Yeah as the title says..

I just played C, then E, yes E major, followed it up with a G, then Dm and back to C. I was expecting it to fail miserably, but what the hell happened? Why does it sound good/acceptable?

I already know E isn't a chord in "key" of C [there's Em], but looking at E chord grip, I thought well rest of the notes are in key of C, the only "clash note" here is G# (in place of G i.e. a #5 in key of C). Let's give it a try, rest other notes are in Key anyway.

My question is, why does this chord progression sound good? like I could easily use to create impact/emphasis either in bridge or in outro section of a song.

Please Educate me. ChatGPT says something about E being V chord in Am harmonic minor, and obviously Am is relative minor of C. Is this correct?

I'm a late-beginner/early-intermediate guitar player (learning via YouTube +TikTok + books) and I was staring at the CAGED shapes as one does on a 4th 'o July afternoon and 3 facts clicked together for me:

1. The E and G "shape" have root on low E string, and C and A forms have the root on the A string. This also later today made it easier for me to play triads by knowing where's the root.
2. I remembered John Mayer (I know he's a point of contention here, but he is a good player) talking about the "Pentatonic Equator" somewhere on a Tiktok
3. Read/heard somewhere that the "important stuff with the G chord is "behind" it" and realized last night that it is ALSO true for the C chord (I used to think the "root" is on the B string". But, the root [lowest note] is obviously on the A string)!!!

And, I had an epiphany (which most guitar players in history of this beautiful instrument must have had at some point) that the E & G shape are "part" of each other, and together form a larger pattern that goes all over the neck, and the same is true for C & A shapes. The connections clicked and I acted on it and made this diagram for myself to condense the 4 shapes from CAGED into 2 consolidated shapes for the minor Pentatonic and the Major scale to help with soloing over a large area on the neck and play with the timbre of the note and not just the pitch while soloing.

# G and E shape

Shown in key of A.

https://preview.redd.it/qwcj25mhgcbh1.jpg?width=7435&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be63b81dcf89a927732fcfad2cdc0350338e5830

C and A shape

Shown in key of D.

https://preview.redd.it/wwzwqx3fhcbh1.jpg?width=7997&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8cbb65ea67546aa0baffe733509f1f7c82fbd821

As much as I appreciate NGD posts, I wish to occasionally see useful stuff like this shared over here for new members like me, so I thought this could be an opportunity for discussion around this idea. I'd like to learn from anyone who's willing to share.

Please let me know if you notice any inconsistencies and please share any other tips, epiphanies, tricks, mnemonic devices you might have developed or encountered over the years related to this concept.