Course 11 High chord (barre chord)#2 & CAGED System [Acoustic guitar lesson for beginne

How did the C chord that we know come to have its form?

The C chord consists of 3 chord tones (chord tones refer to notes that constitute a chord) of C, E and G.

If you see those 3 notes in guitar, you will see them as follows:

If you find possible positions in which you can hold those notes four fingers, it will be as follows:

So you can hold the C chord that we have learned.

Of coures, you may hold different positions for the C chord as follows:

The following position also shows the C chord.

Other positions that share the root C are as follows:

You will see the form for the barre chord that you learned during the previous course.

There is also a position in which you press 3 strings simultaneously.

And you will find that the position is somewhat familiar.
Put the capo where you use your forefinger and the press the remaining note.

You will see the A chord that you learned during the first course.

We will also find other forms that share the following root.

The position for the barre chord is as follows:

As above, put the capo instead of your finger and then press the rest notes.

It is the same position for the G chord.


And the next position will be as follows:

The position for the barre chord is as follows:

If you place the capo,

It is the same position for the E chord.


And the next position will be as follows:

The position for the barre chord is as follows:

If you place the capo,

It will be same as the D chord.


As shown above, the positions for the A, G, E and D chords are connected in turns from the open C. So the positions are the same as the ones for the A, G, E and D chords but actually we have played the C chord with different positions. We call this connection a CAGED system.


If you find 5 different positions of the A chord from the open A chord, you will see a connection of A-G-E-D-C forms from the A form.

There are also forms that are too difficult to hold in barre chord.
C, G and D forms are hard to hold.

As shown above, there are special forms of chords in guitar and people begin with memorizing the whole forms not studying the complicated theories. This is the advantage that you can have which makes it easy to learn guitar.

A chord is described with the root on the left and the characteristics on the right.

Example 1) In the Cm chord, the capital letter C refers to the root and the small letter m indicates its characteristics.
Example 2) In the D chord, D refers to the root and the omitted major indicates its characteristics.
Example 3) In the Am7 chord, A refers to the root and m7 (minor seven) indicates its characteristics.


Chords with same characteristics have the same structure (the structure can be considered a form in guitar).

Example 1) Chords such as Cm, Dm and Em have same forms with different roots.
Example 2) Chords such as C, D and E have same forms with different roots.
Example 3) Chords such as Am7, Bm7 and Cm7 have same forms with different roots.

Just like the CAGED system, 5 different positions are connected in the chords of the examples.

The explanation seems somewhat theoretical but it simply means that you can play different chords depending on the fret where you hold the chord. Although we use all these five forms, we usually learn the E form with a root of the sixth string and the A form with a root of the fifth string first and use them most in barre chords. It's because they are easy to hold.


So let's find notes on the sixth string.

We will create different chords by moving the root of the chords that are based on the sixth string.

Following is a form of the E chord that we practiced.

The original form of the E chord is as follows:

As the nut functions as a capo, we don't need to press the open string. Thus, we had the form that we saw first.

If we move this form to the next fret as its root on F, we can hold the F chord (formally called F major) that we learned during the previous course.

-We call it the F chord on the E form.
-Usually the words 'E form' is omitted.

In addition, if we hold this form on the third fret, the root will be G on the sixth string of the third fret. So it will be a G chord (formally called G major).

-We call it the G chord on the E form.
-Usually the words 'E form' is omitted.


On the same position, press the root with the forefinger and then use the rest fingers to hold the Em chord. It will be a Gm chord.

-We call it the Gm chord on the E form.
-Usually the words 'E form' is omitted.


If you want to create a Am chord on the E form,
1. Find a on sixth string and then use the forefinger to have a barre form.
2. Use the rest fingers to hold the Em chord.

Followings are the 5 representative chord forms of the E chord.

E (E major)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

E7 (E seven)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

Em (E minor)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

Em7 (E minor seven)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

EM7 (E major seven)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

You can easily hold barre chords by fining their roots on the sixth string with these chord forms.


Let's find notes on the fifth string.

We will create different chords by moving the root of the chords that are based on the fifth string.

Following is a form of the A chord that we practiced.

The original form of the A chord is as follows:

If we want to create the C chord with the A chord form based on the abve principle, 
1. Find C on the fifth string have a barre form.
2. Use the rest fingers to hold the A chord.

If we want to create the Em chord with the A form,
1. Find E on the fifth string have a barre form.
2. Use the rest fingers to hold the Am chord.

Followings are the 5 representative chord forms of the A chord.

A (A major)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

A7 (A seven)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

Am (A minor)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

Am7 (A minor seven)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

AM7 (A major seven)

The original forms of the chords are as follows:

When an accidental mark is attached to the chord,
When # is attached to the chord, move to the next fret close to the body.
Example) The C#m chord will be as follows:

When b is attached to the chord, move to the next fret close to the head.
Example) The Bb chord will be as follows:

Let's go back to course 3 that we have learned. We practiced this song with the capo on the second fret.



For the D7 chord, we held the D7 chord with its form but we actually played the E7 chord.
For the G7 chord, we held the G7 chord with its form but we actually played the A7 chord.
For the E7 chord, we held the E7 chord with its form but we actually played the F#7 chord.


Since it is hard to hold the F#7 chord correctly, we used the capo to change the chord form so that we could easily hold it.
Now we have learned the barre chord and let's practice the song with the original keys of D7 to E7, G7 to A7 and E7 to F#7

More infomation

03 Notes, rest, rhythms, meters