On the subject of sounds, I also journal about guitar rigs for the various gigs I do. I can write notes in different colors and highlight them. I can create a transcription and cut and paste it in my journal. It allows me to have a collection of journals, just as I would with a notebook. It includes templates for sheet music, tabs, and ruled paper.
There is a wonderful app for the iPad called GoodNotes. To reduce what I needed to carry around, I moved to an iPad. I’d sit in my hotel room and research music and make a mess. I needed to have a book bag with several notebooks, scissors, tape, and blank music paper. Each entry wasn’t a brief moment, but rather a process to be experienced.Īnd although I liked it, it was a little difficult to do consistently on tour. I’d think about the music more before moving onto something else. It forced me to take time to write it, cut it out, and tape it.
I’d notate a musical idea on the sheet music, cut it out, tape it into the notebook, and then write my notes around it. I had blank sheets of music paper and a wire-bound notebook. I used to pursue journaling like an arts-and-crafts project. For instance, you can use a traditional notebook. There are several ways you can approach journaling. New chords, scales, licks, and melodies can all be related to one of the five shapes, and this allows you to integrate this information into your playing quickly and efficiently. In fact, I think of the CAGED system as five buckets where I can stash fretboard information. But it doesn't stop there: The CAGED system is just as useful for scales and licks. Pay attention to the common note(s) between two adjacent shapes-this will help minimize errors in shifting and connecting shapes.Ĭongratulations, you've mastered the fundamentals of the CAGED system and covered a lot of territory! The CAGED system provides a logical way of visualizing the neck using basic chord shapes you've most likely known for quite some time. For example, start with a Bb chord using the "A" shape barred at the 1st fret, then play the CAGED sequence in the key of Bb. Once you're comfortable with this, play the sequence in all keys. 9, using the "C" and "A" shapes, only this time complete the series by working through the remaining three shapes-"G," "E," and "D"). Play through the CAGED sequence starting on each of the CAGED chords in open position (like we did in Fig.