This exercise is from the Theory Section on the CAGED system.

Now you've practiced your CAGED major scales in sequence, let's play a simple melody using them.

Here we play the first half of the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star melody in each successive CAGED position. Chords are played between each CAGED position to help you identify which part of the CAGED sequence is being used next. If you haven't done the previous exercise then this will probably not make much sense - go back and learn that first! (no kidding - it's important):

C major chord shape + Twinkle melody

A major chord shape + Twinkle melody

G major chord shape + Twinkle melody

E major chord shape + Twinkle melody

D major chord shape + Twinkle melody

The point is that we don't just play scales on guitar - we make melodies. Those melodies come from scales. If you know your CAGED scale positions you can easily find and play a melody anywhere on the fretboard. We'll show you even more important stuff about that later. For now, let's begin by just picking out a simple tune like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is a melody based entirely in the major scale. If you practiced the scales in the previous exercises you will find that the melodies here will be MUCH easier to get. Your fingers will find their way to the right notes a lot more naturally. That is part of the point of learning the CAGED system. But another reason is to see that the CAGED system gives you a lot of options when playing.

Imagine that you have to play a cool lick that is quite tricky in the open C position. You keep messing it up because you have to skip strings or something like that. Instead, you can try it out in the A position and may find that it is much easier to play!

That is just one example of using the CAGED system to your advantage. There are MANY more advantages than that, which we'll explore soon!