7 Ways The CAGED System Hurts Your Guitar Playing

The CAGED guitar scales system is one of the most damaging things a guitar student can learn. Here are some of the major problems that CAGED typically causes:
 

 

CAGED scale patterns contain a mix of 2-notes-per-string and 3-notes-per-string fragments. This inconsistent pattern causes several interconnected problems:

1. Picking motions are inconsistent as you move from string to string. This inconsistency requires more muscle memory training to play guitar accurately at fast speeds.
   
   
   “But Tom, how are the picking motions inconsistent when using alternate picking, isn’t the pattern simply down-up- down-up, etc.?”
   
   It’s not as simple as that. Here’s why: Take a look at an example of CAGED scale patterns:
   
   
   
   As you can see, when alternate picking is used, every single string has a different picking pattern than the one before it and after it:
   
      String 6 = Down-Up
      String 5 = Down-Up- Down
      String 4 = Up-Down- Up
      String 3 = Down-Up- Down
      String 2 = Up-Down- Up
      String 1 = Down-Up
   
   To make things worse, all 5 CAGED scale shapes have completely different picking patterns from each other. Yes, that’s right: your picking hand needs to learn a different, inconsistent and inefficient picking pattern for each scale shape. Not only is this harder to play physically, but it also takes longer to train your picking hand muscle memory. This limits your speed both on a physical and mental level.
    
2. The alternate picking pattern naturally embedded within the CAGED scales is very inefficient.
   
   CAGED scale pattern using Alternate Picking:
   
   

 

 

Guitar speed is not very important when first learning scales, but it will become important after you’ve learned them. So the (big) problem appears once you’ve learned your scales and now you want to build your guitar speed. As objectively proven above, developing your guitar speed will be much harder and take much longer using the CAGED scale system. The same is true when dividing your time trying to learn, master and integrate two different systems.

 

 

This is a false argument. It’s called an Argument From Authority, which is a logical fallacy, particularly in this case.

 

 

 

One of the most common problems I see in new guitar students who come to me for lessons is that they can’t fluently solo all over the guitar. Here is why this problem is so common (and hard to correct) in users of the CAGED system:

 

Although some people claim CAGED is a complete system for all scales, it is anything BUT “complete”. In fact, it is not even a complete system for major scales. It teaches you to play major scales in only FIVE scale patterns that are based on arbitrary chord shapes. To make matters worse, players are supposed to revert their thinking back to some open chord shape that is usually not relevant to the musical content you will be playing in (more on this later).

 

The next problem is that the major scale actually consists of SEVEN interconnected shapes (modes) that span the entire fretboard… NOT five. (There are 7 shapes, because there are 7 notes in the major scale and 7 modes OF the major scale - 1 shape starting from each note/mode.)

 

CAGED is an incomplete system. It randomly excludes 2 of the 7 major scale patterns/modes. That leaves you with only 71% of available shapes / modes to play in a particular major key under this system. The remaining 2 major scale shapes and 2 modal fingerings starting from their own root note are mysteriously left out and ignored! Hmm… 71% hardly sounds like a complete system to me.

 

But that’s not even the worst of it…

 

The 5 shapes of the major scale that the CAGED system does account for makes it impossible to easily transition from major scales to harmonic minor, melodic minor, modal keys, or exotic scales (more on this later). To learn any of these scales, you must completely abandon the CAGED system and start over with TOTALLY new patterns that little or no resemblance to the limiting major scale box patterns of CAGED.

 

 

No matter what style you play, mastery of arpeggios is a key element to effortless, creative guitar soloing. Why? Because arpeggios outline the chords you are playing over. Regardless of how you play them, arpeggios are used in every popular style of music. You need to be able to instantly visualize them in relation to the scale positions you use when soloing. Doing so makes it easy to find the right notes to play when improvising over specific chords (more on this below). This applies in exactly the same way whether you are soloing over a 12-bar blues progression, a progressive rock song, a jazz tune or face-melting metal tracks.
 

The CAGED system completely fails to help you achieve either of the goals above. Here is why:

 

CAGED is based on arbitrary open major chords that move up and down the fretboard (using your index finger as a barre to represent the nut). This might work for playing open major chord shapes, but playing sweepable arpeggios in at least 2 octaves is not possible. Most resulting major chord arpeggios (under CAGED) are awkward to play accurately and fast (especially compared to standard sweep picking arpeggio shapes).

 

What chord shape is this CAGED fingering based on? Answer: the A chord shape. How does this help you outline the D minor chord when your thinking is based around an open A shape (which in this case is actually an F major triad)? Worse yet, what if the chord you want to outline is Gm (the iv chord in the key of D minor)? …

 

The way the CAGED system was created to relate to chord shapes does not help you to understand, visualize or recall other chord/arpeggio patterns to target. Yes, one can play a limited G minor arpeggio using this CAGED shape, but it’s not ideal at all for many reasons (limitation of range, a forced pinky finger roll on strings 6 & 5, and a break in sweep picking motion on string 2 are just three of the major problems here – there are others).

