-string version of the shape will not be used. The G shape and the D shape come to mind. But you can use the full shape to visualize and see where the notes of a "little" version of the chord come from. Also where you might find the 7th in that shape, or a sus4 or hammer-ons and pull-offs that work in that shape.

Hope this made some sense.
 

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
First. I don't have the course. But here's my take on the whole CAGED thing. I may be repeating some things I said above.

1. I view CAGED as a handy memory device for seeing how the the same chord can be played all over the neck using different "chord shapes". Probably the most familiar example is playing an A chord using an "E shape" with a barre on the 5th fret.

2. There's nothing special about starting with the C shape. If you start with A, the next chord shape up the neck (which is the same chord) has a G shape, and the next one (again the same chord) has an E shape. Don't confuse the chord with the shape! The familiar barred E shape can be a G chord at the 3rd fret, and A chord at the 5th fret, a C chord at the 8th fret, etc.But all are "E shape".

3. The pattern repeats. For a D shape, the next chord up the neck will be a C shape (again, same chord, new shape in new position). CAGED is easy to remember. But GEDCA or EDCAG have the same information about how the shapes connect.

4. Often the full 6-string version of the shape will not be used. The G shape and the D shape come to mind. But you can use the full shape to visualize and see where the notes of a "little" version of the chord come from. Also where you might find the 7th in that shape, or a sus4 or hammer-ons and pull-offs that work in that shape.

Hope this made some sense.

David what you got there does make sense, but the course goes much deeper than Chord connections, you can get that just skimming through it, it's the focus on chord tones and arpeggios and the relation to the shapes that are much deeper, at least for me
 

steve w

Nottinghamshire, UK
Do you have the course or the free videos? Because it's explained there.

@MikeS I've been hunting around for more info on caged unleashed. Anyone have links to the videos that were put out prior to its release?
I thought there would have been videos on the sales page of the course catalogue but doesn't appear to be.
 
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jmin

Student Of The Blues
@MikeS I've been hunting around for more info on caged unleashed. Anyone have links to the videos that were put out prior to its release?
I thought there would have been videos on the sales page of the course catalogue but doesn't appear to be.

This?
http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/get-caged-unleashed/

Or, I have six emails archived about CAGED:
http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/open-e-tuning-slide-using-caged-members/
http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/how-to-make-any-chord
http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/the-5-chord-shapes/
http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/soloing-with-the-chords/
 
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Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member

I think the order was:
* 5 chord shapes
* how to make any chord
* soloing with the chords
* open E tuning slide

I only add that because if you go in the order they are listed I think you might be confused.
 

JffKnt

Blues Newbie
This has been moved from "CAGED Theory" thread.

What is the train of thought to lock on to the closest form of the next chord I want to play? Is it to go to the nearest root note of that chord and grab the left or right facing version? If so, I have a way to go because I still need to think about which fret is which note.

See you down the road! :thumbup:

I'm not sure if this answers your question. I don't have the CAGED Unlimited course (yet) but if you look at Griff's Get CAGED video in the course description, it addresses your question. Beginning at 4:28 seconds of the course description video Griff explains that if you are using the C shape as the I chord, then use the E shape for the IV chord and the G shape for the V chord. This way you stay in the same place on the neck of the guitar and don't have to move around the neck. All 3 chords are right there under your fingers without having to move your hand around on the fretboard.

Because of your question I tried it out in the key of E using the C7 shape on the 5th fret. Then I played the E7 shape at the 5th fret for the IV chord. And then I used the A7 shape at the 4th fret. Very cool. I've been playing off and on for over 40 years and have never used that voicing (the V chord, in this case) before now. Also used the full G maj shape to make a B chord and it sounded great in the progression.

@Griff also goes on to say in his course description

You will have a step-by-step path to follow for not only learning and understanding the CAGED chords, but you will also be able to play them on autopilot while you improve your knowledge of all chords
What that, with the rest of the course description, suggests to me is that if you do the course you will have the skills and knowledge to make the decisions on the fly for exactly what shape chord you want to use and where you want to use it. That is sort of the goal of the course; to be able to play what you want to play anywhere on the fret board including chord choices/voicings and riffs, etc.

