PRESENCE - Volume 44
Inspiration For Guitarists
I know what you're thinking.
A Christmas carol lesson? From you?
Stay with me here—because this might be the clearest demonstration you'll ever see of how CAGED shapes and chord tones actually work in real music.
You've heard me preach about CAGED shapes. You know they're important. But here's where theory meets the real world: chord-melody style.
This is the approach that makes one guitar sound like an entire band—think Joe Pass, Pat Metheny, Tommy Emmanuel. And the best way to understand it? A song you already know by heart.
Enter: Silent Night (arranged in the key of A)
Here's why this works so beautifully:
The entire song uses just three chords: A (1), D (4), and E (5)
I arranged it in A specifically so you can use open strings for bass notes
The melody sits right on top of those chord tones—proving exactly what I've been telling you about how great melodies are constructed
Here's the magic: When you play this arrangement, you're simultaneously playing the melody, bass notes, and full chords using CAGED shapes. It sounds complete. Professional. Like a full piece of music.
And here's the key insight that makes chord-melody work: Your ear naturally hears the highest note in any chord as the melody. So in this arrangement, I've positioned the CAGED shapes so that the top note of each chord is the melody note.
That's the whole game.
Your assignment (even if Christmas carols aren't your thing): Play through this arrangement and pay attention to how the melody notes land on chord tones. This is how the pros think. This is how great melodies are built.
Trust me—this "off-brand" lesson might be one of the most valuable things you work on this month.
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This week’s YouTube video explores common guitar myths that could be holding you back.
Here are a couple more recent videos that you might find helpful: