Music guides

A lot of what makes music theory feel hard is really just counting. These guides show you the idea with examples you can play, then let a tool do the counting so you can get back to playing.

• The CAGED system: one chord, five places on the neck

  Five open chord shapes, one connected neck, and a scale sitting inside each shape. Press any note to hear it.

• How to find any chord's name from its notes

  Four steps for naming whatever your fingers just found, with five shapes worked through.

• Which chords belong to a key, and how to find a song's key

  The pattern behind nearly every chord chart, with the chords of each common key to see and hear.

• How a capo changes the key, and which fret to choose

  The one sum behind a capo, a chart for every key, and when to leave it in the case.