Caged?

[bigfoot210751]

Hi Everyone!

I am a long time mediocre at best on and off player . I started out playing classic rock and blues as a kid and had some fun. Belonged to a terrible but fun garage band. I have never really learned the fret board but can read Treble Clef music. I get frustrated and put the guitar down for long periods sometimes. I know part of it is my lack of knowledge, if someone says let’s play so and so in the key of so and so I am pretty much lost. I know the keys are based on the corresponding scales, but I don’t know the scales. i can figure out the notes on the fret board, but don’t know all of them on site.

I am trying to narrow my focus. Of all the types of music, Bluegrass seems like the most fun to play. Would It be beneficial for me to go through and learn the whole CAGED system? i could do this for part of my practice, then work on a song or two for the rest. Is this a waste of time? Is there a better way?

THANKS!

Rob

[Rob_coughlin]

Hi Rob - I think you should start with the music theory lessons in the beginner guitar series. There’s a lesson on music keys. Also, Ben has a great lesson in the beginner guitar series about the Nashville Number System. The Nashville Number system is the key to unlock being able to play with other people when they suggest a song in a particular key.

In my opinion, understanding the Nashville system will lead to unlocking the fretboard as you begin to improvise solos and train your ear.

This is what has worked for me. Also, go to a Cabin Camp if you can. Camp will propel you way ahead of where you are today.

[Michael_Mark]

Hey Rob! Welcome (back) to the forum!

I like the CAGED system a lot and I think it’ll be helpful to practice with for pretty much anyone. It’s a helpful way to “categorize” your fretboard. That being said, learning CAGED won’t necessarily turn you into a bluegrass player—I have found that bluegrass is more based on vocabulary than anything else. For years I didn’t really know any scales whatsoever, but could play coherent solos by just copying licks from my favorite players. It was a completely lick-based approach: If the song was on a G chord, I’d play G licks (trying to follow the melody with them). When it went to a C chord, I’d play C licks that I had learned, etc.

I don’t recommend being completely on one side or the other, since both vocabulary and conceptual fretboard knowledge are sort of two sides of the same coin. You can learn a bunch of licks, but have your creativity limited because you don’t know why they sound good. It’d be a bit like learning Spanish by going to Mexico, trying to navigate around town, reading Spanish books, watching movies in Spanish, and figuring out what phrases mean what by copying other people. You’d figure out how to function, but might have trouble expressing exactly what you want to say.

On the other hand, you can map out the whole fretboard in your head, but not be able to play anything coherent because you lack the structure of vocabulary. It’d be like learning all about the grammatical rules of Spanish, but not actually learning conversational Spanish phrases.

With all that in perspective, I think that learning the CAGED system will definitely be beneficial to you and will be something you enjoy. This itself won’t really teach you bluegrass vocabulary, so you can mix in things like the Bag O’ Licks lessons and transcribing your favorite bluegrass players, trying to analyze their strategies when playing solos. And of course, you can never have too much of learning melodies—this always helps you have a better understanding of the song, and will introduce you to many bluegrass standards.