[Live] You're Learning Your Blues Boxes Wrong (Not Really... But There's A Better Approach.) 

Love this series of videos so much. Everything is starting to make sense at long last. A big thank you!

glad I came across your channel, looking forward to " having things presented different" thank you sharing, Jay.

I have been searching for ages for a lesson like this. Finally, clear and concise and practical advice which is exactly what I needed to take me to the next level. Thank you very much. I will be checking out those links now...

Thanks for putting what I've been doing into words. I've never heard it in words before. Good job. I didn't learn box 1 first, I found a way up and down the neck skipping only one fret all the way up and down for the pentatonic scale. I'm glad I did because it seems to have made me understand all the boxes at once.

I was just heading this way on my own with the 4 string root, but came acrosed this video and you opened my eyes even more with learning the boxes with all the string roots. thanks

First, great lessons and something that I been needing! Second, love the blues scale tool! I jump up to it after watching and in five minutes time, I got three right out of six! I will be using this a lot! Thank you for providing it free of charge! You are providing a valuable asset to the community, thank you and keep up the great work.

The single best tool I ever found! It has helped me to stop getting lost more than anything I have practiced. I, too, also started with just right facing minor and then major, but moved to both left and right. I still use it to keep me on my toes. It is far too easy to stay lost by just learning boxes from 6th string roots. The pattern remains the same from each root--it just looks different to your head until you see it is all the same (barring the B string jump.) Rock On!

Another great demo/lesson! Thanks so much Griff. 👌🌠

I found this video to be very helpful your explanation on find the root note in this will let you know what box you're in was eye-opening it made perfect sense to me thank you for explaining this I found it very helpful you are one of the best teachers to watch on RU-vid 2 years ago at the age of 58 I decided I wanted to learn to play Blues guitar your videos have been the most helpful I thank you sincerely

you are a great teacher you explain things so well

Superbly conceived & taught! I've been trying to organize my learning & practicing the scales/boxes, but this paradigm you've designed puts my thinking & playing over the top. "Flash cards" is a great tool. THANX!

Excellent video, love your concept ... Really has helped me Invision the fretboard. Thanks 😊😊

That sure is a sweet sounding and beautiful guitar.

Thank you so very much for this video and amazing resources!!! Loved the tutorial

Well damn this is just about the most useful lesson and tool I’ve seen in a very very long time ( 2 1/2 year player) thanks so much

Great Visual lesson! Thank you!

Thanks for the link to those flash cards. Really helpful. I'm gonna add that to my practice routine. What a great free resource!

Griff. Thanks for the excellent lesson! It should be the centre-piece of your Unleased lessons (which I subscribe to). I am brand new to pentatonic scales. But, fortunately I was taught from the beginning of my voyage down this challenging road about the importance of learning to play the scales/notes off of each root note ... both up and down the fretboard. I have miles to go before I will master this concept. But, thanks for reinforcing how valuable this concept is in order to transform from playing scales to actually playing music.

Hi Griff! Thank you for the flash cards, I just watched the video and will defiantly use the cards, You mentioned that not many use them, I would think not many know about them, they are priceless! Thanks again🎸

The tool in the link helped me figure out what I've been trying to figure out for years.

That tool is awesome:), thank you.

This is great, I figured this out myself about two months ago. People, learn and know this. There is a basic formula for it w/o memorizing all possibilities.

Very elaborative presentation. Very helpful. Learned lot.

Thank you Griff.

awesome lesson, the bluesscale tool is excellent !thx

I usually start with the box then move to 'feeling' where to go next. It always takes a couple shots on a song before I find my groove. This puts what I do into perspective and allows me to know where to land and, even more important how to start from the root anywhere on the fretboard.

Thank you Griff, loved this video and i also use the left / right side from the root method, got me away from the 'box' view

thank you for the tool. Never take it down thanks.

Awesome! I appreciate that you have all this... I was going to make my own cards... thank you Griff! :)

Excellent!!

Excellent, thanks....!

Such a great lesson. My teacher never taught me it but I remember discovering it and instantly it made sense why it’s good to learn them all. I think of them as get out jail scale positions. “I need an A on the 3rd string here” or “I want to stay in this register, how can I? Well the A is on the 2nd string, which pattern is rooted on the second string?” Immensely valuable stuff.

Thats extremely helpful, I'm trying to re-learn the pentatonic shapes that go with the caged chords thanks

I use it,, Griff... and I agree it is the way to go in learning the pentatonics. I just have to get better at hitting it for a few minutes each day!

Ok just tried this tool , it's going to move me on from my box rut, awesome

i'm going now to grab myself your blues scale tool >>> thanks Griff

Awesome lesson.

I am one of those guys who did not learn Box 1 first, I learned the mode boxes and arpeggios (this was a LONG time ago). I stopped playing for decades and now I am working it again. Pentatonic scales are, to me just a simple version of the diatonic modes I learned before. They drop the 4th and the 7th out. The blue note is always the 3rd of my major tonal center, but I can resolve on anything using the right approach. If I want to voice chord tones I use an arpeggiation of some sort. The pentatonics lie right on top of the modes and so do the arps. I love what you said at the end about it "all being the same notes" just in different locations. Keep me thinkin!

