Agreed. OTOH, if the question is should I also learn some different way of thinking about music/fretboard, the answer is always yes. If it makes neurons fire, add it to the mix.

> the relevant scale and arpeggio patterns, etc,

That phrase is smuggling in a LOT of work that systems like CAGED help to simplify. I say this as someone who has played guitar for decades and slept on CAGED for too long.

I started learning the guitar exactly 22 days ago and I came to the same conclusion. I know enough about music theory, notation, sound modulation and even the cognitive science of hearing* that I knew such a system existed and that I could have some fun times exploring one (no doubt the author had a fun time with this; I know I would). However, after thinking about it for a few minutes I decided against it.

And good thing I did, I went to my local thriftshop and bought Hal Leonard’s Method for a couple of bucks, and have been going through it on a daily basis (now on song 67 of 100) and I am already starting to get an intuitive feel for where to move my fingers and which string to pluck within a beat or two, or rather, my muscles simply know where to move after reading the note (albeit quite often a beat or two late; though I suppose this will improve with practice).

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* This comes from a) having played the trumpet when I was a child (including reading standard notation), b) tried to learn the guitar for a few months 20 years ago and then give up, c) BSc in psychology, and d) done some hobby projects which involved modular analogue synthesizers and the low level Web Audio API

The notes are in a similar layout, but violin and cello strings are tuned to fifths, where guitar and bass guitar strings are tuned to fourths. The fingering patterns for scales and shapes of arpeggios/cords are going to be frustratingly close but different for anyone jumping into (or out of) the orchestra pit on a whim.

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