Why I Don't Teach the CAGED System...Focus on THIS Instead! (An R&B Guitar Theory Lesson) 

Agree or disagree? This is why I don’t teach CAGED. Let’s have a healthy discussion. Leave your comments below. Let me hear from the R&B, gospel and neo-soul players.

Thank you for this channel and the work you put in. My partner and mother of our four babies all under 10 years old passed away 30th December 2021. About a week after she passed away i picked up my guitar and came across one of you're videos. You have drastically improved both my playing and understanding of R & B and all the things that make it beautiful. You have and continue to help me through a difficult time and for that i would like to thank you brother. Peace and stay safe.

Not sure that you've fully understood how CAGED works... It's a essentially a system that helps us navigate triad inversions across the fretboard. Yes playing them as full voicings could be seen as vanilla, but alot of the smaller major/minor voicings you get (especially on the higher register strings) are all over R&B!

The CAGED system doesn't really have anything to do with voicings and more to do with mapping out how a specific chord is positioned up and down the neck. It is simply usually illustrated with basic open triad shapes for simplification. If you decided to make all those chords 7th chords, the organization of them would would still run in CAGED order. It is simply stating that a certain guitar specific shape of a voicing for a chord will be followed by another guitar specific shape as you move up the neck. Matter of fact, regardless of what extensions, voicings, or inversion you prefer using, the CAGED system will still serve as a basic map for finding chords up and down the neck. It is not genre specific, it is guitar specific.

@kerry2smooth I think you didn’t represent the CAGED system properly. You played C A G E D As separate cowboy, open chords instead of showing how 1 chord, ie a C chord, could be played anywhere on the neck (using barre chords) using the 5 different shapes to help with different voicing and recognition of where the root is. I generally like your videos but your argument in this one was not supported properly.

I respectfully disagree. The CAGED system is not just chords..it is a system in which can locate and play all your chords,Scales ,Arps ,melodies etc in any key...it helps you to learn your neck if you know how to use it .It also will help in position reading.I has been used by Joe Pass ..Barney Kessel..Herb Elises..Tommy Tedeseco...it does matter about style.its just like GPS...

CAGED system is very essential when you're trying to understand the guitar fretboard and trying to link every note in a particular key. CAGED are not just the chords that are played in open position but, it is a series progressive spread of notes and different positions. It actually opens a lot of options and possibilities. It is just a reference tool that when used properly is a superpower in guitar playing.

Barre chords are the caged system

Kerry, I truly appreciate you taking the time out to teach what you've learned over the years. I've been playing bass guitar for about 10 years and this is helping me to see that I could possibly learn guitar as well...thank you for your sacrifice and I hope that you don't get discouraged to the point where you stop uploading because of people that aren't your people. You've got your people ✊🏿 and we here. All love big bro!

Dude I have been watching videos for a week straight trying to get somebody to sum up r&b in a nutshell, theory wise. Thank you! Getting into the genre and love your stuff. So pleasing to the ear. Excited to learn this new sound

This was so helpful, especially the minor shape for the 5, that's game changing!

Best teacher during this season!! Thanks for the amazing content! Going to check out your website now!

To be fair, that's only the VERY basic concept of the CAGED system. CAGED is simply a way of "seeing" and navigating along the fretboard. Like the old saying about kids, those big open CAGED chords are to be SEEN (they're a map) but rarely to be heard, lol. They are NOT to be played in their entirety like that. They show you different ways of playing the same chord in different areas so you have more options. And then each of those areas can be changed and rearranged into the chord voicings you used above, but they began life as a CAGED shape chord. CAGED is to be used as an invisible map where you can pick an area to vacation in but then you can choose to turn down all kinds of different roads: double stops, triads, other chord voicings, scales, licks, solos. You can drive up or down to different letters in CAGED super easily to explore all kinds of new tourist stops. The CAGED shapes are like big dart boards that you see but then you aim for smaller areas on that dartboard as far as what you want to play to get certain score points across or to hit a big bullseye. You'll find a variety of scale patterns that live in the area of each CAGED letter and how they flow up and down into other areas of the fingerboard so you never get lost. You'll find all the chords you need in one limited area if you want to relax in one spot for a while. But you can also slide into other areas at will. And you'll find that you can turn those big chords into other voicings (including all the R&B chords) by doing nothing more than simply rearranging your fingers slightly. It's really a misunderstood concept that I see a lot of R&B players dismiss because they seem to have only been introduced to the very bare bones BIG OPEN CHORDS basic concept of it. The big open letter chords concept is only the starting line and not the finish line. But then again, there are all kinds of ways to look at this thing we call guitar. Once I found CAGED, the light bulb lit up like never before. I used to play songs and never knew why the chords in the song were chosen. But after learning CAGED, it all made perfect sense. Still, the concept you presented above looks like another very valuable tool to help navigate and make sense of the guitar. Just because I love CAGED doesn't mean I can't love the above video, too, and can learn from it. So peace and thanks! : )

