Wanna know why I don’t lead with diagonal pentatonic patterns?
Every few months, someone asks why the “best” diagonal pentatonic pattern isn’t in my Pattern Book. It is. We just don’t start there. Also, there are many more diagonal ones, not just one!
Story: That diagonal shape, the one that strings boxes together and lets you run the whole neck?
This pattern often gets sold as the only pentatonic pattern you need. It’s real, and it’s in the Pattern System. But we teach it later, not first.
Here’s why. Each section of the neck has its own terrain: string spacing, stretch, tone, and note names. Learn that terrain separately first, and your hand actually knows it, and your mind understands it. Say the note names, say the scale degrees. Own that area, layout, and feel in the hand.
Skip that step, and that diagonal pattern becomes a shape you memorize instead of a fretboard you know.
Do the step, and connecting the boxes is almost trivial. And, you can connect boxes in all sorts of ways. You’re linking ground you’ve already mapped. That’s when you can move across the whole neck with actual confidence, not just one single memorized route.
Practice Spark
- Pick one area and stay there. Play the pentatonic scale ascending and descending, eyes closed, until you stop checking your hand. Say note names, scale degrees. Improvise.
- Now play parts of the Area 1 shape and connect it to the Area 2 shape. That “part” can on be one string, 2, 3 or four. You can also skip an area and go straight from Area 1 to Area 3.
- How many diagonal shapes can you find? Hint: there are many!
Summer Practice
No new cohorts this summer. (Cohorts are our 12-week structured tracks: 5 units, weekly assignments, 4 live sessions with me, and a deadline that gets people to the finish line instead of letting the course stall.) They fill up fast because the structure and the group actually work.
We’re saving the next round for fall (starting September).
But this summer’s for exactly this: fretboard sections, grooves, rhythm, technique, one zone at a time. Live Practice is open all season if you want to log the reps with me.
Join our live practice – Lurk or hop on camera!
Want more info on Pentatonic Shapes & Patterns?