An Octave is a note that is 8 notes away higher or lower. For instance, on guitar there are many places to play an A. Each A would be in a different octave. For instance, if you play the open A string that is an A. If you play the A string on the 12th fret, that is also an A but an Octave higher. This would be an octave pair or octave shape. Octave shapes can be helpful for navigating where notes are on the fretboard.

When talking about guitar, you will often see the acronym CAGED. In the case of octave shapes, we will use this acronym. Think of each letter in CAGED as a chord shape. For instance, the basic C chord shape, we get the following octaves.

Octave Shapes

If we look at the basic A chord shape, we get the following octaves:

Octave Shapes

If we look at the basic G chord shape, we get the following octaves:

Octave Shapes

If we look at the basic E chord shape, we get the following octaves:

Octave Shapes

If we look at the basic D chord shape, we get the following octaves:

Octave Shapes

With the above information, you could slide any of the octave shapes around the neck to other keys to form other octave pairs.

Some other common octave shapes would be:

Octave Shapes
Octave Shapes
Octave Shapes
Octave Shapes
Octave Shapes
Octave Shapes

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B Major Chord

B Major chord in the 1st position bar chord below. B – RootD# – 3rdF# – 5th When played on guitar the notes are in this order B, F#, B,

Music Terms

List of music terms: Arpeggio: Playing notes of a chord one at a time. Attack: The initial sound of a note. Barre or Bar Chord: A chord where one finger

All Major Triads – 4th String Set

All Major Triads 4th String SetA MajorE--0--5--9---12--B--2--5--10--14--G--2--6--9---14--D----------------A----------------E----------------B MajorE--2--7--11--14--B--4--7--12--12--G--4--8--11--12--D----------------A----------------E----------------C MajorE--0--3--8--12--B--1--5--8--13--G--0--5--9--12--D---------------A---------------E---------------D MajorE--2--5--10--14--B--2--7--10--15--G--2--7--11--14--D----------------A----------------E----------------E MajorE--0--4--7--12--B--0--5--9--12--G--1--4--9--13--D---------------A---------------E---------------F MajorE--1--5--8---13--B--1--6--10--13--G--2--5--10--14--D----------------A----------------E----------------G MajorE--3--7--10--15--B--3--8--12--15--G--4--7--12--16--D----------------A----------------E----------------