The CAGED System of Guitar – D Shape – Part 3

Now that you have understood the E shape (Part 2), it is time to check out a new shape.

Recognizing the Shape

Just as we extracted a group of triad notations to get the E shape, we will extract a new set of notations to get our new shape:

Again, make sure you see where the above notations have been picked up from the fret board on the left!

I have marked one of the notes in red because we do not have to worry about that note. More on this later. The important point to remember is that to play a chord, you only need to play one set of the triad notations. It is not necessary to play all the triad notations. After all we have only five fingers!

Adding the Barre

Now, to highlight the shape more prominently, I have put a barre on the first fret.

So, ignore the barre part and the note marked red. Do you recognize the remaining notations? Yeah, it’s our D major chord.

The chord is still the F major chord, but the parent chord through which it has been formed is the D major chord.

To play this chord, you can use your index finger to barre the fret and place the remaining fingers the normal way for the D major chord.

So we have gotten over 2 shapes. 3 more to go!

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