Pentatonics Across the Neck
Step 8 of 10 · Intermediate Guitar Path
Grow one pentatonic box into five connected positions plus the blue note.
What you'll learn
- Connect the five minor-pentatonic positions across the fretboard
- Slide between positions along the G and B strings
- Add the b5 blue note to turn pentatonic into the blues scale
- Choose between major and minor pentatonic by ear
The pentatonic box you learned at the end of the beginner path is one of five, and the five interlock to cover the whole neck — the top notes of each box are the bottom notes of the next. They are not new shapes to memorise from scratch, either: each box lives inside one of the five CAGED positions, so the fretboard map you built for chords in step 4 is the same map for lead.
See the whole system drawn out on the A minor pentatonic scale page — it renders all five positions with their fret ranges on one neck. Learn the boxes one at a time (position 1 is the box you already know), then practise sliding between neighbouring positions along the G and B strings: start a phrase in one box, slide up to land in the next, and resolve it there. One lick that can travel is worth five that cannot.
Two colors finish the picture. Slip the b5 "blue note" in between the 4th and 5th of the minor pentatonic and you get the blues scale — pure attitude, best passed through rather than sat on. And over major-key changes, the major pentatonic is often the sweeter choice. When to reach for minor, major, or the blues scale is exactly what the best scales for blues guide covers — read it, then trust your ear.