CAGED playing for Chords, and if you think a bit for scales too.

So now I've grumbled about the 3 notes per string approach and dismissed countless shredders, what now?

Well like the ACM, GI and BIMM I'm rather fond of the CAGED playing method. Although I think of it as a stop gap. It introduces the concept of note selection and modes far better than a system where it is possible to create a one to one mapping between the modes and the patterns.

Lots of people have heard of CAGED and might even have dabbled in it. Coming from the seven 3 note per string scale patterns the finger memory is done for you. There are 5 positions in the CAGED method, and each relates to a musical chord.. probably the first chords you learnt: C, A, G, E, D. all played at the open fret.

There is an excellent book called Fretboard Logic, which explains CAGED in full, I'll skirt over the rudiments.

Why the notes C A G E D ?
There are 5 strings on the standard tuning that are unique; the E strings are a double octave apart but F# is still on the second fret regardless of the thickness of the string of the register of the F#. So there are 5 unique strings: E A D G B. You may already know a few barre chords, commonly E and A, but you can also play the C as a barre chord. Slightly more advanced are G and D barre chords.

If you look closely at the open chords for C A G E and D you'll find that the root notes for each is like so:

C -> B string.
A -> A string.
G -> G string.
E -> E string.
D -> D string.

So if you play the A chord (002220), the A note is on the open A string. So you could turn that into a barre chord using the index finger instead of the nut. Go up to the 5th fret put the index finger across the fret and then the 2nd, 3rd and 4th finger to make the A chord shape (555787). Knowing what chord you're playing is simply knowingt he fretboard a little.. the fifth fret is easy it's A D G C E A.. the A string on the fifth fret is the note D so you're playing a D chord.

So it is for the other familliar chord shapes:

G -> Cmajor
E -> Amajor
D -> Gmajor

But for C we need to make an adjustment. The root is one step down from the first finger. No biggy, but up until now every main root note has been fretted by the barred 1st finger. So on the example shown to have the root on the 5th fret, the barre is made on the 4th fret.. and the chord would be E (476454)

An important lesson from Guthrie Govan
"You are never more than one fret away from the right note"

Sounds trite but it's true:

One of your fingers is on the 6th fret and you want to play an F# chord. The notes on the 6th fret are Bb Eb Ab Db F Bb.
So I could play the C pattern with the root on the 7th fret and I'm playing F# major.

I bet you think I picked that one on purpose. Well here's the notes on the 5th, 6th and 7th frets:

5TH: A D G C E A
6TH: Bb Eb Ab Db F Bb
7TH: B E A D F# B

or in their enharmonic forms:

5TH: A D G C E A
6TH: A# D# G# C# F A#
7TH: B E A D Gb B

Wherever you are on the fretboard there is the next chord you want to play on the same fret or the fret below or above the current one. This also applies for scales but most of all for notes. Chords and scales are patterns, they're clichés to an extent, having an encyclopedic knowledge of chords is okay but at some stage in your learning your familliarity with the fretboard will render the patterns obsolete (Note: obsolete, not useless.). When you began to walk you leant on things to begin with, this is all patterns are for.

So learning chords can be made easier by recognising which string the root is on, then moveable barre chords emerge and once you know the Dominant, Major, Minor and Diminished chords in the 5 positions, you can play any tune.. although it might not be as interesting as the Am9 or D13 written on the page the simple version of the chord will suffice.
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Frank