All that barre chords are in the caged system. I did not learn the cage system myself, i learned barre chords exactly how you are talking about them. It wasnt until a few years later that i realized they are just the barre chords on open strings. The caged system shapes doesnt stop at open strings it literally is them moved everywhere. Its just a different in mindset. Also maj7 min7 sus chords and diminished every chord is in the caged system too. It all depends on your mindset and teacher.

I just found your channel. I've been playing for close to 30 years, but I never bothered to learn the basics. I chose to be narrow minded and just play straight heavy metal, so I'm an expert at power chords. This stuff your showing me is opening my eyes, and I'm really starting to understand this instrument that I've loved for so long, so thank you.

I learned about the CAGED system long after I had learned my major and minor scales and barre chords. I, too, thought it was rather limiting. Once I began learning triads, the CAGED system revealed itself because I could see the chord shapes through the triads. Love your tutorials, by the way.

This is 100% true. I learned the CAGED system and it is a great system because it helps you find chords across the fretboard going from C to A to G and so on to D. But because it is typically not taught to include the 7th, 9th and 11th intervals I found myself feeling like I needed to relearn to play the guitar as Soul and R&B require those, especially the 7ths. CAGED is great in Rock, Country and Blues though.

I’ve been playing for years and I know this but it’s good to know. I’m going to look into your guitar community. God bless you dude.

I would see this as a good start to learning the caged system if I'm honest. The E and A shaped barre chords are a good start point but then why not learn the rest of the shapes across the neck? Once you know the shapes and intervals there's nothing but practice stopping you from making 7ths/9ths/11ths etc across all the caged system

Thanks Mr Kerry, those are the sounds/styles that I

The flavor you put in is very much what I love about R&B. Thanks for your channel.

The caged system is all over the neck, it just uses the basic open chords as a reference point & a place to start from, it can definitely be useful for lead playing & solos & to familiarize yourself with the entire fretboard

I usually like his vids but I don’t think he knows what the CAGED system actually is

I have to agree with a previous comment saying, the caged system doesn't just teach the "cowboy" chords. The caged system actually does in fact teach the various voicing that you yourself are using and in fact goes beyond the types of chords but the multiple ways to find the same chords with their different voicings anywhere on the fretboard. More specifically, the minor7th chord that you use and teach on is actually C form chord however that is only one of the five different forms and positions that the caged system teaches. I as well as others who do know and understand the caged system can tell that you do not fully understand the actual teachings of it. Kerry I would highly recommend that you take the time and get the book, you may even prove yourself wrong just by studying volume one, chapter one.

Bro this is dope!! Appreciate you. Just getting started and this makes so much more sense

I’m a little late to this party, but here we go. CAGED is cool for all the reasons people say, but you could just as easily learned scales and more importantly the number system. After that, if you’ve got an ear, you’ll start recognizing intervals and it will come together for you with practice. It also helps to improvise and jam with different players with different levels of musicianship. Love the Channel man!

From what I leaned, the CAGED system is a way for students to learn the fingering of major scales, which can be played on the fingerboard following the five open chord (CAGED) shapes. For example, D major scale can be played in a open C shape from the fifth fret of the A string, or in a open G shape from the 10th fret on the low E string, or a open D shape from the 12th fret on the D string etc.

I've been playing for about a year and a few months and i got a lot to learn and you've shown me a lot and thank you. hopefully i can soon afford to sign up because i know this is definitely the direction i want to go in.

