- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 3 weeks ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
Sometimes I wonder if I understand guitar at all when these simple ideas occur to me. When trying to figure out which CAGED shapes fit the 1,4,5 in closed positions, just picture the 1, 4, 5 in the open position.
Eg., Using the D shape as the 1, picture an open G as the 4 shape and the open A as the 5 shape.
Using the C shape as the 1, picture an open F (ie. E shape) and the open G for the 5 shape.
Using the G shape as the 1, picture an open C as the 4 and the open D for the 5 shape, etc.John
-
-
-
I knew there must some extra credit somewhere for learning all those cowboy chords, I just didn’t realise what it was!!
That’s a very useful tip, which seems obvious now you’ve pointed it out although it had never occurred to me before, nor was it likely too.
Truth be told though , I’m still a little wobbly on the 4s and 5s in the open position for less familiar keys like G and D.
But I’ve set myself a task as part of my 2026, goals to get a much deeper understanding of the CAGED shapes.
So, from Monday to Friday, I’ve implemented a “Position of the Day”, starting with C shape on Mondays. I’m hoping that after a few weeks they will become much more familiar and the fretboard less of a mystery! -
I know what you mean, Andy, juggling the alphabet can be quite a task for our aging brains.
You can always resort to the old fret board hack, ie. the note below the root on the 6th string is the 4 and the 5 is two frets over from there. Oh gosh, now you have to know note names!
Maybe as part of your practice regimen use the Circle of Fifths and do the 1,4,5 for all keys F to B in the open position.
John-
I’ve found that by knowing the note names the fretboard becomes a Rosetta Stone, like the Circle of 5ths… but laid out linearly, right where we want it. Of course, the fallback is relying on the shapes when you can’t remember the note name. Isn’t this all supposed to become automatic at some point?!
-
I’m pretty good with the note names but I’ve come to realise that what I really need to know is the intervals from the root.
Where my flat 7 is where the third is etc. (and use little rules like you mention there)
I know them well for position one but increasingly less well the further I venture from there so I’m putting a lot of effort into correcting that.
I’m also trying to stop thinking about the minor and major pentatonics as separate things but use this interval knowledge instead to find the sweet spots to pivot between major and minor.
Interestingly, Brian touches on exactly this in his lesson this week.
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
