Chords on the Top Three Strings 

Download a free PDF summary of the shapes covered in this lesson! www.scottpauljohnson.com/chords-on-the-top-three-strings

Wow.. I've been playing 40 yrs, just faking my way up the neck trying to memorize where the chords were, and where the 'sweet spots' were for soloing... then I watched the CAGED explanation of yours and it hit me like bricks. Mindblowing moment.. now following up with your other lessons. Thanks for your talent at explaining this Scott.. you're literally changing the way guitar players visualize the fretboard.

"Pretty cool right?" I'm like, *holy shit* . This is like witchcraft. Where has this video been all my life? How come no one explains it like this?? I've been so bummed out I just can't seem to understand the guitar at all even after watching so many videos and lessons I started to think that maybe I just didn't have the talent... You are a true hero man, finding you today is truly one of the best day in my life.

I really like the animation, so I see the notes in real time! I miss that from other guitar lessons a lot. Thx for sharing

This is honestly the best guitar teacher ever. He has changed my playing so much and and improved it more in a week than half a year of going through paid guitar teachers telling me nothing of the same thing in different words.

In all these months of learning the instrument, I feel that it is only today, after watching this video of yours, has my real journey begun. Thank you for ever.

I really appreciate how you don’t talk down to anyone your personality is so easy going making it great for a teacher

Just found your channel. I was looking for a video to explain how to solo with chord changes using the caged system. I can't believe the amount of time and effort you've put into these videos. The way these lessons have been visualised, nothing could be easier. The views and likes is very low on your channel. Please advertise your channel, I've been looking for these kind of lessons for ages now and had to go through a lot of trash before I found you, I'm sure these will be a hit. I'll do my part and spread the word. Keep up the great work

I think you are THE REAL RU-vidR! You really put effort into this! You spend countless hours editing each of your videos so that we get the knowledge we need to improve our skills! I saw the CAGED system yesterday and I was astonished with all the graphics along with the well organized explanations that culminate in a fast learning. We (users) just have to watch it again and again while practicing, 'cause the content is all there. You are probably the only person I'm ever gonna make a donation (buy a coffee) to. Your subscribers are probably gonna grow a lot more. Just keep doing what you do best! Cheers!

The first step to this and almost any other system I've tried to use, is you MUST memorize the fretboard. Not really the sharps and flats, but knowing the A, B, C, D, E, F, G locations is non-negotiable in being able to use these sorts of tools in real time. Great lesson.

Eureka!!!! I've gotta say this one lesson gave me a light-bulb moment. I've been playing on and off for about 20 years but was limited to open chords and 6th/5th string barre chords for moving around the neck. But, wow, this lesson has opened up a whole new world to me. Bloody brilliant! And you're right - this is fun. Thank you so much.

Best guitar teacher of all time. Your ability to seamlessly communicate complex topics by simple patterns is astonishing. Thank you.

How in the world could anyone thumbs down any instructional video? Thank you for all your hard work and for helping thousands of people on their musical journey.

Thanks a lot Scott, I've been player for years and this has really helped me- VERY clear examples with animated highlights; very grateful my friend.

Brilliant, i have spent my first 6 months learning scales and this is going to tie in very nicely with my soloing. Thanks a million.

You really do have a gift for explaining these things so simply and clearly!

Another great video! I like how you overlaid your playing over a still shot of your fretboard. I can tell a lot of hard work went into your videos. Thanks!

Ty. This is mindblowing! Opening up whole new worlds for me. I have watched the tutorial several times, learning more from it each time and picked up the guitar more times than i can tell you to try this out. So much fun!🎶

I love these videos. The clarity and enthusiasm you bring to guitar theory is like nothing else I have found. You lost me a little in the last third when you put it all together and started skating up and down the fretboard but that's on me. The pentatonic scale video was pure gold. Keep it up Scott and thank you.

Each video I watch it all becomes clear - after all these frustrating years. I appreciate all the hard work you put in.