Love this. I always thought I would never be any good at R&B because I was born on the country side of town. But you've given me hope for the music I love. Thank you bro.

another great smart lesson.... I think you should teach the C-A-G-E-D if its basic chords.... because some people can start in the fast lane before they learn how to drive.... and some other people like me needs to take one step at a time. I ride a motorcycle.... I started off with a small motor but they told me that I will want a larger one and they where correct but I was NOT wrong for wanting to start of SLOW then elevate to a faster bike.... but the same goes with intro chords, barre chords and open chords.... what you said makes a lot of sense but if your NEW you dont know what CAGED mean or what Dominant 7 chords are.... and if you analyze the open string and CAGED system, many of the notes are repeated in the chord shape.... whereas jazz, gospel and dominant chords usually dont.... so playing the exact chord provides a harmonic texture that we know to be jazz or R&B, and when I say R&B im really saying Jazz Chords.... because I have many books and they all say something different.... but jazz chords involves adding the 7, 9, 11 and 13. So you call them R&B chords.... Im calling them Jazz chords.... if you play a 1-3-5 it wont sound as good unless you add the 7 or 9 or 6 or 4..... these are jazz chords. Calling it R&B chords is saying that the chords are soulful and works better with harmony than the CAGED system.... many songs are built from the CAGED open chord type of system.... but it wont fit many gospel and R&B songs. I totally agree. I realized this a couple of years back when I knew I had the correct ROOT note but was not playing the correct chord because the "voicing " of that chord was wrong... but the bass note was correct.... however, teaching someone to ride a 1,000cc bike before you teach them how to ride a bike thats a 250cc bike or 600cc bike is risky... I knew many people who started riding first on a 1,000cc bike.... so NOT teaching the CAGED system is essentially saying that it dont exist and serves no purpose.... you explained it well.... but I feel learning BASIC chords is necessary to build finger muscles, fret board knowledge and overall understand of chords by learning ALL types of other systems other than the one we are focussing on. Thats just me. then you're putting the player in another BOX, that cant play with a band that uses the CAGED system for the majority of their songs.... in other words, know both. This was my issue.... trying to learn something out of order.... its better to learn in a progression or a logical order.... instead of learning step 17 first, maybe we should learn steps 1-16 first..... just a thought.

Nice presentation. Rhythm playing is super important. I'm sure you know this but it's worth mentioning, Hendrix was was an amazing rhythm player rooted in the the very same things you're teaching. Love it!

I like this lesson, though I do use CAGED. A lot of my CAGED application is done by using the upper triads of chords and modifying them accordingly. I love the substitution tip!

Man keep pushing out this quality content i am learning so much from you and my confidence level is rising thank you so much!

The V chord is dominant (major third with minor 7) because of the b7 of Mixolydian, the fifth mode.

great lesson learnt a lot. But can we call this click-bait, lol! I mean this was a CAGED lesson, E and A shapes.

Hey K2S, I was told, because I didn't understand the CAGED system, I'm not really a guitar player. However, when I explained that I have classical guitar experience, and I understood the circle of 4ths and 5ths he changed his attitude. That is why watching your videos are very helpful...

Solid lesson into those 7 chords, just finished learning CAGED and how all the scales fit into it. Now going into this, it makes tons more sense 🔓

I learned some thing to day. Iam a biggner as you sed family gave me a guitar for my birthday 71y

summary: I don't teach the CAGED system but I'm about to show you the CAGED sytem

Thank you very much for your videos! I'm a beginner guitar player and want to solely focus on rnb, jazz, and gospel chords. They're so beautiful, and I want to improve in my phrasing, voicing and adding more "flavor" to my playing. I will focus on learning the barre chords, thanks!

Disagree. You’re teaching out of the caged system not knowing it. You’d be more accurate saying: how to add R&B flavor to the caged system.

I like this concept. Alternatives to using the CAGED for R&B. One more video like this please.

I am a member of Kerry’s camp. I need some drills to get my pinky finger into the mix. Exercise drills. Ty

Thank you, you can’t believe how happy I am right now. This opens up the fretboard for my r&b playing a ton. Love your replacement for the 5, gives the scale a whole other feel.

