A minor pentatonic, box 1

Box 1 of the A minor pentatonic runs from fret 5 to fret 8: 12 notes, 2 on the low E, 2 on the A, 2 on the D, 2 on the G, 2 on the B and 2 on the high E. The root is on the low E string, the D string and the high E string. The chord that lives here is Am’s Em shape — 6 of the box’s notes are the chord, haloed above; the rest are the pentatonic around it. Tap a note to hear it; the root picker moves the box to any key, and ‹ › walk to the next box up the neck.

All five, and how they connect →