 

“But Tom, every scale, chord shape and arpeggio shape are all in those 5 CAGED shapes.”
 

No. They are not.

“But Tom, the CAGED system is literally about arpeggios. The 3-Notes-Per-String scale system is not.”
 

That statement is true. However, the premise of this implication is wrong… and so is the conclusion.

 

Yes, each CAGED scale fingering IS based on a single open chord shape.

 

Question: When is seeing your scales like this useful to you?

 

Answer: Only if & when that specific chord is being played AND you are playing in that one specific fingering that is based on that chord. When that chord is not being played in the song (or when you are in one of the other four scale patterns), the relationship between the fingering and that open chord shape is completely useless to you.

 

The problem is that the CAGED scale fingering you are in relates to a useless chord, not on the relevant chord you need to be seeing at the current time.

 

But it gets worse… not only is the entire method of visualizing scales this way useless, it’s damaging. How is it damaging? Students of CAGED are taught to relate a single chord to a single scale instead of being taught to see scales and modes as they relate to each other AND to ALL arpeggios.
 

 

 

What is the easiest and most reliable way to achieve maximum emotion when creating / improvising guitar solos? Here’s the answer:

 

Step 1: You must understand & learn all of your emotional “options” when playing guitar solos over any chord (and chord progression).

 

Step 2: You must learn how to use these emotional options when soloing over each chord… and then apply them to your guitar playing.

 

All of this needs to happen in real time, without hesitation or pausing to figure out where things are before you can play them.

 

Using CAGED makes doing these steps nearly impossible because it only focuses on the visualization of major chords… completely ignoring minor, diminished, augmented, 7th and extended chords. Seeing your fretboard this way makes it extremely difficult to creatively target those chords while actually soloing.

 

You can’t express maximum emotion when you’re unable to instantly see and target the notes of the chord being played at the present time.

 

“But Tom, it is possible to play any chord in the CAGED system.”

It’s not about what is possible… it’s about how the CAGED system is built, based on, and teaches one to SEE the fretboard. In this critical sense other chord types are omitted from this method of learning.

 

This often leads to soloing by the “spray and pray” approach. This method consists of figuring out the key of the song, moving the scale shapes to the right position on the fretboard and mindlessly playing notes, hoping to get lucky and that your notes will sound good over each chord. It’s obvious that such an approach cripples your ability to play guitar with emotion.

 

Note: of course mindless guitar soloing is not a problem exclusive to CAGED users only. However, CAGED makes it much easier for this problem to develop and is much harder to correct (due to all the interconnected problems described in this article).
 

 

1. Because CAGED only has 5 patterns, most other (non pentatonic) scales and modes contain 7 notes and therefore 7 modes. It’s not practical to use 5 patterns for 7 modes of any scale.
    
2. Because the major chords that CAGED fingerings are built on may have NO relation to the new scales and modes you are creating when modifying CAGED fingerings.  
    
3. Because the CAGED fingerings become almost unrecognizable once 2 or more notes have been altered to play the new scales and modes. 
    
4. Because having to revert your thinking back to CAGED when visualizing a new set of scales slows your brain down, is confusing and takes up valuable time. You just want to CREATE MUSIC, not think about how some new scale relates to some old scale which relates to some open chord shape that is often not even in the same key anymore! One needs to avoid all the garbage, have a single complete system and then FREELY and FLUENTLY create music!
   
   Here’s a useful analogy to make this point more clear: If English is your first language and you want to learn to speak German language fluently, you need to learn to THINK in the German language. If you have to think in English, translate your thoughts to German, find the right words and use the correct grammar in order to speak in German, this slows you down. Now imagine you are in an urgent emergency situation where you need to make split second decisions AND fluently communicate those decisions. You won’t be able to do this fast enough when translating back and forth in your head between two different languages. And if a split second decision in such an emergency is a life or death decision, you’ll be dead…
   
   Fortunately, playing guitar is not a matter of life or death… HOWEVER, when improvising, the concept is the same. You DO have to make split second decisions all the time (in order to play well). So you don’t want to be “translating” between two different systems. This is why altering CAGED in an attempt to play other types of scales and modes is a really bad idea.
    

 

By now you know that the single biggest weakness of CAGED is that it is NOT based on how scales ACTUALLY work in music. It is (falsely) promoted as a complete system for scales on the guitar. This means that, all of its other limitations aside, the CAGED system is IMPOSSIBLE for any non-guitarist to understand.

 

If you ever want to write songs with other musicians who don’t play guitar, you will have a very hard time communicating your musical ideas to them. Plus, YOU may have an extremely difficult time understanding the musical ideas communicated by other musicians to you.

