Mastering the Fretboard: The Secret Map

Intermediate · 2 lessons · Eight weeks

The guitar neck stops being a mystery: the CAGED system and the pentatonic box open up the entire map.

Cracking the code

1. The CAGED System: A GPS for the Fretboard

   Five shapes you already know, one finger standing in for the nut, and the whole neck stops being uncharted territory.

   What you'll learn

   • Understand that every major chord on the neck is one of five shapes you already know.
   • Use the index finger as a stand-in for the nut and move an open shape up the neck.
   • Play a barre in the E shape and in the A shape with no buzzing.
   • Know which string carries the root in each of the two shapes.
   • Move a chord, or a whole song, into another key by shifting the shape.

Breaking out of the box

1. The Pentatonic Scale: A Soloist's Best Friend

   Five notes, one box, and it is almost impossible to go wrong. This is the scale that every solo you love is built on.

   What you'll learn

   • Understand what a pentatonic scale is and which two notes were left out of it.
   • Play the first box of the minor pentatonic, up and back down.
   • Use alternate picking through the whole pattern.
   • Locate the root and move the box into any key.
   • Turn a run of notes into a musical phrase, using silence and repetition.

Back to the Academy