Tag Archives: fretboard navigation

So, you know your CAGED chords, arpeggios, and scale shapes, but when it comes to moving around the fretboard, you still feel lost. If this sounds familiar, there’s really just one small piece you’re missing that’s keeping you from seeing everything up and down the neck.

CAGED is a powerful way to navigate the fretboard. But if you only apply it to major chords, scales, and arpeggios, you’re missing part of the picture.

With the guitar there are limitless ways we can go about practicing things like scales, chords, and arpeggios. Something I’ve found fun is to incorporate other music elements or concepts as a way to guide a practice session. One such method is by using the circle of fifths to provide structure to practicing arpeggios. Circle […]

Perhaps my favorite way to learn the pentatonic scale up the fretboard is through the use of repeating patterns. In this lesson we’ll take a look at the repeating patterns concept and how we can apply to the pentatonic scale to create a fun and effective exercise for learning the pentatonic scale.

Navigating the guitar fretboard can be quite daunting. It’s a grid of notes that, when taken at face value, offers little insight into the nature of how it works. But if we drill down and start applying the basic structures of music to the guitar, interconnected shapes and patterns start to emerge that help you map out the fretboard.