CAGED 2 Learning Pathway
Take the next step toward fretboard freedom.
Intermediate guitarists
Confident with CAGED in major keys? This class will show you how to adapt that foundation to unlock the minor side of the fretboard.
3 months
Molly will guide you through 6 grades of step-by-step instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Fretboard freedom
By the end of this pathway, you'll be able to confidently solo across your entire fretboard in any minor key.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered CAGED, keep progressing with advanced Master Classes and guided pathways.
What you'll learn
The CAGED system is one of the most effective ways to make sense of your fretboard. In this sequel to our popular CAGED pathway, you’ll explore the minor side of music and take your fretboard fluency to the next level.
- Confidently improvise in any minor key
- Fluently connect your fretboard with scales and triads
- Learn how to make music – not just play scales
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Your guided learning pathway
In this 3-month Learning Pathway, Dr. Molly Miller will teach you how to adapt the knowledge you built in the first CAGED Learning Pathway to the world of minor-key harmony.
Minor Shapes: Am, Gm, Em
In Grade 1, you'll lay the groundwork for your minor CAGED knowledge.
Across seven gradually-paced lesson day, you’ll adapt your existing CAGED framework to the moody sounds of minor. The lessons are suitable for intermediate guitarists who have completed the first CAGED Learning Pathway.
Minor Shapes: Cm, Dm
In Grade 2, you'll complete your minor CAGED foundation by learning how to visualize and solo within the remaining two shapes of the CAGED cycle.
Molly will guide you through how to methodically build a visual map that'll serve as an anchor for soloing and fretboard navigation.
Minor Pentatonic Connections
With your foundation built, it's time to connect the dots. These lessons will help you seamlessly transition between the positions you learned in Grades 1 and 2.
This is key to becoming a fluid lead guitarist and gaining full access to your fretboard.
Grade 4. Natural Minor Scale
Next, we'll expand your pentatonic foundation to get the full natural minor scale. In this grade, you'll explore how just two extra notes add new layers of depth and color to your soloing.
Grade 5. Intro to Minor Triads
Once you lock in the natural minor scale, we'll expand your fretboard fluency with minor triad inversions. These mighty three-note shapes will strengthen your CAGED map while opening up new avenues for rhythm and lead playing.
Grade 6. Making Music With Minor CAGED
To cap off the pathway, Molly will show how to make your CAGED knowledge come alive. From double stops to single-string scales and beyond, she'll guide you through expressive techniques and concepts to move from scales to music.
Grade 1. Shapes – Am, Gm, Em
Start your minor-key journey by adapting familiar CAGED shapes to their minor counterparts. With just one interval shift, you’ll unlock the darker, moodier side of the fretboard while reinforcing everything you already know. This grade lays the foundation for visualizing minor chords, chord tones, and pentatonic scales.
Day 1. Introduction to minor
Learn how the minor CAGED system works by tweaking just one note in each shape. You’ll see how your major-key knowledge sets you up to understand minor with confidence.
Day 2. Am shape
Get started in the key of D minor by mapping roots, chord tones, and the pentatonic scale – all in one familiar Am position.
Day 3. Gm shape
Build out your fretboard map by exploring how Gm connects naturally to the shapes before and after it.
Day 4. Em shape
This classic shape is probably already in your muscle memory, but Molly will help you understand it inside and out. You’ll dig deeper into how it connects to the rest of the system.
Day 5. Connecting shapes
Now that you’ve mapped out three shapes, it’s time to link them. In this lesson, you'll work through transitions that unlock real-world movement across the fretboard.
Day 6. New key (Em)
Shift everything into a new key to test your adaptability. This is the magic of CAGED – no matter where you are on the fretboard, you can easily shift your map to a new key and play with confidence.
Day 7. Workout
Put everything together in a musical workout. This is your chance to reinforce what you’ve learned and make sure you're ready for the next grade.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 1 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 2.
Grade 2. Minor shapes – Cm, Dm
Complete your minor CAGED foundation with two more shapes. As you bring everything together, the fretboard will feel more connected – and more playable – than ever.
Day 1. Cm shape
We'll kick off the grade by adding the last two minor shapes to your toolbox. First up: Cm. You’ll practice it in the key of E minor and explore how it overlaps with your existing positions.
Day 2. Dm shape
Finish your minor shape collection with this unique position rooted on the 4th string. It’ll open up new avenues of expression and help you break out of thinking only in E- and A-string roots.
Day 3. Connecting Dm and Cm
Start combining these shapes musically. In this lesson, you'll use simple licks and scale work to build flow between positions.
Day 4. Connecting Cm, Am, and Gm
Next, we’ll add more shapes into the mix to deepen your fluency. This day is all about expanding your fretboard awareness as you practice traveling between Cm, Am, and Gm.
Day 5. All shapes
Connecting your full minor CAGED map is key to becoming a fluent lead player. This lesson is where everything starts to feel connected.
Day 6. All shapes in a new key
It's easy to get complacent in one key. In this lesson, we'll shake things up in a new key to put your visualization skills to the test.
Day 7. Workout
Lock it all in with a high-rep, guided workout. Molly will have you revisiting core concepts and building confidence in each shape so you can foster strong connections between them in Grade 3.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 2 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 3.
Grade 3. Minor pentatonic connections
It's time to break out of boxes. In this grade, you’ll connect pentatonic shapes across your fretboard as you develop the ability to solo with confidence and fluidity.
