One Chord, Five Places

Here is where the system earns its name. Take one chord and find every shape that produces it, climbing the neck.

Start at the open C. Above it, an A shape at the third fret gives C. Above that, a G shape around the fifth. Above that, an E shape at the eighth. Above that, a D shape at the tenth. Then you are back at the twelfth fret, an octave up, and the whole cycle starts again.

The order was C, A, G, E, D. That is not a coincidence and it is not only true for C. The five shapes always appear in that cyclic order as you climb, for every chord — the only thing that changes is where you enter the cycle. Start on a G chord and the order is G, E, D, C, A. Start on an A and it runs A, G, E, D, C.

Here is C major with the fingerings stacked in that order.

C

Every C major the chord database holds, low to high: the open C shape, the A shape at the third fret, the G shape around the fifth, the E shape at the eighth. The D shape at the tenth completes the cycle.

Now the same thing for G, which enters the cycle at a different point.

G

G major climbing the neck: open G, then the E shape at the third fret, the D shape at the fifth, and the C shape at the seventh.

Two things are worth noticing, and they are what turn this from a list into a map.

The shapes overlap. Each one begins before the last one ends, and adjacent shapes share notes. The high notes of the A-shape C at the third fret are the low notes of the G-shape C above it. That shared ground is how players move smoothly from one position to the next instead of jumping.

And the shapes are not just chords. They are chunks of the scale. Every one of these five positions sits inside the same set of notes running the length of the neck, which is why a solo can wander across all of them without ever leaving the key.

C Major Pentatonic

The C major pentatonic across the whole neck. The five CAGED chord shapes are five windows onto this one pattern — each chord shape is the scale with most of the notes taken away.

Try it on a track. Play a C in the open position for a few bars, then find the A shape at the third fret and play the same chord there, then the E shape at the eighth. Same chord, three different weights and colours.

A classic rock groove in C major. Play the same chords in a different position each time round and listen to what changes.