 

Want proof? Try to have a discussion about CAGED with a pianist (or write a song with one by relying only on the CAGED system) and see what happens :)

 

But wait, it get’s worse: Even between two guitar players who BOTH use CAGED there are problems communicating. This is why it’s best to communicate in musical terms… not arbitrary patterns.

 

 

When I explain why CAGED is inferior and dangerous to new guitar students I begin teaching (who suffer from the debilitating effects of CAGED), 99% of them understand and trust my ability to help them achieve their musical goals (see for yourself what my guitar students have achieved after doing this). Yet there is ALWAYS the 1% of guitar players who have arguments such these:

 

CAGED System Defense #1: “The CAGED system can easily be modified to adjust for all of its limitations, so it is just fine to learn it, if it is taught correctly.”

 

My response: Yes, you can modify CAGED to adjust for “some” of its limitations… but there are some things you cannot adjust. For example, the fact that it does not contain 3 notes per string. To modify CAGED in this way, you would have to start over with a totally different system that looks NOTHING like the original system you started with. The only way to correctly teach CAGED is to totally abandon it and replace it with a single, complete and better system that requires no modifications. That system is 3-Notes-Per-String.

 

CAGED System Defense #2: “No one system is better than any other.”

 

My response: False. All guitar learning systems can be objectively observed, measured, analyzed and compared - anyone who thinks one system is no better than any other has not objectively tested them against each other… or has not understood the overwhelming objective evidence showing CAGED’s inferiority to the 3-Notes-Per-String system written above.

 

CAGED System Defense #3: “Information will never hurt you, so it can’t hurt you to know and use the CAGED system.”

 

My response: False. Compared to the 3-Notes-Per-String scale system, CAGED does hurt one’s ability to master guitar playing. Learning and trying to use both systems also hurts your rate of improvement. I’ve tested it myself. I’ve observed the many negative consequences of CAGED with thousands of guitar students from all over the world. Dr. Tommaso Zillio (a former PHD scientist, now an elite master guitar teacher) has also extensively tested CAGED vs. 3-Notes-Per-String vs. both and found very similar results.

 

Just because you can learn the inefficient and crippling system of CAGED, doesn't mean you should. If you want to become a better guitar player in the least amount of time, don’t learn or use CAGED. If you already know it, unlearn it. The limitations & damage caused by the CAGED system are undeniable.

 

CAGED System Defense #4: “The more systems you know for playing scales, the better guitar player you will be.”

 

My response: False. In fact, the exact opposite is true. A single complete system that never needs to be altered, modified or abandoned will make one a better guitar player faster (and easier) than having to learn and try to integrate two or more systems or to modify a system. We often hear supporters of CAGED talk about how they can and do need to sometimes alter/modify CAGED in order for it to work in many situations.

 

We also hear how they have to use more than 1 system (because CAGED is not a complete system and does not work well in many situations). So these guitarists who want to become advanced players are forced to seek out other ways to see/think about their fretboard as they finally begin to discover the shortcomings of CAGED.

 

Compare everything I just wrote to the vast majority of advanced guitar players who start with the 3-Notes-Per-String scale system. The 3-Notes-Per-String needs no modifications. These players don’t have to temporarily abandon it in order to seek another system that works better in some situations. That’s because the 3-Notes-Per-String method is a complete (and superior) system.
 

The more systems you learn, the longer it takes to learn and master each one.

 

The more time you spend trying to master an inferior system, the longer it will take to improve your guitar playing.

 

The more incompatible systems you try to learn, the harder it is to integrate them.

 

Everything else being equal, you will advance your guitar playing & creative skills at a much SLOWER rate doing those things compared to simply using a SINGLE, SUPERIOR & COMPLETE system. That system is the 3-Notes-Per-String method.

 

CAGED System Defense #5: “___________ (fill in the blank with some guitarist’s name) uses CAGED for scales and he plays great! So CAGED can’t be bad if ____________ uses it.”

 

My response: First: How do you know “________” uses CAGED in his actual music? Can you prove this? Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

 

Second: Even if “__________” uses CAGED, that is not evidence to support the discredited claim that CAGED is a better system for guitar players to learn and use. Stating that X is best because “___” uses it, is an argument from authority and a logical fallacy.

 

Third: What you don't see are the many thousands of guitar players who needlessly struggle with CAGED. You don’t see how much slower their guitar playing advancement is compared to those using the 3-Notes-Per-String system.

 

If you want MORE proof that the CAGED system is dangerous for your guitar playing, read this article: 9 Reasons Why The "CAGED" Of Learning Guitar Scales Sucks written by one of my top former guitar students: Tommaso Zillio, PHD.

 

Now that you know exactly why the CAGED system holds you back from becoming the best guitar player you could be, let me show you how simple it CAN be to reach your musical goals and become the guitar player you want to be. Visit this online guitar lessons page and tell me more about your guitar playing.