28.4 · Movable Shapes

Beyond the box

The box at frets 5 to 8 is position 1 of five: the same five notes tile the whole neck, and each position overlaps the next. Learn just the neighbor and your solo space doubles.

Position 1: the box

A minor pentatonic, frets 5 to 8. Root A under finger 1. This is the shape from the pentatonic unit.

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Position 2: the neighbor

Slide up to frets 7 to 10. The notes are the same five; only where you catch them changes. Its low edge is position 1's high edge: they share a column of notes.

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Link them

Up position 1, then down position 2, over an A drone. Two positions, one unbroken line: this is how solos travel the neck.

Quiz

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How many pentatonic positions tile the neck?

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