I consider that Caged system as using any chord whose shape can be moved, thus moving the root. Breaking out of the caged system can be done by finding chords that are unique to the shape. For example something crazy like a G7+5. You probably could move that shape, thus making it Caged. Breaking out of Caged would be playing a G#7+5 without copying the same shape, cutting the fluff notes and getting to the heart of the matter (omiting notes when necessesary)

CAGED helps a guitarist to know how and where shapes fit in in all places on the neck. It is good for blues and rock. Definitely good to know the CAGED system. Now listen to this: He DID say for R&B, it doesn't really apply AS WELL (as in; It does NOT APPLY as good) as it does in other genres. He is an R&B guy, so he teaches guitar for R&B. Perfectly fine that he is not teaching CAGED. You're all here for R&B right? Who's with me? Identify yourselves. Thanks for the lesson K2S

Kerry i love those chords and yes i do like your teachings. keep up the good work my brother.appreciate you.

I’ve spent pretty much my entire time playing guitar learning how to solo effectively (blues, rock some jazz). I’ve learned a lot of scale/modes, but I want to learn more about chords. I have always been told that the CAGED system is a form of learning how to find your way around the fretboard more easily and effectively as a guitar soloist, didn’t know that it was about chords too.

This came right on time fr! Your page is fr a gem! 🙌🏽🔥

Such a helpful video! Really appreciate the wisdom

I’m originally a sax player, and a Berklee alumni; picked up guitar about fourteen months ago. When I heard about the ‘CAGED System’ I cringed. I wholeheartedly agree, CAGED System is just beginner theory on the guitar; it’s not a way to play. It’s what a person should learn in the first few months they play guitar, and then never use it again. When I learned barre chords, that opened the fretboard for me. And now I’m learning Blues chords. Lots more color. Beautiful playing, wonderful lesson.

i think CAGED makes sense if a player really focused on the open chords in the beginning of their playing and they primarily play guitar. i learned piano first and when playing guitar went straight to barre chords and so i don't really like to think of things from the CAGED pov

The fact you used a Dmin9 instead of G7 was really my topic moment in this video!!... Thanks !(by the way this also clears a question I had from a cord progression you teach in the Kamp) .thanks again 🙏

Hey! An R&B/neo soul/smooth jazz guitarist here and I'm feeling to get a bit music geeky... Learning the diatonic scale/chords with a number system as barre chords vs the CAGED system is an invalid argument. The CAGED system is more of an aid to help you visualise the fretboard from the basic stuff we learn as beginners, open chords. So if we take the chords E and A major and move them a fret or 2 then we've already made a barre chord. If we take the other open chords, we have the shapes of a chord in every root note across every string. If we do the same with minor you'll find that Dm9 shape that us R&B and jazz guitarists love to play. So this is actually an advantage of the CAGED system as most guitarists whatever the genre only seem to know chords built off of the 6th and 5th string. Sure we can just play the higher end of full chords but knowing where you are anywhere on the guitar, whatever fret or string is an advantage to having a deeper understanding of your instrument. An argument could be "I'm never going to play those chords anyway" and for most players that'd probably be true, but we can still use that knowledge gained from this approach to seeing things in a different way. E.g. I'm mainly a 3-note per string player (but have an understanding of traditional and contemprary methods) and with that method, visually it fits horizontally over barre chords across the diatonic harmonized scale and I can see all the intervals and extensions 11th, 13th #9 etc. But if we do the same using the CAGED system to visualise these intervals/extensions or the tonal notes in uncommon places we're used to, it broadens the understanding of what we're playing when we're doing our R&B licks. The misconception about the CAGED system is that is keeps you 'Caged' from the fact that you're using open chords (triads). Which isn't true because you can always use the same concept if you choose to extend to 7th chords or 9th chords etc. But for fun (because it's 2am and I'm already invested in this🤷🏻‍♂️), let's just say all we can play is triads from these Caged shapes. How can we use this knowledge to make us sound R&B? So more specific to soloing or comping, we can use these shapes to superimpose over other chords to further extend the harmony for intervals we want to be heard. So if we have a Cmaj7 chord and play a Gmaj triad just using the shapes from what we think is Caged system, we've created an extended harmony of Cmaj9. This could be method could be useful in many ways depending on how we view things. I strongly believe learning and taking as much as you can from every area of music not only makes us better guitarists but also better musicians. That being said, this is all just instrumentation and music theory and ultimately doesn't matter really.. Charlie Parker said “Master your instrument, Master the music, and then forget all that bullshit and just play.” I love the idea of more R&B orientated guitar discussions, there just isn't enough for this growing community! 👍🎸 Great video, Kerry! (Edit: Although I've said all this, I also don't teach CAGED to any of my students)

barre chords are still part of the CAGED system so are open voicings moved up the neck if you just play them in their closed forms, it feels like you said something to then contradict yourself because you wasn't taught well what the CAGED system is.