I read on another thread that a participant at BGU Live in Memphis said he used this knowledge to play different chord shapes than the other to guitarists on the stage thereby filling out the "sonic real estate" much better with the different chord voicings he used.
 
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Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
One extra little thing I'll add to this is that there is a thing in CAGED that is different from a lot of other courses...

There is the concept of CAGED and the 5 chord shapes. For most people that is pretty straightforward, until they try to use it, and they can't.

The reason has to do with my "CAGED Exercise" where you play all 5 shapes around the circle of 5ths at 60bpm.

If you can't do that, you'll stumble when you try to use CAGED because you simply can't see it well enough on your fretboard. If you can, you will find it easy to grab whatever chord shape you want, and go from there through the rest of the course.

It's a giant speed bump, and I freely admit that, and I make a really big deal out of it in the course. You simply have to take the time to do it, there's no getting around it.

As a secondary benefit, it's a fantastic drill for technique and getting yourself warmed up or getting your fingers back after a period of not playing. I didn't realize this at first, but now it's my "go to" drill for warming up.
 

JffKnt

Blues Newbie
I've been practicing the 5 shapes using only the keys of the 5 open chords (C, G, D, A, E). I play them "Circle of 5ths" style. I don't want to sound like I think I know more than @Griff, but I don't think I'm going to spend time on the keys with sharps or flats because those keys are rarely used and I think there's a point of diminishing returns. And if I know the key of G and all the stuff that goes with it, moving to Gb seems like a pretty easy step. Also I don't think I want to worry about F and B (they're right next to E and C) so they shouldn't be too hard to pick up if and when the need arises. If I need to add more keys to my practice in the future, it wouldn't be that big a deal. For now I'm going to stick with the keys of the 5 open chords.

I realize that SRV played in Eb a lot and Chuck Berry played some stuff in Bb and other keys. There are other notable examples of songs in those keys. But I don't think I need that "deep a dive" into it. I think the keys of the 5 open chord shapes will lay a solid foundation for understanding the fretboard.

For the last week to 10 days or so I've been practicing this drill, and I already notice an improvement recognizing the fretboard. I haven't tried to play to a metronome yet, but I think I may be able to go faster than 60 bpm right now except for that D shape. I'm playing the 3-finger version (2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings) of the open D chord, and it's getting a little easier to play. I have a bit more practice before I can get my fingers to form that D shape as easily as I can play the other 4 shapes.

One day last week Griff sent out an email suggesting to think more like a musician than a guitar player. As an example he challenged as follows:

"play B minor pentatonic starting with your 3rd finger on the 14th fret of the 5th string,"​

I had no trouble at all answering the question. I attribute a lot of that to the work I did playing the 5 open chord shapes in the Circle of 5ths using the 5 keys over the last week. Also, I probably know the 5 boxes a little better than some, so I can't say it was 100% CAGED that let me know the answer virtually immediately. It was combined knowledge of the boxes and the CAGED work I put in recently that allowed me to know the answer to the question. I also know there are 2 boxes (we're talking minor pentatonic boxes) with a root note on the 5th string and only one uses the 3rd finger root note (box 3). I envisioned the C shape chord up at the 12th fret (index bar at the 11th fret), and I knew it was box 3. I didn't have to pick up or look at a guitar to figure it out. I just kind of new it.

I think CAGED is a way to look at the fretboard that blows away a lot of fog. It lets you see and understand so much that is hard to see without the framework. I should be pretty good at the initial CAGED drill by Black Friday, which is when I plan to take the plunge and get CAGED Unleashed. I think the initial CAGED drill is a pretty steep "price of admission" but one well worth the investment of time. I wouldn't want to invest in CAGED Unleashed until I put in the hard work of learning the original drill and can play it at 60 bpm.
 
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