Run The Chord Shapes Through The Cycle Of 4th
These exercises deal with the cycle of 4th in a new way. Instead of moving a 4th up and down the neck, we now start moving to the closest chord shape possible.
Start at the 5th fret (that’s the E-shaped A or Am chord) find the closest possible shape and play your next chord from here.
The exercise runs like this: A chord (E shape) – D chord (A shape) – G chord (D shape) – C chord (G shape) – F chord (C shape).
From here you can play the same shapes again, just starting from a Bb chord.
To complete this step won’t take long, all you have to do is keep climbing up the fretboard until you reach an A chord in a D shape.
In the next step, we start playing in a key as we harmonize the major scale, in all five shapes, of course!
Chords | Related Pages
Chords | Step-by-step guitar course
The CAGED system is the best way to organize the guitar fretboard. Starting with the open-position chords, we extend and connect them in this chords course.
Follow the 8 steps of the self-eliminating practice routine to map out the fretboard, it will be the best thing you’ve ever done.
Chordacus
Spytunes chords, scale, and arpeggio software, Chordacus is a refined version of the so-called CAGED system.
Now available as both a chromatic (original version) and “within a key”, developed with the help of a Spytunes student.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about the closest possible shape, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.