CAGED System Chart
Five movable shapes that map any major chord across the whole neck · standard tuning E–A–D–G–B–e · tap to see & hear
How to play
- Pick a chord, then step through the five shapes. Every one of them plays the same chord — the same three notes — just in a different place on the neck. That is the whole idea of CAGED.
- The five shapes are named after the five open chords you already know: C, A, G, E and D. Take the open shape, slide it up the neck, and use your index finger as a movable nut. The chord is renamed by wherever the shape lands.
- All 5 is the view that makes it click. It draws a dashed box around each shape's position and marks every root note on the neck. Notice the boxes overlap — the last two strings of one shape are the first two of the next. That interlock is why the system covers the entire fretboard with no gaps.
- Going up the neck the shapes always appear in the order C → A → G → E → D, then repeat. Whichever shape your chord starts on, the sequence continues from there and wraps around — a G chord runs G, E, D, C, A.
- Filled dots are the root (the note the chord is named after); hollow dots are the other chord tones. Every dot is labelled with its note name. Tap any dot to hear that single note, or Play chord to strum the whole shape.
- Link the shapes walks up the neck through all five in order so you can see and hear them connect. Tap it again to stop.
- A × above the nut means don't play that string. Where a shape needs a barre, the bar is drawn across the strings your index finger flattens.
- Tip — learn the E and A shapes first. They are the two standard barre chords and between them they already cover most of what you need; the other three fill in the gaps.
- Keyboard — Tab to any control or dot and press Enter or Space. The neck scrolls sideways on a narrow screen.
This is a virtual instrument that demonstrates how to apply the CAGED system to major chords across the guitar neck. Clicking on buttons and the fretboard itself (or alternatively using your computer keyboard if that’s easier) demonstrate how five simple open chord shape relate to each other and span the whole instrument.
You then need to select a chord root by tapping one of the note button. Each of these is a different key starting with C and going through to B. Tapping the button will update the screen to display that chord played in the chosen position. The selection here are important as it forms the foundation for all other elements on the screen. Pick your first key and go.
How to Use the Guitar CAGED System Tool
The second row of buttons is labeled C, A, G, E and D. The next button select one of the five common open-chord shapes from which the system takes its name. Once you select a chord shape, it appear in relation to your selected root note on the fretboard. Finger placement adjust immediately to match this new formation.
In addition, it’s a completely interactive fretboard. Filled-in dots represent the chord’s root note, and hollow dots represents the rest of the notes in the chord. Clicking on one of these will play that single note for you. This allows you to hear what each note in the shape sound like. It also trains your ear to identify the notes in the chord.
If you wish to listen to the entire chord, just press the play chord button below and it will strum all the active strings in the current shape for you. It’s a handy feature to check that what you imagine the chord sounds like matches its actual sound and blend of notes created by spacing between the notes.
It also provides a guided tour of the neck by clicking the shapes button. Watch this by clicking on it and the widget will play through all five shapes in turn, stepping up the neck from one to another. It shows you visually how connected the shapes are with one overlapping another. They are more like an interconnected map of the fretboard different than isolated islands.
Clicking the All 5 button display all five shapes at once. Every root note is marked on the neck and each shape’s location is drawn with a dashed box. It gives you a bigger picture that shows where the shapes fit together like pieces in a puzzle with no gaps. That makes it easier to see why this system cover the whole range of the instrument.
On the lower right is a volume slider that controls how loudly the audio will be played back, with sound coming from your browser and produced in real time. To get it playing at a comfortabley level, drag up the slider to make things louder if necessary (or quieter if you’re using sensitive speakers/headphones).
To get into a more immersive experience simply click on the fullscreen button. This will expand the widget so it take over your whole screen. The controls and fretboard appear bigger and are easier to read. If you’re on a device with a smaller screen (or even just a laptop) then this can be especially helpful as the default view might feel cramped.
The whole interface is fully keyboard navigable. Each control, dot and button has a tab stop around it. Tab moves the focus between elements, and then you can press Enter or the space bar to open a button, play a note, change a chord, or toggle the help panel (which has a short summary of all the controls) on/off. You can then press the spacebar or enter key to engage with the element you’ve just tabbed to.
Experimenting with this tool will be helpful if you cycle up to each shape but maintain the root note of the chord. You’ll notice that each position voices the exact same three notes differently. It’s a great exercise for developing a solid mental picture of where these notes are on the neck. It also makes moving from one shape to another smooth when performing.
A second good exercise would of to follow along with the widget, playing what you see on the screen yourself on your own bass or guitar. Find out where those shapes are located and then try to play them in real-time. It will connect the dots between the theoretical mental picture and how it feels physically as a series of muscle memory. That turns the idea of movable shapes from a theory into something you can actualy use.
Try playing around with it in various keys, letting the shapes move up or down the fretboard as you wish. You can also see that the open-string version of these barre chords becomes less frequent and instead starts to appear further up the neck in higher positions. Have a play and don’t be afraid to experiment. There’s no right or wrong approach. Just take the time to hear every note and grasp its role within this flexible system.