Breaking out of the Box with Pentatonics and Fretboard Mastery
In this blog post, we'll be discussing the concept of fretboard navigation and how to extend your scales across more than a single position.
It's important to have a solid understanding of the guitar fretboard and how to move around it. While memorizing the notes on the neck is a good place to start, it's not the only way to master your fretboard.
Beginner guitar players, can become stuck - they are only able to play within a certain position or pattern on the fretboard. The ability to take a single form or pattern and move it across the entire fretboard is important.
One way to break "out of the box" is to think of the guitar in three regions: region one (strings 6 and 5), region two (strings 4 and 3), and region three (strings 2 and 1). By understanding the notes in each region, you can take a single pattern (such as the first shape of the minor pentatonic scale) and apply it in each region.
In the first region, you would play a pattern starting on the third fret of the low E string. Then, by understanding the repeating nature of the guitar, you can play the same pattern on the D string (5th fret). And in the third region, you can play the pattern starting on the eighth fret of the second string.
If you understand how to move a pattern across the entire fretboard, you can open up a whole new world of possibilities for your guitar playing. Additionally, if you understand the different positions of pentatonic scales, you can move between them and play in any key.
Next time you practice try moving a single pattern across the entire fretboard. It will surprise you, how much more fluid and efficient your playing can become.
If you'd like to see (and hear) this concept in action - be sure to sign-up for my free Fretboard Infinity Loop System preview lesson here!