Thank you for a video I'm glad I watched. I'm as rank a beginner as 'rank' can get and I've seen a LOT of videos to get some guidance on my quest for competence. A huge number of them emphasize and extoll the CAGED system, but not quite all. Maddeningly, one presenter made the offhand comment "... if you use the CAGED system, although I hope you don't" without mentioning why. While I seem to grasp barre chords well enough and the concept behind CAGED to some extent, the actual utility of it is still elusive. Having another perspective on the topic, as well as alternative approaches is profoundly helpful. I think it's also helpful that you didn't edit out mistakes. It's a reminder that even really good players aren't always perfect. :-)

I think you are one of the better teachers out there

Smooth with sauce ...... thanks.

My man, easy to follow, so beneficial, thanks

K2S I appreciate how you call it flavor! I do see making music like a dish The quality of ingredients help determine the end result

I actually started with what you're teaching and I ran into a wall a few years back. The CAGED system really opened up the fretboard for me. It's not meant to be played in one place on the neck. I can play 5 chords phrasings in one place on the neck. 🤷🤯

Really learn from the lesson you provide.Your lessons are very well explained.......🙏

Dude !! Ppl don't understand how valuable this kind of information is wow *THANK YOU*

I agree. I find CAGED works best for styles that primarily rely on triad and seventh chord harmonies: pop, rock, blues. For styles that pull harmonies heavily from extended chords (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), like jazz and R&B, CAGED can get in the way. You are better off learning to navigate the fretboard intervalicly using octave positions as "home bases." Ultimately, guitarists should know how to navigate the fretboard both ways, but the system you learn first can be influenced by the style of music you primarily play.

I will be watching this video multiple times and im heading over to your site also to join the community. Im at a point in my guitar playing where Im learning barre chord licks and hammer ons. I watch your "Before I let You Go" lesson every night. I will try to apply this because I was questioning the CAGED system because I get the concept but I dont want to continue to stagnate myself growth

Thanks Kerry keep up the Great work.my playing has improved tremendously by taking your time and walking through the teaching 👍🏾🙏🏼

Kerry you have to look at Jos Pass’ teaching on the cage system...it’s basically what you are saying about barre chords...he connects it with what you already do. His stuff is full of drop 2 and jazz stuff. I don’t know who 1st exposed you to the cage system but when I heard Joe Pass’ application of it, I knew that was going to work.

Hi Kerry. Great tutorial. very clear explanations. Thanks for sharing!!!!!

I’m new to guitar. 6 weeks or so. I enjoy your videos. You helped me realize rnb guitar is what I loath want to play. Unfortunately, a lot of what you say goes over my head. I’ll check your website to see if some things come together.

Hi I'm a mainly self taught guitarists who is now taking on the challenge of finding the theory. A great deal of what you say is kinda over my head.....as is most of the "teaching on here" however I feel that I can pick up ideas from you.I find that I'm not too bad, because of what stuff you are covering. You are very down to earth and articulate in your teaching. I can see you are a good teacher. Keep up the good work! You are the best. I glimpsed where some experienced players seem to be critizing you😮 . How often does a maths teaching get other mathematicians in the ranks yelling you're doing it all wrong....... Like go teach your own sh**t dude ! Leave him alone so I can get sumuh lol. 😁

I love the way you teach... Hoping to play as you do.. Someday

This is so good. Thanks for the video

All the best licks i ever wrote, were like maj7 and maj9 and a couple min and couple dom or major. Then hit them 2 or 7 Love every vid bro

Definitely my preferred way to play.. Bars make more sense & you can have fun with the pinky with the hammer ons

I think this is the most beginner friendly lesson you came out with on such a difficult style of music.

