CAGED system
The CAGED system connects the 5 open chord shapes (C, A, G, E, D) to the barre positions they unlock elsewhere on the neck: any chord can always be played using one of these 5 shapes. Pick a key to see its 5 positions.
This tool is for anyone who already knows the 5 open chord shapes (C, A, G, E, D) and wants to understand how they turn into barre positions playable anywhere else on the neck — a necessary step to move beyond open chords without starting from scratch in every new key. What you gain is a unified view of the neck: instead of memorizing five isolated keys, you memorize five shapes, reusable for any key just by sliding them along the neck.
How to read the 5 positions
Each position corresponds to one of the 5 open shapes, played as a barre at a different spot on the neck to produce the same key. The open C shape, for instance, becomes playable higher up the neck as a barred shape derived from C, producing the same chord as the original open C when the chosen key is C. The 5 shapes follow each other in a fixed, cyclical order along the neck — C, A, G, E, D, then back to C an octave higher — which is where the method gets its name.
The full fretboard diagram above the 5 detailed positions places each one relative to the others: it's that overview, more than the isolated positions, that lets you pick the most practical shape for wherever you're already playing on the neck.
Practical tips and common mistakes
- Don't try to memorize all 5 shapes at once for a new key: start from a single shape you already know as an open chord (usually E or A, the most common ones), and only add a second shape once the first feels smooth.
- CAGED isn't the only way to organize the neck: the numbered pentatonic position system (position 1, 2, 3...) follows a different logic, not a one-to-one match with CAGED shapes — see the glossary entry for the exact distinction.
- Some shapes (G and D barred in particular) demand a bigger finger stretch than others: don't conclude you're "not cut out for barre chords" if one specific shape resists — try the others first.
- Use the barre chords already in the catalog as a concrete anchor: a CAGED shape that's hard to picture in the abstract often clicks once tied to a real sheet you've already worked on.
- CAGED becomes most useful for improvising or writing across the whole neck, not just for playing chords: once the 5 shapes are internalized, they also show you where the matching scale's notes sit, well beyond the chord itself.
Position 1 vs CAGED positions →
Concrete example
Pick G major as the key: the 5 positions shown reveal how to play that same G chord as a C shape (near the 3rd fret), an A shape, the open G shape itself, an E shape (often the most used as a barre), and a D shape, each at a different spot on the neck. Compare the E shape here with a classic barre chord from the catalog: it's exactly the same fingering logic, only the key changes depending on the starting fret.