[This article is an excerpt (edited online version) from my Fretboard Passepartout Course (total value 32.25€). It unpacks the whole concept behind the Fretboard Passepartout method in an easy-to-follow way. If you’re new here though and don’t know what the CAGED system is or how it works, please read this article first.]
The CAGED or five-pattern system is one of the best methods to map out the guitar fretboard.
It’s the first step to unlock the entire fretboard and begin to unfold your musical ideas.
But even it is supposed to help guitarists to decode the fretboard and navigate across the neck with ease, I see many (especially) beginner guitar players practice it in an epidermal manner keeping them still locked in positions.
Their playing sounds “boxed in”, predictable and limited in range.
On the other hand, advanced players sound always interesting, unpredictable, creative and the audience loves that.
This is why I created a method including a carefully designed set of exercises to help students make the most of it and avoid common mistakes even if they are advanced guitar players.
I call it the Fretboard Passepartout Method.
I’m gonna break down the whole concept organised in a 6 day easy-to-follow practice schedule.
At the end of the week, you’ll be able to improvise across the entire neck.
The Concept
In this article, we examined how the grid of notes is organised across the entire fretboard.
Having that in mind, let’s take a look at how a minor pentatonic scale looks on the guitar fretboard:
It’s easy to understand that this massive grid of notes has not an obvious way to be mapped out and help us navigate through it.
From the CAGED perspective though this grid looks completely different and much more organised:
And if we separate the chord-based shapes (which I prefer to call boxes) we end up with an easy to visualise and remember guitar diagram:
The 6-day practice schedule – Learn how to solo across the neck using 1 easy to play scale
For our example, we’re gonna use the A Minor Pentatonic Scale.
The choice is not made by chance.
Minor Pentatonic scales are easy to be memorised, easy to be played and have been used to probably any musical style for years.
From blues to rock, jazz or even classical music, they’re always there.
Each day we’re gonna focus on a single Minor Pentatonic Box, practising it using 5-6 simple steps. [see below]
On the final day, we’re gonna connect all the boxes and improvise across the neck.
That simple.
Day #1: The Box 1 – 6th String Root
Download and print the image above and then follow the steps:
- Set up your metronome at a slow and comfortable tempo
- Play the Box up and down repeatedly until you’ll memorise it
- Repeat the same over the backing track. Don’t improvise yet. Keep a steady note value and try to memorise the shape and listen to the notes over the harmony.
- After that, start to improvise simple melodies consisting of 2-3 notes, focusing on rhythm first and then on anything else. It doesn’t need to be a perfect solo! Just experiment with creating simple melodies.
- Repeat the same procedure until you’ll be able to improvise in this position without needing to look at the diagram.
Day #2: The Box 2 – 4th String Root
Again:
- Set up your metronome at a slow and comfortable tempo
- Play the Box up and down repeatedly until you’ll memorise it
- Repeat the same over the backing track. Don’t improvise yet. Keep a steady note value and try to memorise the shape and listen to the notes over the harmony.
- After that, start to improvise simple melodies consisting of 2-3 notes, focusing on rhythm first and then on anything else. It doesn’t need to be a perfect solo! Just experiment with creating simple melodies.
- Repeat the same procedure until you’ll be able to improvise in this position without needing to look at the diagram.
- Connect with the previous box & Improvise.
Day #3: The Box 3 – 5th String Root
- Set up your metronome at a slow and comfortable tempo
- Play the Box up and down repeatedly until you’ll memorise it
- Repeat the same over the backing track. Don’t improvise yet. Keep a steady note value and try to memorise the shape and listen to the notes over the harmony.
- After that, start to improvise simple melodies consisting of 2-3 notes, focusing on rhythm first and then on anything else. It doesn’t need to be a perfect solo! Just experiment with creating simple melodies.
- Repeat the same procedure until you’ll be able to improvise in this position without needing to look at the diagram.
- Connect with the previous boxes & Improvise.
Day #4: The Box 4 – 5th String Root
Set up your metronome at a slow and comfortable tempo
- Play the Box up and down repeatedly until you’ll memorise it
- Repeat the same over the backing track. Don’t improvise yet. Keep a steady note value and try to memorise the shape and listen to the notes over the harmony.
- After that, start to improvise simple melodies consisting of 2-3 notes, focusing on rhythm first and then on anything else. It doesn’t need to be a perfect solo! Just experiment with creating simple melodies.
- Repeat the same procedure until you’ll be able to improvise in this position without needing to look at the diagram.
- Connect with the previous boxes & Improvise.
Day #5: The Box 5 – 6th String Root
- Set up your metronome at a slow and comfortable tempo
- Play the Box up and down repeatedly until you’ll memorise it
- Repeat the same over the backing track. Don’t improvise yet. Keep a steady note value and try to memorise the shape and listen to the notes over the harmony.
- After that, start to improvise simple melodies consisting of 2-3 notes, focusing on rhythm first and then on anything else. It doesn’t need to be a perfect solo! Just experiment with creating simple melodies.
- Repeat the same procedure until you’ll be able to improvise in this position without needing to look at the diagram.
- Connect with the previous boxes & Improvise.
Day 6
- Review all the Boxes
- Connect all the previous boxes & Improvise across the neck.
The 6-days practise schedule should be kept in a row.
Taking a break for a couple of days during the week does not help – the opposite.
[Many students fail on that. A balanced and carefully organised practice schedule is the foundation of a smooth and fast improvement. I have a complete lesson on how to create an effective practice schedule in my UGtrA Success Formula course (available with the UndgTC Pass). Even better I actually give the practice schedule that helped me to become a professional player in about 5 years while studying architecture at the same time!]
If you want to master the Fretboard Passepartout Method, after following the steps above you should focus on one word:
“Connect”
Many guitar players, even experienced ones, don’t know how to properly connect the boxes and are limited to some standard ways to make their soloing sound predictable.
That’s why I have created the Fretboard Passepartout course including, among others carefully designed exercises, videos, music scores, guitar tabs, guitar diagrams and backing tracks to make sure that I can help you crack the code of the fretboard and unlock the door to creative guitar soloing.
Click the button below to learn more about The Fretboard Passepartout Course!