Hey kerry 2 smooth,I've been chasing the pentatonic scale for twelve months,you my friend have made more sense in twenty minutes Thankyou x

I'm new at guitar, but I know some chords, you really opened my eyes! Keep teaching, I'm going to keep watching!

I’m having trouble adding that flavor between chords. (Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, etc). Any advice or practice exercises to get my hands to do that?

How do you get such beautiful guitar tones? Did you already make a video discussing your tone?

Hello Kerry, I’m new to all this and understand what your saying about the differences, but it would be a great addition to the lesson if you can so examples of playing the same progression in cages and then in your method to hear the difference. Thank you, Anthony

Wow! You just further opened up the neck for me in five minutes! This is good stuff (though I think it can’t hurt to *also* utilize CAGED). I wish I’d seen this video twenty years ago!

Love how you break down the number system.

Brother Smooth! Thank you for bringing this vital information to the forefront. I've been playing since the 80s and learned the Harmonized Scale very early. the CAGED System has always been a rigid way of approaching the fret board and doesn't fit when trying to learn modern R&B guitar. I'm learning a lot from you, thank you.

I think CAGED is a good base for beginners. Once you’ve learned the caged system it’s easy to add chord extensions/inversions, scales, and diminished chords/shapes to that base

Limiting on the Caged system, the theory is easy to know and the blessing of the guitar is that the shapes don't change. However, that quartet style, as you know, has a lot of inversions and different shapes. That's the reason for my comment below. No shorts this year. Fully committed to get this down.

I've played with Acid Jazz, Funk and Latin Jazz format and you're are 💯 correct. It just does not fit on those styles unless you're playing country or rock music.

Great lesson. What an awesome way to get a grasp on your theory!

Barre chords fan too!

Major scale, interval's is what makes sense to me more then Caged, Caged is useful to many people,its something to have in ur tool box. Basically u dont need to learn everything, if ur a classic rock guy ur not going to learn Jazz chords probably is what im saying

Thank you. I need to learn those chord shapes.

I think of CAGED as organizing fingerings. I would call your Cmaj7 as coming from A-shape within the C-A-G-E-D system

I'd add the style or "flavor" is irrelevant to the theory ur espousing. Try a Guthrie Trapp video to understand CAGED and its relevant info to fretboard navigation and voicings. That being said I encourage you to keep uploading. Thanks

Beginner here. I'm learning the pentatonic shapes and heeding the advice on your beginner video on learning the notes on the first two strings. I'm working on my ear and playing within a minor scale. Thank you for all your work!

Great vid, I appreciate your approach to learning this style of guitar. Although for some Ive heard the caged system may help them navigate the fretboard, I feel for me, the number system along with the rnb chord voicings you've shown us has been most helpful for me learning to unlock the fretboard. & that progression you used as an example is 🔥 . Thanks for sharing 💯

Kerry i have mad respect for you, i subscribe to your gosple lessons and your playing is an inspiration for me but i think you miss understand the cage system. The cage system is basically organizing a scale to fit a certain chord “shape”. Its called the caged system because each scale shape is based on the 5 moveable/ barred major chord shapes C A G E D. For example the c major 7 you played can be seen as an A major chord that is move up 3 frets and has one of the roots flattened to a maj7. With the caged system you would play a the scale shape that highlight/ overlap each note of the chord making easy to find extensions and other voicings. So fundamentally it’s basically choosing a barred chord shape and finding the scale notes around that chord.

Very interesting I’ve been playing a while never really got to advanced level but this idea sparked something I tend to move vertically but moving accross horizontally makes sense makes sense

I love these videos! They’re really helpful, especially coming from a blues/rock background trying to get a more well rounded style. I think they could be a bit longer though, and maybe even more emphasis on theory like this video had.

You can use CAGED system for 7th chords too even dominant chords 02:36 that Cmaj7 would be in A shape of CAGED system it's just 1 note difference the shapes will be a little different but it's still within the CAGED

2:30 you actually did use the caged system here to move from that first open c chord (C shape) to the bar chord c (A shape) on the third fret (you just made it a maj 7)

I've practiced this for a couple of days and this has helped a lot. Thanks! Love your videos and guitar playing