[Marc_Raleigh_NC]

I guess the answer is in this statement: In the E shape, the G string is always the third.

I don’t understand why that is so.

[Marc_Raleigh_NC]

This is good for my learning curve context. I appreciate the remarks.

Thank you!

[Marc_Raleigh_NC]

Much appreciated, it tell me that it IS complex and that I am on the edge of another AH-HA break through. I’ve been at this since April, 2026; so still drinking water from a firehose. It is conceptually coming together, but I’ve gone very wide without going deep, in that I don’t have much committed to memory or muscle memory yet. I’m averaging 1+ hour per day and sometimes 3-4 hours working on the academic part for Fretboard Wizard. I will complete it this week and then get back to more hands on the guitar aspect to reinforce the concepts. I did make summary notes in some of the CAGED sections as some people had the same questions I did/do.

[Marc_Raleigh_NC]

Thank you, I believe it will be time in the saddle for me. I am doing this because it it a challenge, and I have to remind myself of that. “Progress over perfection” mantra. Your comments and ones below are helpful context on multiple levels. Thanks again!

[Marc_Raleigh_NC]

I appreciate the responses, likely you would have to see the video section I mentioned, but stated another way:

Tony did the E-shape, and made A Chord an A minor by lifting the Middle finger off the G string.

Out of all the fingers fretting the chord, I did not follow how I would know the “middle finger was on the, 1/3” I needed to move.

The C#, sharp is 3, (out of 1,3,5), but how would I know without looking it up or making a matrix, and how would I know on the fretboard that Middle finger is that C# position?

(Is this all related to the number of frets from that rooted first position, and does not matter what the other strings are, but just matters the distance, number of steps away from that root note on root string?)

I’m just confirming how I would know which finger to use, per above extrapolation. I may have answered it above in the fret count aspect and the string does not matter, unless two fingers happen to be in the same fret, but different strings.

For instance out of the musical alphabet, A BC D EF G A, (WWHWWWH) The C# sharp, position is middle 1/3 of matrix column, AC#,E, so counting A, to C# in W or H steps is 4 frets away, or 2 whole steps, and E is 1.5 steps away, and that is the definition of major.

I understand moving the one step to make the major a minor.

Thank you for the efforts to explain, and hopefully this clarifies the matter a little better.