Hacking the CAGED System - Book 1 (2026 edition)
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The CAGED system gives you five patterns. Two of them are almost unplayable.
That's the first thing this book does — throws two of them out.
What's left is four patterns: the two from CAGED that are actually worth keeping, and two borrowed from the three-notes-per-string system that cover the same ground without wrecking your picking hand. Four shapes, one sequence, the whole neck.
The second thing it does is teach them in F major. Not C, not A, not E. Those keys are comfortable on guitar for reasons that have nothing to do with music, and learning a system in a comfortable key is how you end up with a system that only works in comfortable keys.
What's inside
Six new chapters: finding the root note anywhere, connecting the patterns, what happens between the landing notes, common progressions by number, the 30-day plan, and troubleshooting. Backing tracks are gone — the book now tells you which chords to loop, so you can work in any key rather than the one I happened to record.
Who this isn't for
If you're looking for licks, tabs or songs, this is the wrong book. It's for players who can already get around the guitar and are tired of knowing shapes without knowing what to do with them.
Instant PDF download. Yours to keep, no subscription.
That's the first thing this book does — throws two of them out.
What's left is four patterns: the two from CAGED that are actually worth keeping, and two borrowed from the three-notes-per-string system that cover the same ground without wrecking your picking hand. Four shapes, one sequence, the whole neck.
The second thing it does is teach them in F major. Not C, not A, not E. Those keys are comfortable on guitar for reasons that have nothing to do with music, and learning a system in a comfortable key is how you end up with a system that only works in comfortable keys.
What's inside
- The four hacked patterns and the sequence that connects them
- Finding any root note anywhere on the neck — one shape, one exception
- Connecting the patterns so your solos stop living in one position
- Every diatonic chord, in every pattern, in the key
- Seventh chords and the arpeggios that come out of them
- The switch from note names to intervals, which is where the fretboard finally opens up
- How to land on the right note as each chord goes past
- The modes, drawn out of patterns you already know rather than learned as seven new scales
- Key signatures as the thing that ties all of it together
- A 30-day practice plan, and a troubleshooting chapter for when it still sounds like scales
Six new chapters: finding the root note anywhere, connecting the patterns, what happens between the landing notes, common progressions by number, the 30-day plan, and troubleshooting. Backing tracks are gone — the book now tells you which chords to loop, so you can work in any key rather than the one I happened to record.
Who this isn't for
If you're looking for licks, tabs or songs, this is the wrong book. It's for players who can already get around the guitar and are tired of knowing shapes without knowing what to do with them.
Instant PDF download. Yours to keep, no subscription.