What's So BAD About The CAGED System For Guitar?

Came a question:

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Everytime i hear about the caged system its followed by someone saying its bad and its crappy and blah blah blah...

Why would it be considered bad and why should/shouldnt i learn it?

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Ok.

Where do I start.

First of all…100% of people that knock it, this is an immediate clue that they have no idea what it is. If they did, they would never say this.

Why?

Because it’s the fundamental code of the way the fretboard works. Imagine you wanted to learn to speak a language. And someone said, “No don’t learn the alphabet. That’s bad.” That’s the same kind of baboon shyt these players are spewing out when they diss the CAGED system.

Knowing CAGED is like having the Rosetta Stone for the way every scale, arpeggio, and lick is laid out on the guitar. While it’s not the only method for learning the neck. It’s the best one I’ve ever seen in my past 25+ years of trying all of them. Some things (like the fretboard) just don’t change. It’s been the same for hundreds of years.

While most just think CAGED is those 5 basic open chord shapes: C, A, G, E, and D played up and down the neck. That’s not even 1 percent of what it actually is. Yet that’s what you’ll hear from the majority of players who say “I already know it”. 

Here’s another thing…

You can not learn CAGED from one single free resource on the internet. Most the lessons on it are garbage. Fretboard mastery is a big topic that could never be presented properly in few blogs or a few YouTube videos. 

It’s a perfect example of why free is the new expensive. Students get a glimpse at it then brush it off or say “I got it”. But this free choice ends up costing them way more. They are being mislead in droves. Which also means they will never get one of the biggest benefits of CAGED.

What is that?

Learning CAGED properly takes this incredibly tough task of understanding the fretboard. And makes it SIMPLE.

And, all the greatest players I’ve ever sat down with use it. Many times without even knowing it. Like they somehow ended up at this same conclusion through decades of being pro musicians and playing REAL music.

This was confirmed when I asked them how they were playing amazing solos or various guitar parts. They would always respond with simple ideas like “Here I’m just soloing up the C chord.” Or “I’m just using the notes from the A shape there”.

They were all using CAGED regardless of style!

Here’s one more thing…

What most players don’t understand is that it applies to both RHYTHM and LEAD. This is because the scales, chords, and arpeggios all get connected together. But again, another terrible approach most teachers are using is they separate lead and rhythm. I always combine them.

And if this wasn’t an approach that the pros actually use, why would B.B. King (Who rarely ever plays chords) say this:

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I may not have called it the CAGED system, but I've always relied on those five basic shapes to guide me around the guitar. They're like old friends that I can trust no matter where I am on the neck.

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And there’s another example of a legend who ended up in the same place using the same system decades later.

Boom. Case closed.

Anyway, if you don’t want to be one of those losers who thinks CAGED is dumb. Grab my free fretboard guide that will get you started with it right here:

Jon MacLennan