CAGED major chord shapes

With the CAGED system for major chords you can play any major chord in five different positions on the guitar fretboard. If you haven't already, please have a look at the introduction of the CAGED system.

The CAGED system for major chords uses the open major chord shapes C, A, G, E and D introduced in the basic major chords section.

CAGED pattern for major chords

Here are the five basic major chord shapes combined on the fretboard:

The numbers in the circles are the intervals / scale degrees. Please have a look at the introduction to intervals and chords if you haven't done so already.

Major chords derived from the CAGED pattern

Below is a list of chord diagrams that result when applying the five major chord shapes to the root notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B. Here is help on how to read chord diagrams.

Keep in mind that it's often possible to change the chord shapes slightly, e.g. by omitting duplicate notes or by adding an open string to the chord shape (for example, when using the D major shape to play an E major chord it's possible to add the low E string - this is indicated by the grayed out letter at the bottom of the chord diagram).

Also not shown below is that some barre chords can be played with the thumb over the neck instead of barring the strings with the index finger.

C major chords

D major chords

E major chords

F major chords

G major chords

A major chords

B major chords

See also

• The CAGED system
• CAGED minor chord shapes
• CAGED (dominant) seventh chord shapes
• CAGED major seventh chord shapes
• CAGED minor seventh chord shapes