CAGED Concept

CAGED concept is used to identify the chord position in the fretboard. Each chords can be turned into a barre chord and moved around the fretboard. Chords can be played with C form, A form, G form, E form & D form. With C & A form the root note is on 5th string, with G & E form the root note is on 6th string and with D form the root note is on 4th string.

Lets take an example. B major chord can be played as 799877, X24420, etc where 799877 is in E form and X24420 in A form. Just pick your guitar and place the fingers on the frets i've mentioned, you should be able to understand it.

The following diagram shows C Major chord in different forms.

Unitar - Fretboard Note Locations

1st String Notes

2nd String Notes

3rd String Notes

4th String Notes

5th String Notes

6th String Notes

Look at the images above, you should be able to figure out between which notes its whole step and half step. Whole step means 2 frets and half step means 1 fret. E & F and B & C are at half step means 1 fret distance and rest at whole step distance. 6th string open chord is E, now F is half step distance means 6th string 1st fret is F. Now the next chord G is at whole step distance with F which means G is at 3rd fret. Similarly 6th string 5th fret (whole step from G) is A, 6th string 7th fret (whole step from A) is B, 6th string 8th fret (half step from B) is C, 6th string 10th fret (whole step from C) is D & 6th string 12th fret (whole step from D) is again E. The 12th fret note will be the same as open chord.

Have a look at first caged image which shows how chords can be played in various form. As mentioned above in E form the root node is 6th string and in A form the root node is 5th string. So lets take an example of B major barre chord.

E Form: Now in 6th string B note is on 7th fret. So place your index finger (as barre) on 7th fret and other fingers like an E chord shape i.e B Major = 799877
A form: Now in 5th string B note is on 2nd fret. So place your index finger (as barre) on 2nd fret and other fingers like an A chord shape i.e B Major = X24442

The following diagram has more details on how to play Bm, B7, Bm7, Bsus4, etc.

Hope the above explanation was simple enough to understand. Let me know if you have any queries.