Excellent!
Discuss the Mandolin lesson: Learning Open Mandolin Chords: G, C, & D
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Does that apply to guitar too? I’ve heard some people say you only need a few hand positions for guitar to play any chord out there. I’ve always wanted to learn how, but never knew where to go.
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If you know the closed positions, yes- that’s essentially what the “CAGED” system is based on. If you take the open chord positions of C, A, G, E, and D and move them up the fretboard (by barring all or some of the open strings to make a closed chord), you can map out each position of each major chord across the neck. In bluegrass, I’d think about this more while soloing than while playing rhythm, since bluegrass rhythm is supposed to be mainly the simple open chords.
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That makes some sense. I’ve never been able to play bar chords, though. My hands are pretty small, and they always get too tired to hold the chord well enough for a clear sound.
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Not being able to make bar chords is not a problem; it sounds like open chords, or using the CAGED chord system are perfect for you. Granted, the CAGED system also includes bar chords, but you dont have to play all six strings of the chords. For example, the D chord at the 2nd fret becomes an E chord at the 4th fret. However, once you move past the 2nd fret, you’ll have to add a fourth note on the fourth string for a base note. But if barring is a problem you don’t have to.
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Hmm, this is very interesting, but I’m not sure I totally understand how it all fits together. Does anyone have a video or resource I can go to to learn more? Or hey, @BanjoBen could this be a potential lesson? I am very interested in this, but not sure where to go to learn how to use this system practically in my playing.
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Is there a specific aspect/point that’s confusing you? I’ll do my best to explain it until Ben can make a lesson if he wants.
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@theCrazyEight Did you see the application video segment where we put it into practice with Amazing Grace?
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No I hadn’t seen that one. I’ll be watching it in a few seconds though!
And @Michael_Mark, I simply have only recently heard of this CAGED system and therefore and still trying to find resources that will help me add it to my regular chord progressions. So the same hand position (say, for G or C) becomes the other chords when moved up the neck? A chart would definitely be nice!
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Yep! It’s the exact same theory as capoing, essentially. If you play a C chord capoed 2, it’s a D chord, so if you play the C shape up two frets from the open position, it’s a D chord.
Here’s a video explanation just from YouTube:
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Haha, I have a chart on the lesson page showing that, yep! Yes, download the charts, watch all the video segments in the lesson, and it should be very clear. Thanks!
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I’ve never been able to play bar chords, though. My hands are pretty small, and they always get too tired to hold the chord well enough for a clear sound.
If I could learn some barre chords I guarantee you can. I’m sure my hands aren’t bigger than yours and they used to be extremely difficult for me. They would hurt and stretch my whole hand, and every note would be muted - I thought I would never learn to play a full clear chord. But I didn’t give up. It’s not impossible. If you want to explore your guitar neck further, I’d recommend pressing on and trying at least a few simple closed position chords. The easiest one to start with is the “half” F chord. Just the top 4 strings, but barring the top 2 on fret 1. You probably already do that! Now move that up the neck 2 frets and you’ve got your closed G. Once that becomes easy (your hand WILL stretch and learn it!) then try the full F - barring down to the 6th string on fret 1. Again, by experience I know this isn’t easy to learn but once you get it you’ll just get it. And if I could anyone can!
The CAGED system is another whole fun world to dive into! It’s basically seeing the guitar neck in 5 chords. Learning this system has opened up a lot of doors for me and continues to, as I still have so much to learn! Depending on how serious you are about taking your flatpicking higher (up the neck!), I’d encourage you to commit to putting in the time… and sometimes the pain… to working on these things.
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@theCrazyEight Another thing I’d recommend is make sure your guitar is set up properly– if your action is too high, it can make it extra hard to play barre chords. It doesn’t have to be super low for barres to be possible, but you may want to have it lowered when you’re learning them just to make it a bit easier. Unless it’s way too high, though, it’s not really necessary.
It took me a while to get the barre chords well (and most of the time they still buzz at least a little), but I just ignored it and played them anyway. If I need to, I can generally make it less noticeable by focusing the pressure on either the top or bottom strings and strumming through those rather than the full chord.
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Sounds good! Whenever I try to play barre chords, I can never hold down all the strings firmly enough for a clear sound. I’ll keep working on it though.
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There’s a video in this lesson that shows how to use these chords with Amazing Grace. The video is called application. Click on this link: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/learning-open-mandolin-chords-g-c-d-mandolin-beginner
Then click on the application video:
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Thanks y’all!
Hey @theCrazyEight I tried to explain these concepts more in a vid on my Youtube channel in case you want to check that out.
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