CAGED stands for five open chord shapes every beginner learns first: C, A, G, E, D. The trick: every one of these shapes can be slid up the fretboard with a barre — and produces the same chord elsewhere, just fretted differently.
Why five shapes for one chord?
Take a G major chord. You can play it open (the “G shape” itself), but also as a shifted C, A, G, E, or D shape further up the neck. Five different fingerings, the exact same sound, different position. That’s the core of CAGED: it connects the five shapes into one continuous system across the whole fretboard.
What it gets you
- You can find the same chord in any position — useful for playing together with other instruments.
- It connects chords, scales, and soloing into one shared picture of the fretboard.
- Advanced players use it to move seamlessly between positions while improvising.
In Woodshed Buddy, the fretboard automatically shows you the matching chord shape for chord progressions — feel free to look at the other positions for a chord to see the principle in action.