CAGED: a useful way to learn guitar chords without having to buy and memorize huge books like 1001 Guitar Chords. The idea is, there are only five chord forms in the open position; any chord type can be played as a C, A, G, E, or D chord. Once you've memorized how to play a chord type in all five of these forms, you can transpose it up the neck to any position and any key you like.

For example, the F#maj7 chord cannot be played in open position. So, to figure out the best way to play it, we first look at the five CAGED forms of the major seventh chord (in tablature form, of course):

-0--0--2--0--2--
-0--2--0--0--2--
-0--1--0--1--2--
-2--2--0--1--0--
-3--0--2--2-----
-------3--0-----
 C  A  G  E  D
We can now transpose each of these shapes up the appropriate number of steps, to achieve five different forms of the F#maj7 chord.
-6--9--13-2--6--
-6--11-11-2--6--
-6--10-11-3--6--
-8--11-11-3--4--
-9--9--13-4-----
-------14-2-----
 C  A  G  E  D 
Of course, some of the forms you come up like this with may be a pain in the ass to play, so you can often abbreviate them by not playing certain strings; just make sure you include all the important tones that make the chord what it is (I'd want to keep the tonic note, the third and the seventh in the case of a seventh chord without an altered fifth). In a pinch, I'd play each of the above chords as follows:
-6-----13----6--
-6--11-11----6--
-6--10-11-3--6--
-8-----11-3--4--
-9--9-----------
----------2-----
 C  A  G  E  D 
If you sit down and work on your CAGED chord forms for a couple hours a day, first learning the triads and seventh chords, then moving on to added tones, you'll be able to comp with the best of them in no time. If I'd known about this last year, I wouldn't have gotten such an ass-beating on the jazz band try-outs.

As a side note, the CAGED method not only makes the Everything Guide to Guitar Chords completely obsolete, but is also much more useful for aspiring guitarists, as it actually teaches some technique, and is helpful in learning the patterns and shapes on the fretboard. As far as I'm concerned, the EGGC is mainly a scheme invented by NFNers.

Caged


She was raised in captivity
Wild one
With her family
They knew the ways
Of the captors
Obedience

The call
Of the wild

Was too strong for her

She strained at the lead
Ears cocked
Hearing
All
And distant calls
Those who were free

She was beaten
Shunned
Thrown in solitary
They told her the rules
Over and over

She fought
Lacerating her captors
And herself

Her family
Wearied
Turned their heads away

Chained
She mourned
Isolated

They didn't watch her
Closely
Any more

She chewed off her paw
Free

They didn't notice
She growled
When they came near

They threw the meat
From a distance

Her cubs circled
Behaved
To all appearances

"When, mother?" they whispered

She mourned
As the leg healed
Her gait became stronger

The cubs and she
Ran at night
While others slept

At last she tried once more
Mourned
Howled
Cried to the sky
Grief
Pain
And the call of the wild

The family cringed
Pressed their ears
To stop the noise

She rose
And broke the chain
On the cage
That held them

Howled

They turned away
Cowering
In the familiar

Now she rises
Turns
Trots from the compound
Cubs behind

She sets a steady pace
A loping gallop

They do not look back

Someday
The family may choose
To free themselves

But not now

She follows the voices
To freedom
And the unknown

Caged (?), a.

Confined in, or as in, a cage; like a cage or prison.

"The caged cloister."

Shak.

 

© Webster 1913.

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