Day 1. Connecting shapes with 3:2
In the spirit of breaking down barriers between boxes, we'll kick off the grade with a powerful way to connect your fretboard. The 3:2 system is a fast & fun fretboard hack that'll help you visualize connections between CAGED shapes and gain quick access to a fluid shredding sound.
Day 2. Connecting shapes in a new key (Am)
Next, you'll apply the same system in a different key to reinforce the concept of 3:2. The more you shift keys, the more fluent you become.
Day 3. Slow dancing in a burning CAGE(D)
Any John Mayer fans here? Day 3 will have you exploring melodic phrasing using 6ths and repeating patterns. This is where your theoretical CAGED knowledge starts to musically bloom.
Day 4. Micro CAGED soloing
While it's a noble goal to travel your entire fretboard, sometimes efficiency is key. This lesson will teach you how to stay in one position and move between overlapping shapes. It's a tried-and-true way to sound intentional in your soloing.
Day 5. Black magic (B.B.) box
Here, you'll tap into a classic B.B. King shape and learn how to play more expressively. This must-know position for minor soloing comes in handy in much more than just blues guitar.
Day 6. CAGED blues in Bm
Drawing on everything you've learned so far, this lesson will challenge you to create a full solo in B minor. You’ll combine macro and micro approaches in one cohesive performance.
Day 7. Workout
Finally, we'll cap off the grade with another musical workout designed to strengthen your connections and phrasing. Remember, you're building soloing instincts, not just patterns.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 3 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 4.
Grades 4-6
Apply CAGED to the natural minor scale, dive into the world of minor triads, and learn how to bring it all to life with expressive techniques.
Grade 4. Natural Minor Scale
In this grade, you’ll expand your sound by adding two new notes to your pentatonic shapes. The natural minor scale gives you access to richer melodies without overwhelming you.
Day 1. Am
Following a similar formula to the first two grades, we'll start with the Am shape and learn how to turn your pentatonic into a full minor scale. You’ll add the 2 and b6 for a more complete sound.
Day 2. Gm
Next, we'll move to the Gm shape and apply the same expansion while reinforcing visualization along the way.
Day 3. Em
This friendly shape lets you stay rooted while deepening your melodic range. In this lesson, Molly will also teach you how to add movement into your lines with broken 3rds.
Day 4. Dm
Two more shapes to go. In this lesson, you'll explore higher-register playing with the Dm shape while building finger control and note awareness.
Day 5. Cm
We saved the trickiest shape for last. Don't worry, Molly will guide you through it with exercises designed to build fluency.
Day 6. Connecting shapes
Now, it's time to connect. In this lesson, you'll practice moving through all five shapes in one key. This is where the scale starts to feel like one continuous map.
Day 7. Workout
Finally, you'll drill the natural minor scale across the neck to build speed, accuracy, and musical flow.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 4 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 5.
Grade 5. Intro to Minor Triads
Triads are the missing link between chords, scales, and solos. You’ll learn how to use them all over the neck for more melodic and harmonically rich playing.
Day 1. 1st string set
First, we'll start with small with root-position triads across the top strings. You’ll focus on hearing and visualizing these building-block chords as you methodically build them into your muscle memory.
Days 2-4. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string sets
Next, we'll add new sets of voicings and inversions across your fretboard. These shapes are compact, expressive, and perfect for rhythm or lead. In addition to strengthening your CAGED map and opening up new avenues of soloing expression, you'll gain new tools for rhythm playing.
Day 5. Triads in Gm
Once you've locked in your triads, we'll take what you’ve learned and apply it in a new key to test your visualization skills.
Day 6. Im to IVm – Upper strings
Next, we'll focus on making triads musical by learning to move between chords in a real musical context. We’ll start on the upper strings and blend triads with simple lines.
Day 7. Im to IVm – lower strings
Then, we'll take the same progression to the lower string sets. This final step cements your ability to move triads across the neck.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 5 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 6.
Grade 6. Making Music With Minor CAGED
This is the final step in your journey where everything becomes music. You’ll work on phrasing, melody, and expression to turn your fretboard fluency into musical freedom.
Days 1 -2. One-string minor scales
To kick off the grade, we'll spend two days breaking away from boxed shapes by learning to play across single strings. These exercises will help you play with precision and access slide guitar-style phrasing.
Days 3-4. 3rds & 6ths
Next, we'll add harmonic richness to your solos with double stops via 3rds and 6th. You’ll learn how each interval fits into CAGED shapes and can be used to bring more musicality to your lines.
Day 5. Imaj to IIm triads
After that, we'll head back to triad land as you work on moving between major and minor chords using triads. This lesson will help you bridge rhythm and lead playing in one smooth motion.
Day 6. Musical applications
For your last lesson, you'll apply your knowledge with curated licks that draw from everything you’ve learned. It’s a fun, creative, and practical way to cap off your CAGED 2 knowledge.
Day 7. Workout
Finally, we'll wrap it all up with one last musical workout. You’ll work on moving fluidly across the neck and solidify your command of minor CAGED.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 6 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to greener pastures.
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Your Instructor
Dr. Molly Miller
Dr. Molly Miller is one of Pickup Music's most popular instructors. Her acclaimed CAGED Learning Pathway has helped hundreds of students unlock their fretboards and reach their playing potential.
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