The C Major Scale – CAGED

CAGED System - Key of C
  1. The 5 CAGED Fretboard Positions
    1. Area 1
    2. Area 2
    3. Area 3
    4. Area 4
    5. Area 5
    6. Area 1a - Octave

The CAGED 'System' is the way the guitar fretboard (in the Standard Tuning only!) can be divided into manageable chunks for beginners.

The main purpose is that you will be playing scales in five different positions, using four-finger position shapes you will learn here.

These four-finger positions reduce the need for stretching the fingers, but we will be using position shifting when necessary.

Image

Area 1

Scale pattern:
Image

How to play:

The C chord shape is the basis for this scale fingering: 

CAGED C Chord Shape FBK

Area 2

Scale pattern:
Image

How to play:

The A chord shape is the basis for this scale fingering: 

CAGED A Chord Shape FBK

Area 3

Scale pattern:
Image

How to play:

The G chord shape is the basis for this scale fingering: 

CAGED G Chord Shape FBK

Area 4

Scale pattern:
Image

How to play:

The E chord shape is the basis for this scale fingering: 

CAGED E Chord Shape FBK

Area 5

Scale pattern:
Image

How to play:

The D chord shape is the basis for this scale fingering: 

CAGED D Chord Shape FBK

Area 1a

Scale pattern:
Image

How to play:

The C chord shape is the basis for this scale fingering: 

CAGED C Chord Shape FBK

To be played as a bar chord at the 12th position.

Learn more about the C Major Scale

  1. Browse Category
  2. Page 1:
    1. Fretboard Overview - Note Names
    2. Fretboard Overview - Intervals
    3. Modes of the C Major Scale
      1. The C Ionian Mode
      2. The D Dorian Mode
      3. The E Phrygian Mode
      4. The F Lydian Mode
      5. The G Mixolydian Mode
      6. The A Aeolian Mode
      7. The B Locrian Mode
  3. Page 2: CAGED Patterns
  4. Page 3: 3NPS Patterns
  5. Page 4: C Major Scale Triads
  6. Page 5: Pentatonic Scales in the C Major Scale
    1. A Minor Pentatonic
    2. D Minor Pentatonic
    3. E Minor Pentatonic
  7. The Major Scale - Base Topic