CAGED System: A-Minor Scale Patterns (With Note Names)

Charts to help you learn the CAGED system for the Minor scale for guitar.

Each of the 5 shapes will produce a full A-Minor scale when you play it from root note till any other root note. The letters inside the circles and squares represent note names of the A-Minor scale. Squares represent scale root notes (tonic). Root tones have a stronger visual emphasis to provide soloing landmarks and a better overview of the shape's primary "anchor points" to help you memorize and internalize all 5 patterns. One of the diagrams additionally highlights all root triad's chord tones to help you target them when soloing. All diagrams are isolated from one another to let you focus on just a single pattern at a time.

Tip: The CAGED shapes are identical for all minor keys. For example, to get CAGED patterns for the G-Minor scale you just need to align the E-shape's (pattern 1) root tone with the 3rd fret of the lowest 6th string (you can also align the G-shape with the 3rd fret of the 6th string, but then you'll have to play the pattern with open strings—not that you have to avoid it, but I'm just saying).

The order of CAGED patterns never changes, and it's the same as the CAGED-word is spelled. So for our G-Minor example the next shape towards the guitar's bridge would be the D-shape, and the previous shape towards the guitar's nut would be the G-shape. The notes will be different though as opposed to what's shown on the diagrams, e.g. for the E-shape the root tone will be note G; the next note will be A, and so on.