Hey Griff, just checked out your blues scale tool, very cool. very useful way of learning scales from random places. I know I struggle because I've Learned the positions but have to reference them from 6 string root or box 1 and trying to play over chords on the fly means calculating what box from what scale in relation to box 1. By which time the chord has past. Thanks for your time putting out lessons.

So at the least you need to learn your octaves from the roots. They’re always in the same places. Super helpful.

Maannnn ....mr griff...u a fricking genious Seriously

Thanks for the reminder about your "Flash Card" exercises. I have moved on some in my understanding of the fret board so these exercises have more meaning to me now. While working on this I found a developed a simple "minor cord exercise" for myself on the GBe strings. Thanks again, I need to review your stuff more often - obviously. :)

Hey Griff!! Great vid!

I've been working on learning where the 6 note boxes are in relation to the root notes. So, I moved back 2 frets and started climbing, but was 3 or 4 notes in before I realized that I was in pattern 1! Will definitely check out your blues scale tool! Good lesson!

Makes sense Griff.

Bl... This was very great lesson . I I'm still jamming out and learning . Troy Frost troyster 😎Cool Riffs

sold....I'll check it out maynerd, thx!

For those more advanced players, the content of this video is: learn to play the pentatonic boxes starting with your index finger on the root and also learn them starting with finger 3 (or 4) on the root. If that makes sense to you there is no need to watch. (I watched because I thought he was going to come up with some great slides linking box 1 not just to box 2 but maybe box 3 or 4 to help blend the boxes (and think out of the box, so to speak). No such luck.) If it doesn't make sense, watch on.

This has to be the most useful tool for using the patterns that I have seen. Wow. This might be the “ah-ha” moment for me.

Thanks Griff

Thank you!!!

Btw...gonna check that blues scale tool right now

Damn that was helpful.

It make sense to me thamk you!!!! Bobby

Left and right facing patterns make a lot of sense. Playing the scale that goes with the chord in the same fretboard area based on the root note. Very logical. Once learned, playing is much easier. Peace. ✌

Mannnnnn ...... smmmmoooooth playing

Thank You

Make sense.. good sense

Makes sense to me.

GREAT lesson. haha, when I first clicked on this vid title, I was expecting "Learning The Blues" by Frank Sinatra. :)

Yes!

Good video. The 4th string left facing example is great. I don't find the blues boxes or major pentatonic boxes to be very useful. It is better (for me) to visualize which chord shapes "fit" over the scales.

Hi. I began looking at the right facing scales as all pattern one, going up from the root. I just needed to work on them descending . As long as I started on the root. Most published scale charts highlight a single root note, but there are always more than one. I do really have to focus on left facing patterns still .

Good video. I was like finding the missing piece of the 1000 piece puzzle.

It’s called random access. We learn and store in memory sequentially but while playing we must retrieve quickly by doing so directly randomly. This method you show does just that.

I had to post to say that while I've loved being a Blues Guitar Unleashed student for a couple of years now, Griff's recent live lesson "you're practicing your boxes wrong" was the epiphany moment for me! For so long, I've been asking my guitar buddies "I get that I need to know my boxes so I learned them - but how do I use that knowledge to play real music?" I know it sounds like a stupid question, but honestly I was having a hard time translating the former to the latter and this lesson really brought it all together for me. So I started using the awesome bluesscaletool last night. And I did pretty good with it, but I do have one thing that either I don't understand (most likely) or there is a bug in the tool. And it has to do with the Left vs. Right aspect. This example and the answer the hint button provides, for instance, does not make sense to me based on Griff's explanation of left vs. right. If the tool radomizer generates G Minor with the root on the 4th string playing Left, then how can it be box 1 on the 3rd fret? Because isn't that playing right and not left if the first finger is on the 3rd fret and the 4th finger is on the 6th? Would that not be the solution to G minor with root on the 4th string playing right (as opposed to left?) fhis has me stumped. Any help greatly appreciated!

Maybe it's just me..but we're told these patterns are movable..you can play them anywhere on the neck.. Position 1 .. 2 etc are just so we know which pattern we're talking about..And no one said they have to be played in that order either..well not to me anyhoo...As with any scale i guess..It was once put to me this way..think of a scale as a blueprint..if you have a blue print for a bungalow..you ain't gonna get a house... What you get depends on how you use the blueprint...Made sense to me.. I'd say the reason you learn it the way you do is because each pattern played in A from the 5th fret 6th string uses the same notes..A C D E G So you have pos. 1 2 3 4 5. And that's it as far as that goes. Playing it above or to the left (right if you're a leftie) is the Major pentatonic..isn't it..? Coz if it ain't...it bloody is now...

Find your roots....learn licks off the roots. For example do some Albert King licks around the root in the second box B string. Do some Eric Clapton licks around the root on the G string in the 4th box.. Learn how to transverse the pentatonic minor over the entire neck. For instance E minor pentatonic starting on the open position up. Self discovery is primary. Also, notice that from any root, you can play the 1st pattern blues scale, just shift for the half step on the B string.

