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00:00 Intro
01:11 What is C-A-G-E-D
02:18 Minor Shapes
02:34 “Key To The Highway” Basic Chords
03:05 Variations
03:42 “Stagolee”
04:49 “St. James Infirmary” Chords and variations

If you’re doing fine playing simple fingerstyle blues in first position and are ready to add more interesting voicings to your arrangements, this lesson is exactly what you need. The C-A-G-E-D method is a great way to better understand the fretboard based on common first position shapes.

Accomplished guitar player and teacher Pete Madsen clearly and concisely goes over five basic chord shapes that you already know, (C,A,G,E and D). These shapes move fairly easily up the guitar neck so that you can play any chord in different positions (or voicings) on the fretboard. Pete slowly demonstrates this for Major, minor and seventh chords. There’s a lot to practice here and you’ll want to get these shapes locked into your muscle memory. Handy on-screen chord diagrams help along the way.

Once you conquer moving the basic chord shapes up the neck, continue learning as Pete moves on to show you in detail how to play three different popular songs using a combination of voicings. You’ll watch him play each song three times and be amazed at how different each version sounds, even though he is playing the same chords each time. The possibilities for improvisation and creativity are infinite.

You’ll start with Key to the Highway in E – a perennial favorite. He shows three combinations of changes that will build a strong foundation for understanding how chords move using the C-A-G-E-D system.

From there you will learn Stagolee in the style of Mississippi John Hurt. Pete teaches this classic tune in two variations along with more improvisational ideas using hammer-ons and pull-offs.

The classic St. James Infirmary follows the same format where Pete lays out the basic version and then explores variations using the C-A-G-E-D method. Throughout this lesson you will learn workarounds and tips for challenging fingerings that may give you trouble.

If you have been looking for a way to understand how chords move and work together in country blues arrangements, you’ll love this lesson. As Pete says” Bring Your Playing Alive!”