I can tell how much you love music! Playing & teaching! --- Lucky me! Thanks for sharing!

Nice work with the overlapping images of the guitar and your fingers, we can finally see the exact way to finger the chords, thank you for this.

Your production choices are top notch. I love the animation and the double exposure on the fretboard so we can see what frets are being fingered. Great job, thank you for the extra effort.

I just happened to find your video - and I'm amazed by this - took my time to make all the cord shapes in major and minor of all chords - made me understand the system better - thank you so much it is a great help to become a better player

This is by far the best explanation of triads for beginners I have ever seen. Thank you so much!... for a greater understanding of why these triads work and what they consist of (instead of memorizing shapes). Also your graphics and presentation are the best on youtube as relates to guitar. I know you have spent a lot of time and money getting these out there for us. It shows. You are a gifted teacher.

Been trying to get my head around triads for a while now. Your explanation is brilliant. I really hope you continue with your work. I got stuck in a rut. Since finding your channel its opened up a new door for me. Thank you.

i’m binging all of these videos, learning so much. i am so grateful to have discovered these videos. i appreciate you so much.

Scott, this lesson is really mind-blowing, and all your lessons are top-notch. The way you explain in this video and with all the visual stuff is really great and I finally understood a lot of things. Thank you so much for all of your work and the time you spent to put this out in the world!!

This is a GREAT LESSON on Triads! So great for accompanying other Guitarists and Musicians! Thank you!

Your video lessons are very clear and concise ... thank-you Scott.

Scott.........You are a GREAT! Your manner of speaking, explaining, showing how and the animation of the fretboard is the best I have ever seen. I am sure many people like myself appreciate the hard work and amount of time you spend creating these videos. You make it easy to understand what I never could before about guitar and I have spent years trying! Keep up the good work! Cheers!

I’ve been playing guitar off and on for about 20 years now. This is the first video that finally brought to life the patterns and shapes of triads on 3 strings

So much effort put into making these videos, and such detailed explanations to make sure no one misses anything. Hats off, sir!

Scott you are going to be BIG man. Years and years of going over YT lessons and you hit it like no other does. I will and hopefully many other will reward you with a donation for all those hard work you must have put in your video lessons.Thank you thank you thank you!

My God thank you for the straightforward simple approach. There's so much crap and song and dance at times you have to wade through to get the simplest explanation even with a lot of theory under your belt. Thank you!

You sir are the best RU-vid instructor I’ve found for actually learning guitar! I still have a ways to go, but for the first time in my guitar playing years I finally feel like I have a road map to learn how to literally play the guitar and not just memorize some chords and licks! I just got back into playing again recently and finding these videos has really sparked my love for the guitar again! Keep up the good work.

I've learnt more in the past few months after finding your videos than I have in the last 25 years of pretending to play. Thanks SPJ for easily explaining how all of this works and lifting the mystery off of the fretboard.

Your dynamic graphics and pdf summarization on top of that are nothing short of fantastic

Great clear reaching method that sticks in my 57 year old brain, many thanks and keep it coming.

I think you are a brilliant teacher. With great easy to follow videos. Thank you so much

Thank you for showing other ways to look at the fret board and how to manipulate the cords. WOOT!

Great lesson on triads/major/minor forms and chords - awesome and thank you.

You are a gifted teacher Scott; I have played guitar for 3 decades and haven;t heard most of what you are teaching with respect to shapes anywhere else. Bravo!

Whoa, this just helped me visualise chords in pentatonic shapes so much easier! Soloing and finding those target notes is all just triads and they sit so nicely in the pentatonic. Great video!

The video-craft here is excellent. Thanks for taking the time.

You are an amazing teacher. Very very clear. One of the best in teaching theory on RU-vid and online.

I freaking love you, man! You’re rocking my musical world like a champ! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

Just commented the same thing on another one of your videos, but you explain things in a way that make me understand stuff that no one else managed to get me to understand. I watch a lot of guitar videos here on RU-vid, but your content is beyond everything else. Great job, and great content - thank you so much!

