Connecting the five positions

The five-position map

Each pentatonic position is a “box” of two octaves, centered on a different root location. Here’s the conventional ordering, using A minor pentatonic as the example:

Box	Lowest fret	Root on low E	Memorable name
1	fret 5	fret 5 (A)	“the classic”
2	fret 7	—	“Box 2”
3	fret 9–10	—	“Box 3”
4	fret 12	fret 12 (A)	“octave up Box 1”
5	fret 14–15	—	“Box 5”

Then Box 5 leads back to Box 1 one octave up.

How to actually learn them

Don’t try to memorise all five at once. Use this two-week plan:

• Days 1–3: Box 1 only. Up, down, in thirds, in fourths.
• Days 4–5: Box 2. Play it on its own; then play Box 1 → Box 2 → Box 1 as a smooth run.
• Days 6–7: Box 3. Add it to the chain.
• Days 8–10: Boxes 4 and 5.
• Days 11–14: Free-roam — solo across all five.

By the end you can start a phrase anywhere on the neck and continue it.

Sliding between boxes

The fastest way to move between boxes is slides on the high strings. Slide from a note in Box 1 up to its equivalent in Box 2. Your ear hears it as a single phrase; your hand has just shifted position.

Example move (in A minor pent): - Play fret 8 on the high E (C, root’s ♭3) — that’s in Box 1. - Slide up to fret 10 on the same string (D, the 4) — that puts you in Box 2.

Practise these “pivot slides” between every adjacent pair of boxes.

The diagonal trick

The pentatonic boxes also form diagonal lines that climb up the neck. You can play a complete two-octave run by following a single diagonal across all six strings.

This is how players like Joe Bonamassa and John Mayer escape the box mentality — they think in diagonals, not boxes.

Try this

Set up a backing track in A minor (or just loop an Am chord). Start a solo in Box 1. Without stopping, slide up and continue in Box 2. Then Box 3. End in Box 4 or 5.

This is the difference between a guitarist who lives in Box 1 forever and one who plays the whole neck.