It’s official…

Can you pls x plain this to me pls. I just watched a video and this guy says they are played on the top 3 strings. Or maybe I am not getting it. Getting confused already!
Three top strings might be the easiest way to get comfortable with them, but as Jason said, you can play them anywhere. It’s really just a compact, 3 note chord.

Because the 3 notes are always the same distance apart, you just move up and down the neck with that shape: e.g. same fret on G&B string and 2 frets closer to the nut on E is always a major triad - root of this one is the note you are playing on the G string.

Switch the E string note for one octave lower on the D string and you have an inversion. Then trade the B string note for one octave lower on the A string and you have the other inversion. And so on.
 
It makes sense but this little cluster of 3 notes are always within grasp of each other? Findng specific 3 note triads will be awkward for me at the start. This is some serious shite!
 
It makes sense but this little cluster of 3 notes are always within grasp of each other? Findng specific 3 note triads will be awkward for me at the start. This is some serious shite!
That is a tricky question since you have almost two octaves of notes on each string on a 22 fret guitar and a full to octaves on a 24 fret guitar. Typically you will find them in the various inversions. They will also be in the 5 individual scale patterns. Once you know those and the root notes in them it makes these easier to find. Again, all of this ties together. It is all just little pieces of the same puzzle.

When I was teaching I always taught the major scale patterns first along with getting to know the notes on the fretboard so you can locate things. Once that foundation is in place you can build on it from there. The octave method you were discussing for finding notes is an exercise I have used. It is a good way to locate the notes faster. The scale patterns and chord shapes is a good place to start to understand this stuff. Once you start to understand the scales you can learn how to build a chord and how to alter them. This progresses to where you can grab any chord on the neck wherever you place your hand without moving too far up or down from there. But don't try to do all the way in the deep end of the pool too fast. You need a good foundation for the rest of it to make sense and lock it in your memory. Hopefully I haven't gone too deep too fast.
 
They are too the little chords in barre chords as well. That connection is clear.
 
So is it imperative to learn the “caged” shapes to get a grip on the triad shapes all over the neck I really don’t want to learn this if I just need to learn triads. It would be redundant then.
 
So can you explain why I don’t need the caged shapes for this? I need to know why as this will help dissect this puzzle a little better for my understanding.
 
So can you explain why I don’t need the caged shapes for this? I need to know why as this will help dissect this puzzle a little better for my understanding.
The triads are contained in the caged shapes. The additional content doesn’t benefit your understanding. The triads will always stay the same, and they are easier to play.

Caged shapes are just one of many models used to try and explain how to play in different keys. That model works best for people who are strumming chords. I found my playing is much more expressive without depending on barre chords, which is basically what caged is expressing.
 
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The triads are contained in the caged shapes. The additional content doesn’t benefit your understanding. The triads will always stay the same, and they are easier to play.

Caged shapes are just one of many models used to try and explain how to play in different keys. That model works best for people who are strumming chords. I found my playing is much more expressive with depending on barre chords, which is basically what caged is expressing.

Thank you for the explanation.
 
Well I had a better day today. I stopped at Dave’s strummed a few acoustics. Nothing jumped out. I’m thinking it’s time to just refret and re-radius my acoustic since I’ve played about 100 and don’t like the tone of any of them more. That leaves finding a luthier willing to do it. Yeah, I know, everyone advises against this.

On to the better part. Went and jammed by self today and it was good. Just improv jam in kind of a Hendrix style(not as good obviously). But…it was fun and I felt something. So that was good.
 
Well I had a better day today. I stopped at Dave’s strummed a few acoustics. Nothing jumped out. I’m thinking it’s time to just refret and re-radius my acoustic since I’ve played about 100 and don’t like the tone of any of them more. That leaves finding a luthier willing to do it. Yeah, I know, everyone advises against this.

On to the better part. Went and jammed by self today and it was good. Just improv jam in kind of a Hendrix style(not as good obviously). But…it was fun and I felt something. So that was good.
Turning a corner...
Sounds great!
 
I think the more aha moments I have in regards to triads etc. the happier I will be.

Thank you for your kindness and patience in regards to triads. You are the only one that has been able to communicate the relationships between caged, triads etc. a gracious THANK YOU!

Why can’t all explanations be that easy to understand?

Some people can teach while others can’t.
 
Well I had a better day today. I stopped at Dave’s strummed a few acoustics. Nothing jumped out. I’m thinking it’s time to just refret and re-radius my acoustic since I’ve played about 100 and don’t like the tone of any of them more. That leaves finding a luthier willing to do it. Yeah, I know, everyone advises against this.

On to the better part. Went and jammed by self today and it was good. Just improv jam in kind of a Hendrix style(not as good obviously). But…it was fun and I felt something. So that was good.
Good to hear.

I remember playing tons of acoustics over several years thinking I should upgrade the Norman I bought in the early 80s. I couldn’t find anything that measured up to it at 5x the cost. Eventually I bought a Laskin, but we won’t talk about what it cost.
 
Good to hear.

I remember playing tons of acoustics over several years thinking I should upgrade the Norman I bought in the early 80s. I couldn’t find anything that measured up to it at 5x the cost. Eventually I bought a Laskin, but we won’t talk about what it cost.
I played a Goodall that was nice, but I’m not even in for that much less a Laskin. I think the Goodall sold.
 
Just sitting here playing all the major barre chords and triads(top 3 strings for now). I was so fearful of learning this stuff. To some of you it’s second nature but when you find little nuggets of wisdom along the way that keep catapulting you forward rather then stagnating. Life becomes so much better when you have a deeper understanding of the sum of all the parts and how they intertwine with one another.
 
Geometry and guitar playing. How are they intertwined?
Sorry to butt in. For me, they aren’t. Even with some of the very complex Prog I listen to and play some of, I’ve refused to make music about math. Caged, triads and all this stuff… you guys are too smart for me. I figure out what I want to know by ear, and play it. I don’t obsess over all these terms and knowledge. I don’t obsess over the theory behind it. In fact, every time I spend any time at all learning what one of these things actually means, it’s something I did or knew how to play, but without knowing the “term” or what everyone called it. I’m too old to spend hours trying to learn what I’m doing.

Learning songs is how I learn to do things. I’ve never felt I needed to take more time to learn the theory of what I’m doing. Guess that makes me a hack, but I’m OK with that.
 
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