What an incredible visual delivery this lesson was. You rock

Your videos are the best I have ever come across that teach caged and chord structure in a fun easy to understand way.

job well done Scott. this is the best way that i have seen on youtube , teaching triads , i loved it , you have the talent of teaching .

such a brilliant teaching together with this fantastic accompanying graphic. thank you very much ! for me as a beginner it is a big step forward in understanding.

I was going to sleep but the I ran into this channel and watched 3 videos in a row without even realizing. Mindblowing, from video editing to teaching skills. You're inspiring me on so many levels. I'm definetly going to watch all your videos later. I feel like I just found a treasure

Excellent video,clear concise and without a hint of ego. Easy to watch,follow,understand and learn. Top work 👍👍👍

Great lesson. Love your channel. Your use of graphics and a second point of view, are really helpful.

Super helpful videos and so clearly laid out, love the editing, you can see how much time goes into making these videos and it’s definitely appreciated 👍

I've known how to root chords on the low E and A string for a little while, but this lesson connects the patters and why. A+

This video is BY FAR the best video I've seen regarding guitar lessons!!!!!! I've been watching this dude (SPJ) for a couple months now and he NAILS it in this video!!!!! I viewed this video several times before I grasped the concept, BUT believe me it was totally worth it! I just pause and practice, pause and practice, Etc., Etc. The more times I watch this video, the more I pick up from it! This is spectacular! Thank you, SPJ. You are the MAN!

I really like watching you Scott. Thank you for your time and professionalism

Hi Scott wow you are a great teacher. This has blown my mind. I will download the PDF and hopefully it will make it bit clearer. Thank you in advance

Dude thank you SO much. Ive spent the past couple days hiding away from COVID at home and watching your videos. So far youve explained three separate topics to me that I was previously struggling to understand. This lesson (I couldnt understand triads that easily before), the use of CAGED to move up and down, and the relationship between the major and minor positions of the pentatonic scale. Now, having watched your vids, they seem staggeringly easy and simple - 3 days ago they felt like something very confusing. You are a star.

Thank you so much for this tutorial it has helped me greatly hopefully I can get my head round this

Thanks for all your hard work and generosity in putting this out there, and all your other lessons, its hard work like this that is a great learning experience and example to us all.

You're a good teacher, please don't stop making awesome and simplified videos.

Always bugged me that "top" strings are on the bottom...

Your lesson is very precise and right to the point. I l have learned so much in this lesson. Thanks.

Hi Scott, I too watched your pentatonic video. Real eureka moment. This is something similar. Keep doing what you're doing my man. You have a gift for simplifying the guitar. Good on ya. Regards, Tom

Scott, this is worth a lot, but you have shared it here with us for free!! Thanks man, I wish you all the best in every area of your life. You are the best guitar teacher I have ever come across on RU-vid.

Scott. As usual. You are awesome. You are so thorough in explaining these concepts. Thank you Sir.

Scott, Excellent, its all slowly coming together. I suspected there was some kind of pattern, but never really understood, but this video has confirmed it. Thankyou 👍

Great video! Clear and easy to understand. Love the color coding!

Duuuude you are like a genie unlocking the secrets of the bottle, thank you for making it so much easier to understand this stuff.

I love your graphics. They help so much--to see fingers, chords shapes & strings at the same time.

Your video editing is fabulous..! Thank you so much!

You do a really great job cutting right to the chase in your videos. Appreciate it!

Very nice and graphics is cool and helpful. This opens up a whole new way to see things. I was actually looking for chords on the top FOUR strings but I guess the step in that direction is easy. Thanks!

These are legit the best guitar tutorial videos. Please make more. I can tell it takes a lot of work but you really do nail them.

