Moveable (non-barre) Chord Shapes

I know the first position chords and most barre chords. But, I see videos of people moving up and down the next using movable shapes. I guess that this is the CAGED system? Is there a tutorial here that can help me learn these? Thanks!

Originally Posted by: ricka47

I know the first position chords and most barre chords. But, I see videos of people moving up and down the next using movable shapes.[/quote][p]Good observation! The guitar is very pattern oriented making it possible to move both chord & scale patterns across the fretboard.

This collection of tutorials covers basic triads & their inversions. These are the fundamental units you can use to visualize & play all possible major & minor chords across the fretboard. Barre chords are essentially combined, simplified versions of these.

https://www.guitartricks.com/collection/triads-and-inversions

[quote=ricka47]I guess that this is the CAGED system? Is there a tutorial here that can help me learn these?

CAGED is a slightly different conceptual way to get to essentially the same thing: visualizing movable major & minor chord shapes across the fretboard. Some students find triads & inversion easier to understand & apply. Others find CAGED makes more sense. They are just 2 different ways to appproach understanding the same information.

This tutorial covers visualizing CAGED chord shapes for playing rhythm guitar.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=2614

This tutorial covers visualizing scales in CAGED chord shapes for lead guitar.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=2619

Hope that helps!

Thanks, Christopher. I like patterns, which is why I like playing bass. I will certainly start working through the tutorials that you suggest, Rick

Originally Posted by: ricka47

Thanks, Christopher. I like patterns, which is why I like playing bass. I will certainly start working through the tutorials that you suggest, Rick

You're welcome! Best of success with it.

Here is a trick I used when I started learning open chords that were not played at the nut. Look at the strings you hold down in any open chord. Derermine what the notes you are freting in that chord. Now look up the neck and figure out where you can find those notes up the neck, on the same strings that you held when you played the open chord. Finger those notes on the same strings as you used when playing the chord at the nut, and leave the rest of the strings to ring out open. In this manner you can find at least 3 inversions of any open chord. It sounds much more complicated than it is.

This is a great way to change up the sound of your strumming open chords, because you can play 3 inversions of all those open chords. When you play the inversions up the neck it builds tension, when you play them going down the neck, it reduces tension. A simple way to expand your use of open chords and broaden your musical palette. I hope that made sense!

That's a great idea Sno!

Hey Tinpan. When I figured out this idea it really lifted my rythum playing. It is also great when you play with others since you can play diffrent sounding chords that actually still copesthetic to the chords of the song. It come in handy when you are paying lead as well, since you already know chords up and down the neck and you can use these to make your lead playing more atuned to the music you are accompanying. Like I said this really helped me grow.

Hey Guys, is that what the Guitar Tricks Ultimate Chord Finder is doing - demonstrating inversions?

Nicolai

Originally Posted by: aliasmaximus

Hey Guys, is that what the Guitar Tricks Ultimate Chord Finder is doing - demonstrating inversions?

The Chord Finder usually shows all possible chord tones in certain fretboard location, using as many strings as possible. The Chord Finder is closer to showing CAGED shapes for most major & minor chords. Now on some chords it does show just a small group of notes.

The bigger problem with the Chord Finder is that it does not display chord tones.

Chord tones are the scale degree numbers that form any given chord.

That's unfortunate because that's where the rubber meets the road for understanding how scales & chords are related, how to visualize inversions, see chord tones in all scales, all over the fretboard & improvise.

Strictly speaking an inversion is a chord voiced such that the root note is not the lowest note. That sounds more complicated than it is.

A root position chord has the root note of the chord as the lowest note of the chord.

|--------------|

|--------------|

|--0-(5th)---|

|--2-(3rd)---|

|--3-(1st)---|

|--------------|

A 1st inversion chord has the 3rd of the chord as the lowest note of the chord.

|--------------|

|--1-(1st)---|

|--0-(5th)---|

|--2-(3rd)---|

|--------------|

|--------------|

A 2nd inversion chord has the 5th of the chord as the lowest note of the chord.

|--0-(3rd)---|

|--1-(1st)---|

|--0-(5th)---|

|--------------|

|--------------|

|--------------|

That's the basis of triads & inversions. And from that small, but powerful concept you can extrapolate how any given chord can be voiced in a multitude of ways all over the fretboard. But it requires that you know & can see the scale degrees that are the chord tones in any fretboard position.

Once you grasp how this works it opens up the entire fretboard & makes it possible to see how the whole thing is one integrated pattern.

CAGED is one way to do it. My tutorials on visualizing triads & inversions are another.

https://www.guitartricks.com/collection/triads-and-inversions

Hope that helps!

Awesome, Christopher! I think that's the piece that I was missing after learning just CAGED and scales. Can't even begin to tell you how great it is having someone with both a music degree and a penchant for teaching here at GT. As always, my sincere thanks for another tailor-made forum lesson.

Nicolai