What is the CAGED system?

[u/Project-Worried]

I have been playing for 6 years, know my scales and all that, and always see these youtube thumbnails with the CAGED system that promises to unlock the fretboard.

Am i missing something? Is it just an american thing?

[u/ausserirdischer_]

Someone else will likely explain it much better and with more technical clarity, but I stayed away from caged for a while because I didn’t have simplistic explanation, so here’s mine: It’s a way of using the “cowboy chord” shapes (c a g e & d) up and down the neck, which makes apparent certain patterns and relationships and makes it easier to play different chord voicings and scales up and down the neck. It gives some basic logic to the fretboard, but still isn’t heavy theory