Hacking the CAGED System - Book 2 (2026 edition)

This is where the CAGED system stops working, and I say so on page one.

Push it past the major scale and three things break: the chord shapes it generates need a hand you don't have, the patterns turn irregular enough to wreck any consistent picking, and the shape names stop telling you anything useful about what the chord is doing.

So Book 2 keeps the four patterns from Book 1 and drops the rest of the method. Same tools, harder material.

What's inside

• Where the CAGED system runs out, and exactly why
• Ninth chords, sixths and 6add9 across all four patterns
• Sus2, sus4 and 7sus4, and how to move between them rather than park on them
• Open position for the major scale
• The melodic minor scale — patterns, arpeggios, and all seven modes
• When to actually use each mode. Altered over a dominant that's resolving. Lydian dominant over one that's staying put. Aeolian b5 over m7b5. This is the chapter most melodic minor resources leave out, and it's the difference between knowing the scales and using them
• A melodic minor jam to play over
• A 30-day plan for material that takes longer than 30 days

New in the 2026 edition

Three new chapters, including the mode-application guide and the honest account of where CAGED breaks down. Backing tracks removed in favour of chords you loop yourself.

Who this isn't for

You need Book 1 or its equivalent — the four patterns, diatonic chords, intervals. It says it's stand-alone and technically it is, but you'll be working uphill.

If altered dominants and mMaj7 chords aren't yet anywhere near the music you play, buy Book 1 and come back.

Instant PDF download. Yours to keep, no subscription.