Right pattern, left pattern. Got it. :)

The intro was tasty!

In my humble opinion I believe that learning the intervallic relationships is critical to free yourself of the box mentality. Learn to identify root notes all over the fret board, and train your ear to recognise the intervals. Try playing some 3 note per string pentatonics as an exercise, this really helps your ear and moves you up and down the fret board. You may find yourself rediscovering the beauty of these simple five note scales.

Hello Griff, My question is in the numbering of the box positions. In this video you explain the A scale right facing pattern(6:32) you call it box 1( which is the G scale form) and then when you go to the left facing pattern (6:45) you call it box 5 (which is the A scale form )that is shown. For numbering these box patterns do you always number the first box no matter what it's shape is as box 1 and then proceed through the shapes of the caged system (CAGED)giving them the appropriate number starting as box 1 being the scale that you are playing in? So let's say you are playing in Key E . No matter where you started on the neck if you went up in pitch and you started with the C shape the next shape would have to be the A shape which you would call box 2 but if you wanted to go lower in pitch on the guitar and you started with the C shape you would use shape D and call it box 5 to continue working you way lower in pitch down the neck you would then go to position E etc. No matter what shape you started with you use that as box #1 and start counting from that box whether you are going right handed or left handed but have to keep in mind the alphabet of CAGED as to whether you are going forward or reverse when numbering each box. Does that sound correct? Yes your right facing and left facing pattern makes sense. Also when you described at (8:08) about throwing in a fill around a Gm9 chord and you wanted to use a scale you said you used box 4 near that location based on the position of the root note but the number was given the numbering as C-1 A-2 G-3 E-4 D-5 is that right? Little hard to follow your fingering at the speed you go but thanks any way.

The scale trainer is difficult to find on your website....had to come back here for link

I love your videos, but after 13 mins I had to say enough is enough...... I left the video and have gone looking for some of your easier ones, just wanna learn some cool licks :)

I was practicing my boxes and noticed that the lowest root note if it’s on e than it’s one on A it’s 4 on D it’s box 2 on G it’s box 5 on B it’s box 3 are that what you mean?

I down loaded the blues scale tool but i must be stupid coz im confused with it all.

What is that song you are playing at the beginning?

Nice guitar! Is it a Cobra? I just got my first Top T Hollow Shorty and love it.

By fuck m8, you got arms like a grizzly! Comb and trim comes to mind! Cheers for the tunes Grif..

didn't know about the tool: you've got a user

Not a very hard concept. Box 1 is actually all 5 boxes, it's just where you start the root and on what string. What messes ppl up is the b string and going up a half step.

Good lesson, but people need to ignore boxes and play major or minor, or better yet mix depending on the song

When this guy plays these scales it doesnt sound bluesy, it sounds BLUES just like the old guys from decaees ago. real blues. No matter what i do it sometimes has a slight bluesy feel but it just doesnt sound often lije the blues. love his vids but i just dont seem to be getting it at the moment.

I love the blues scale tool! I nail the deal every time. Got it down stone cold. People are making a huge mistake not using or practicing it regularly or knowing what I call random access method to any shape any key any mode at anytime. This is how you master the fretboard. Knowing this, how to switch parallel modes in position, and move caged shapes in fourths or fifths and you are unstoppable. This is it folks. Listen to Griff - keep practicing the deal until you have it down stone cold. Remember the pentatonic shapes are determined by the root note string. The fret board is a calculator. It screams at you the shape to play based on the string# your root note is on. All you have to do is decide minor or major mode and lay down your appropriate finger and off you go. You learn and practice the shapes sequentially but in real life improv mode you direct access them randomly not sequentially.

👍

This is the type of teaching where lots of people failed in learning to play the guitar. There are so many invented jargon. The driving principle in playing guitar is just as simple as knowing melodies, rhythm subdivisions, and chords. It is just identifying the DO, RE, ME, and etc in the guitar frets and then work on to familiarize each sound. And that where the real work start, because HEARING and FEELING of each tone and the difference of it will really test someone's patience. Hence, to focus on these boxes, patterns, and the left and right facings are complete nonsense, because it will derail the learner's focus on what is really matter - THE MUSIC.

Could it be that the person was unfamiliar with the term "Left/Right Facing Pentatonic"? I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and I personally have never heard the phrase.

I get confused. I bought an online class and I learned the five caged shapes. A lot of other teachers on RU-vid teach boxes patterns and positions. I know that these are probably just different names for the same thing I already know it's just trying to figure out how they all relate to each other. I wish there was some master chart that would show you if you are in for example the G shape on the Caged system would also be referred to as blank box or blank position. I don't know maybe this old dog just can't learn

Jazz III Eric Johnson ?

The link doesn't work!!!!

The moral of the story - know your root notes!

AWESOME I HOPE LOL

Those arms are Hollywood hairy.

Okay, so we're not into actual information until 5 minutes in. Too much selling, too much playing at the beginning.

Griff all u have to do is remember the first two notes of all the 5 boxes With that info you can play every box from every root no matter where on the neck