Today we'll learn how to move your open chords all over the guitar neck!

It's a very cool trick that adds another level of creativity to your playing. You'll be able to take the same easy, open chords that you've learned as a beginner and move them all up the fretboard. It's a super creative and useful tool, with many get-out-of-jail-free cards to explore. :)

💡 Struggling with barre chords? You'll learn little tricks in this lesson that will help you get around that. And it just sounds very cool!

But even if you're completely hip with your barre chords, you'll still benefit a lot from moving easy chord shapes all over the guitar fretboard. Rather than just sticking with the same old chord shapes, you'll explore new sounds and probably surprise yourself with how cool and different some chords will sound when you move chord shapes around.

Exploring the 5 CAGED Shapes

In this lesson, we'll go through each of the 5 CAGED Shapes: C, A, G, E, and D - all chords you learned in our beginner guitar course.

🚨 We won't get into the theory behind the CAGED System or movable shapes, just their practical applications. If you want to dig deeper and understand music much better, check out my Music Theory Course for Guitarists. The first two grades are free!

As general information, keep in mind that movable guitar chords are chord shapes that you can place at any fret of your guitar using the same fingering. At the same time, you can only play open chord shapes in specific frets. Get the difference? :)

So, we'll explore the CAGED shapes and look at the minor chords! We'll learn the most common ones and the placements that are particularly useful for getting out of tricky chord situations.

💡 This lesson is part of Grade 3 of my Beginner Guitar Course! It will give you a lot of information about how to move the chord shapes we learned so far, but don't hesitate to try other chord shapes you might know too.

If you know chord shapes like Dominant 7th Chords or Minor 7 Chords, go ahead and explore them too! You can just move them around the neck and see what you can find because it's super fun. When it comes to guitar playing, you already know: if it sounds good, it's good!

Now let's get started and check out how to play easy chords up the neck. Bring your guitar. :)

Moving Easy Chords

Let's explore the chords and see what happens when moving them around. We'll explore each one a bit and see where they go!

The C Shape

You'll find the first useful grip when moving the C Chord that you know two frets up the guitar neck. You'll find a D chord. It sounds great, doesn't it? In theory, there's something else going on there - but don't worry about it. Just explore the sounds and know that you're playing a D root note there.

Be aware that, when moving the C Shape around the guitar neck, we're moving the lowest note of the chord with us. That doesn't happen all the time, though! Still, it's a really nice trick to know - it'll be particularly useful for when you've got a song with G, D, and C, for example. :)

💡 Get this cool trick with the C Chord Shape! You can always add your little finger down on the same fret as the third finger on the thinnest string. That sounds great, just on a regular C chord as well - you don't have to move it around to do it!

Trying things like that on the D chord you've just found can sound really nice! Sometimes you'll find there is a little bit too much going on. Sometimes, adding that little finger down is a great substitute for a D chord almost any time. Check out the video tutorial to explore this trick with me and when it sounds good or not!

Playing the same chord sequence on different sections of your guitar neck can take a song to the next level! Experimenting with how you can move shapes around the neck to make song sections sound differently from each other is just really cool. Especially if you're a songwriter, this trick will supercharge your creative process. Try and see it. :)

The A Shape

The next shape we'll explore is the A Chord, but this one works a bit differently from what we just learned. In this case, we're not playing the root note; the root note here is the open string, and it'll usually be a drone A root note! So, generally speaking, if you're moving the A chord around, you'll get a slightly different effect than when moving the C chord. :) But there's a couple of super nice little tricks that you can use with this one as well!

If you move your A chord up one fret on the neck, you'll find a weird but cool chord. It has a Spanish-y music vibe. That gives me a lot of musical ideas hope it does the same for you! Keep going up the neck to find some more good, interesting sounds. Use the video lesson to guide you.

💡 What else will you find? Use the video tutorial to find out, but don't forget to explore your fretboard on your own as well. That's how you really learn - by connecting and spending time exploring your instrument!

Now go ahead and try to find standard chords as well. Just mucking around your guitar will teach you so much, particularly if you want to be a creative musician. Rather than just playing other people's songs, you'll be able to embrace your musicianship and take your guitar journey so much further. Don't be afraid of exploring your guitar. Don't like a chord you've just found? Just skip it! Stick with the good surprises. :)

The G Shape

I've never found moving the G Chord around my guitar neck very useful. No matter where I move it, I just don't connect with the sounds I get - but maybe you'll. :) The best-case scenario for me is moving the G chord up to the 10th fret.

🎶 There's one tune by Gomez that contains this little riff, which is like a G7 chord that they moved up the neck. It's wrong, as wrong as it could be, but actually, it sounds great. :)

That was a good example of how powerful and creative moving chord shapes can be. Even if you end up on the wrong fret, you can still accidentally find something that sounds cool and then just follow that idea through. That's how we create great stuff!

The E Shape

Just like happened with our A Chord, you'll also get a drone root note when moving your E Chord around the neck. The trick with this particular chord shape is not always playing that lowest root note! Instead, you'll pretend your root note is something else. It can be pretty fun and a useful trick to have under your fingers. Check out the video lesson to explore it with me!

💡 Moving the E Shape up the neck and manipulating its bass note is also a very useful trick. For example, it can save you from playing a B Barre Chord, and it also sounds lovely on certain songs.

Again - explore and discover your fretboard. :)

The D Shape

This is probably my favorite CAGED shape to move around the neck. The D Chord can sound lovely, and it takes me to very creative places! Old Man by Neil Young is a great example of how moving this shape around sounds great. If you don't know that song yet - give it a shot!

💡 Explore the D Shape with me! :) If you haven't already, check out my D Shape Explore lesson.

Exploring the D chord up the neck is whole loads of fun. It sounds great - just grab your acoustic guitar and explore your instrument. You'll love it!

Moving Minors?

You can move Minor chords up the neck too! In fact, playing an Am shape on the 3rd fret is a common Bm escape. It won't work all the time, but when it does, it's a great-sounding chord substitute, so you skip that barre chord. :) But don't stop there! The Am chord has loads to give you - explore it and see it.

💡 Dm and Em are great Minor Chords to move up the neck as well! E x p l o r e. :)

Here's one more trick: the Em gets you out of the F#m or G#m pickle! Can you guess which fret?

What Now?

Rather than just exploring all shapes a little bit as an exercise to moving your hand around, go further! I'd recommend exploring one shape before moving on to the next one. You can even choose a favorite one and spend more time exploring it! You'll benefit a lot from listening and concentrating on the sounds you find! Exploring the instrument key to becoming an Intermediate Guitar Player. :)

💡 A great idea is to have little chord boxes of your favorite grips. Your own chord book is the best chord book you'll ever buy.

Now - if you're feeling overwhelmed about the number of things you've just learned, don't worry about it. All you have to do is some exploring on your own, so just grab your guitar and explore the shapes on your own. Make it fun - have fun! Happy trails. :)

Next - we'll learn a fingerstyle technique to upgrade your rhythm game! Coming soon.