Ok. You are really a great teacher and you use the video resources better then all the rest.It's all there. If i can comprehend everybody can. I already a huge fan. Keep making more videos man.

Thank you for taking the time & effort to create this excellent lesson. And also for providing a "how to practice this concept", which I find is missing on many lessons!

I am old an been playing a LONG TIME... Thank you for teaching some stuff i didn't know. AWESOME. THANK YOU

I am so happy I have found your channel ! you're definitely the best teacher on RU-vid period .

Oh man, you are amazing, your lessons are Just so helpfull and so clear. Thank you for your efforts

Been searching for a straight up explanation about these types of chords, because I knew it wouldn't be that hard, but I just couldn't find it anywhere. Thank you, this really helped!!

Couple reasons I love this video it's clear useful for building skills and most importantly use this as a starting exercise. I often find exercise suggestions is the missing link as to how A New Concept can be applied to be learned and this video helps make that clear.

Great video. Love how you do your figures. Very helpful for learning.

Great use of animations thanks. Clear, concise, focused. A great learning tool. Thanks Dude. Cheers Mach

Everytime this guy explains something... Is just easy. There's no one on RU-vid making things, this easy to understand. And no b/s. Well done. This guy should pop up on RU-vid more than the other guitar guys who drip feed info to you.

You make this so easy compared to other videos. I don’t know if it’s the animation, your voice or what but you’re quite the teacher my friend. Great job .

There are thousands of guitar tuition channels on youtube, this is one of the best videos I've seen. he way you teach is a talent you made it fun and easy and that isn't as easy as it sounds. With this one video if you went away and just parrot learned only this, and got the principle of it so that you were able to find different voicings to all your favourite songs you will have a good basic grounding in guitar from this one lesson. Learn the contents of this video. Watch it over and over and play along over and over until you get it. The go get the basic guitar tab for your favourite songs and challenge yourself to find the different voicings for those chords and then just jam along. That's how you play guitar. Subbed.

Dude, your videos are great, both in content and edition. Thanks!

i picked up the guitar to stay sane during the lockdown in the uk in April . Not played since i initially tried to learn guitar at 33. Now 56. glad i tried all those years ago as it gave basic foundation . But lol this was one of the first lessons i tried back in April and to be honest nothing really sunk in to memory....but roll the dice forward to today. with the tutorials on youtube and especially this man Paul it all makes sense now. i learnt so much from this Guy and with new Yamaha 502 with P90'S i can do what Paul instructed to do and learn. Love the Guy great aura for a teacher. Practice has not made me perfect lol but i have thick pads now on fingers so i could go out and spear fish my dinner with my fingers now. i wont starve ... May the Almighty keep him and family safe . big love to the guitar world .

Dude, honestly some of the best explanations I've ever come across. On multiple videos too. Please keep making videos!

This is a very useful lesson, and very well explained. Love your lessons.

Thanks Scott! I find this stuff amazing too! I have been playing for almost two years now. I had a young man like yourself (he was awesome, taught me alot) as a teacher, then came COVID. I have taken what he already taught me and I just sit down at times and place my fingers wherever on the fretboard and play by ear. Sometimes I happen on a chord progression that is beautiful! Thanks for sharing Scott!

Another great vid - very very clearly explained. Thank you!

Found the video to be very detailed and easy to understand. Thank you so much

Hi Scott. Just letting you know that people (like me) are just now discovering you and finding out how amazing your videos are. I've tried to read this in guitar books and watching other's videos, however, yours is the most simple and straight-forward. I just love it! I like and subscribed already. I wish I could do it again!

You‘re the best trachte, your lessons „open my eyes“, best for 2021 from Berlin!

Mate, you are awesome! Thanks for letting me see the light in the tunnel. You make it easy to understand. Like teaching a language and explaining what it is all about! Thanks a lot!!!

Man you’ve taught me more today than anotó me else since I’ve been good at guitar. Been in bands for years but never fully understood the way to connect it all in my head. You got a great way of explaining!