Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Can You Twang with CAGED?

Can You Twang with CAGED?

It doesn’t matter if you play in a ’90s country cover band or play in a band that only does metal versions of pop tunes—the system still works.

Intermediate

Intermediate

Country, CAGED, Scales
  • Understand the basic elements of the CAGED system.
  • Learn to visualize chords and phrases all over the fretboard.
  • Develop a more global view of harmony within a key.
{'media': '[rebelmouse-file-pdf 49079 original_filename="CountryCAGED-Dec22.pdf" site_id=20368559 expand=1]', 'media_html': 'CountryCAGED-Dec22.pdf', 'id': 49079, 'type': 'pdf', 'file_original_url': 'https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/files/49079/CountryCAGED-Dec22.pdf'}

The CAGED system is simple way of visualizing the fretboard. Learn to visualize five chord shapes and pretty soon you will be flowing up and down the neck. The main thing I love about the CAGED system is that it can be applied to any type of music. It doesn’t matter if you play in a ’90s country outfit or play in a band that only does metal versions of pop tunes—the system still works.


When we first pick up the guitar the main goal is to play songs we like quickly, and that often involves working up the open-position chords. It’s not usual to start with C, A, G, E, and D—especially if you’re playing in the key of A, G, or D. All of the chord shapes can be moved up the neck to create patterns that you can use to craft solos or embellish chords. Let’s start off with the basic patterns in open-voiced chords (C) and then work our way up the neck into block or barre chord shapes (A through D).

The first two examples will familiarize you with the shapes we want to use. To make things a bit easier, we will stick in the key of C for all our examples. Ex. 1 and Ex. 2 will give you the foundation for what we will be working with. Ex. 1 consists of open-voiced “cowboy” chords that we first learn as beginners. Ex. 2 shows how you can take a C major chord and move it through all the various CAGED shapes.

Now it’s time to play some music. In Ex. 3 I’ve outlined a simple lick in the “C” shape. Notice while it does imply melodic ideas for other harmonies, it still stays in one position. Plus, we stay entirely in the key of C.

In Ex. 4 we now will be using “A” shape, but still play in the key of C. This example contains blue notes (b5 and b3 ) which give it a different, almost dominant-sounding vibe.

With Ex. 5 we move up to the “G” shape. This is a nice pedal-steel lick with a couple of added notes like a b3 and b6. Make sure to use your ring finger for the bends at the 7th fret of the 3rd string, and bend towards the floor, or away from the held G on the 4th string.

Let’s move up the neck again to “E” shape for Ex. 6. This lick is almost a line to a fiddle tune and mostly diatonic except for a b3. I also used repetition here to give it a more melodic feel. I simply took the phrase I played on the 1st string and moved it down one string to repeat it and extend the idea.

Ex. 7 is a nice pedal-tone idea with a repeated theme in the “D” shape, which can be the most difficult to get your hands around. Rhythmically, I wanted to change things up, so I started on the “and” of beat 4 before diving into the repeated pedal-tone idea. In the second measure I outline a 1st inversion F major chord, overlap it with a 2nd inversion F major chord, and then descend a D minor motif before resolving in the final measure.

In Ex. 8 we combine several CAGED patterns and move up the neck. A common way to do move between position is to repeat a motif through the scale. Here, I’m using a double-stop bluegrass lick with some dead note clucks.

Now let’s approach that same idea of an ascending line but do it diatonically (using notes only in the C major scale). There’s a thematic component to Ex. 9 as we are ascending and mimicking the same part up the neck with different notes.

Ex. 10 is a diatonic lick that has rhythmic hits embedded into it. It also implies other chords to make it harmonically more interesting.

Our final example (Ex. 11) is a complex descending line with a bluesy feel to it. It borrows notes not found in the C major scale as chromatic passing tones to spice it up.

And there you have it. The CAGED system is an incredibly powerful tool. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

Some musical moments—whether riffs, melodies, or solos—bypass our ears and tug at our heartstrings.

It had to be in the early part of 1990, and I don’t know how or why, but I purchased Steady On, the debut album from singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin. Upon my first listen I knew it was something very special. By the time the third track, “Shotgun Down the Avalanche,” came pouring from my ancient Dahlquist DQ10s, I was a fan. The song features an instrumental break—not a guitar solo per se, but more like a stringed-instrument vignette that cascaded seamlessly through a number of sounds created by guitarist-songwriter-producer John Leventhal. I’ve listened to it dozens of times since, and I still marvel at the emotion it stirs in me.

Read MoreShow less

An all-analog ’60s-inspired tremolo marries harmonic and optical circuits that can be used independently or blended to generate phasey, throbbing magic.

Spans practical, convincing vintage trem tones and the utterly weird. Hefty build quality.

Big footprint. Can’t switch order of effects.

$299

Jackson Audio Silvertone Twin Trem
jackson.audio

4.5
4.5
4
4.5

Almost any effect can be used subliminally or to extremes. But tremolo is a little extra special when employed at its weirder limits. Unlike reverb or delay, for instance, which approximate phenomena heard in the natural world, tremolo from anything other than an amp or pedal tends to occur in the realm of altered states—suggesting the sexy, subterranean, and dreamy. Such moods can be conjured with any single tremolo. Put two together, though, and the simply sensual can be surreal. Modify this equation by mating two distinctly different tremolo types, and the possible sound pictures increase manifold.

Read MoreShow less

Bonnaroo announces its 2025 lineup featuring Luke Combs, Hozier, Queens of the Stone Age, Avril Lavigne, and more.

Read MoreShow less

Enhance your Ratio Machine Heads with Graph Tech's new Barrel Knobs. Designed for comfort and style, these barrel-shaped tuning buttons offer a fresh look and feel to your instrument. Available in chrome and black finishes, these knobs are the perfect way to personalize your guitar.

Read MoreShow less