Connecting positions
How to move from one position to another with slides, finger shifts and diagonal runs so you can use the whole neck.
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Content under musical review. It may contain inaccuracies.
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How to move from one position to another with slides, finger shifts and diagonal runs so you can use the whole neck.
Applied
Learning boxes or positions one at a time is the first step. The next is connecting them: moving from one to another without breaking the phrase. That's how you stop playing "inside a box" and start seeing the neck as one map.
A line in the A minor pentatonic that starts in the first position and ends in the second thanks to a slide. It sounds continuous, with no awkward jumps:
The whole scale across the neck. Each box shares notes with the next: those shared notes are your bridges.
String 6, Open: E2 · 5 · Fifth
The shift step by step on the 3rd string:
Step 1 of 3 · First position
String 3, Fret 5: C4 · 1 · Root
Step through the boxes one by one and, for each pair, find the notes they share:
Pentatonic boxes Fingering & coordinationPosition shiftsTravel a scale along the neck, changing position without gaps in the sound.There are several ways to change position:
Always move with your whole arm rather than stretching your fingers, and let your thumb travel with your hand.
Pick a reference note in each position, such as the root on the 6th and 4th strings. Before playing the scale, play only the anchors from one box to the next. Once you can find them without looking, fill in the rest of the notes.
Scales, arpeggios & fretboardPentatonic positionsTravel the five pentatonic positions and connect them.Mick Goodrick suggests playing scales and melodies on a single string, up and down the neck. That way you see intervals as horizontal distances rather than fixed shapes. Combine that work with vertical positions: boxes give you reach, the single string gives you freedom of movement. In the long run the goal is for positions to melt into one continuous map.