Around The Neck

I was sent this performance by a student of mine. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I am sure many of you know the caged system. However, there may be some that don’t. The C.A.G.E.D system is a system to give you an understanding of where you are on the fret board. It has been really helpful for me to know that I can play in any key anywhere on the fret board.

On the website are two Word documents that illustrate the C.A.G.E.D system in the key of C major. The object is to take the exercises of scales and arpeggios and develop them into every key. On the pages are open or white circles. They are the root of each scale. As long as you know the root note, then you will know which scale you are in.

First, you should begin playing and memorizing each one of the scales and it’s corresponding arpeggio. Then, you should begin playing them in any key you can think of and understand how one leads or connects to the next. You will notice that each scale has a root or two from the previous scale. I have given you the frets because the key is always C major. From this perspective you can begin to connect each of the scales.

For instance, try connecting from the A Form to the G Form on the fifth string. Or from the G Form to the E Form on the third string. The more combinations you can master the better you can see where each one overlaps.

You can then pick a tune in a specific key and learn the melody inside the scale form in different positions. You can also put on a recording and try to improvise in the key of the recording using the different forms from the C.A.G.E.D. system.

I hope you will find the information useful and fun. Keep practicing and make some great music.

C.A.G.E.D. System Scales
C.A.G.E.D. System Arpeggios

Many students struggle with how much improvement they see from week to week. I myself can get down on not achieving my goals for the week or month. It is easy to see your tremolo go from 80 to 84 playing sixteenth notes in a week and be happy. But, when it takes three or four weeks just to get from 84 to 88, we tend to fault ourselves. We decide that we are doing something wrong or that we are not practicing enough.

Though these can be correct conclusions at times, I find them to be less correct than we think. If a student is studying under a good teacher, then chances are the practice and technique will be mostly correct. So if the teacher is not to blame, and we are not to blame, then who can we blame?

No one.

Mastering an instrument takes time. You cannot move it faster or slower. You just have to stay consistent. It is like looking at a picture that was taken of yourself five years ago. Immediately you can see a difference. Maybe you have more hair or less hair. More to love or less to love. Either way you have changed. Yet, how many times have you gotten up in the morning, looked at yourself in the mirror and immediately noticed some change. I will venture to say probably none. You see, change happens when you are not looking for it. It is constant for good and bad.

We have to see the guitar in the same light. Students will say that they did not improve much from their previous lesson. However, they have seen their playing every day. And, as a result, they see little change. A teacher on the other hand, has not seen them for at least seven days. To them, the change is obvious whether good or bad.

As long as you keep in mind that you are constantly changing on this instrument, you will constantly be changing on your instrument. It sounds odd, but it is very true. Therefore, keep practicing with good intentions and greater dedication. You will see a difference if you will stop looking.