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The seek for the full domain – Part IV
Using CAGED
What’s up, guys? We’ll keep traveling at Improvisation Planet, today talking about a very used tool for its easy adaptation with some scales: the CAGED.
CAGED (also known as System 5) is a group of 5 neighbor related digitations. To let it easier, you can think that the C Major Scale can be digitized on only one string, being this string any of the six from the guitar. This way, you will have lots of possibilities to play this scale at the whole fingerboard.
Now think about the possibility of dividing these digitations on “vertical blocks”, following a pattern in which you don’t need to use a very wide opening of your left hand to digitize any of these blocks.
To each block we are going to give a name based at the drawings of each chord, as we can see below:
This way, CAGED is not only the five blocks of scale digitalizing, but it is also five basic “drawings” of chords, being possible to change these drawings as the typology of each chord, as you can see below:
Below, the five digitations of CAGED in C Major:
Check out the box below with the five digitations of CAGED, with Major Scale and other possibilities of adaptation to each pattern to the other.
Now, improvise at the sequence below using CAGED. Observe that there is, at the chords, the relationship chord/mode, so the chords belonging to the same scale don’t change the position of CAGED.
You have, below, the first region to be used on the chords.
Tips to organize these studies
a) Don’t worry about studying all the substitutions. Remember that they are only ways, a substitution can be a study object during long time.
b) Remember: studying and improvising are different stuff! If your mechanic part isn’t really upgraded, you will be probably incapable to play what you think! Take care of the studying (which is the mechanic part)! The more you study, the more you feel free to improvise.
c) When studying the examples, use any software where you can write and reproduce the chords or record the bases many times (loops). Think of a quantity of improvise chorus (1 improvise chorus means an entire harmonic sequence), and by the time this quantity has been done, change something at the study, for example, the note where you start playing the arpeggios.
d) Always train to each chorus: a note in a time (in 4/4, quarter notes), two in a time (eighth notes), three in a time (tercined eighth notes) and four in a time (sixteenth note), one after the other, without worrying about the breathing or the size of the phrase. The intention of this kind of study is making that you obligate yourself to do the arpeggios changes any time, no matter the region where it is being executed.
In the beginning it is difficult, but keep doing it and soon you will see that some changes will be much more easier, because you’ll find "paths" you can use in the change of an arpeggio to some other, or in another future situation in which you need to see the instrument better. Remember: "the seek for the full domain”.
Improvise freely with the arpeggios. Remember to think on phrases with beginning, middle and ending when improvising.
e) Sing absolutely EVERYTHING! Try to let your reasoning each time more “synchronized” with the material you are studying.
f) Train always with a metronome in different tempos.
g) Change the region only when you feel comfortable. If you have difficulties doing the arpeggio in the first region or if you can’t “synchronize” something you are thinking, keep persisting at the same region until you feel comfortable with most part (or the entire) mechanic information and so just then change the region.
QN Quartet is a group of Brazilian instrumental music formed by Caio Chiarini (guitar), André Sangiovanni (bass), Wagner Vasconcelos (drums) and I (at the other guitar)! We are now recording our first record with our own songs. Doing this work has been very nice and interesting, because it enfolds research about Brazilian genre and others, themes with variation of compass and rhythmic modulation, “visceral” improvisation… Well, it’s a nice job to do, with friends and good musicians, and also an interesting way of studying. Play should be useful as a study, as well. One thing is to play in your bedroom with a playback, other thing is put everything you once played at your room on the stage! It’s such an apprenticeship!
Listen, at my “My Space”, to two themes that are at the record! One of them is called “Guinga”, a song from Caio Chiarini as homage to the awesome guitar player Guinga. The other is called “Ai, Cacete!”, a song I wrote with Caio.
www.myspace.com/gutoandradeguit
I hope you like it!
Good study and lots of sound!
Guto Andrade
Click here to download the example