Am I having a break through moment?

[Bill B]

When I study the lessons I feel it’s more important to understand the lesson than to play the lesson. I’m working on EP517 (after hearing ieldepiel’s impressive rendition.) I tend to listen to the lesson first to try and understand what I’m about to do. I was struggling with the Triads, needing to get out my interval chart to understand why it’s an F7 as there was no F in the triad. That got me to thinking I need to embrace this CAGED system, which I largely ignore and just go to the related pentatonic scale.

My question is: Will studying the CAGED system help in identifying the triads?

[Keith T]

Hi Bill,
Good strategy you have, it’s all about understanding and not memorizing, I read that somewhere 🙂
I’m just getting started with lead guitar, but for me I found CAGE a real breakthrough. But I realized early on that CAGED is just another way of looking at the fret board. It’s like a really convenient way of visualizing things. You can form a chord using CAGED (well, some are a stretch), pluck out an arpeggio, or play a triad from within the ‘shape’. All those major & minor triads are hiding right there in plain sight.
I’m guessing learning CAGED will add to what you already know.
I just wish I’d found out about it sooner!

Cheers,
Keith

[charjo]

Sounds like you are, Bill.
My two cents; as you learn how the triads relate to the CAGED system also take note of the intervals in the larger shape and the triads. It will pay dividends as you learn to improvise.
John

[Bill B]

Thanks guys,
I think I made a mistake putting CAGED on the side bar. While I understand the basic idea, other than the root notes I didn’t pay much attention to it. Brian uses both CAGED and pentatonics is almost every lesson. Probably be a good idea to be on the same page as your instructor. I started work on it yesterday.

Bill

[sunjamr]

There are lots of skilled guitarists who become experts at the major & minor pent scales, and never bother to learn the CAGED system. Can you be noodling along in 1st position Gm pent, then jump straight up and continue your noodles in the 4th position with no hesitation, then back to 2nd position? Can you do a pentatonic run from your 1st string open E up to the 1st string 12th fret E? So much to learn, and so little time…..

Sunjamr Steve

[Bill B]

Pentatonics is all I have ever used. But to understand the lesson I needed to go a bit deeper into CAGED. Playing the composition was just a matter of doing what Brian did, and practicing it. This particular lesson led me to having to learn the major scales and a new set of patterns and modes to understand. I feel like I just walked into the Moody Blues ‘House of Four Doors’. 🙂

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