PRESENCE - Volume 31
Inspiration For Guitarists
You’ve probably heard: “Learn all 5 pentatonic box shapes.”
Easier said than done. Most guitarists start memorizing them, get frustrated, and give up. They feel like 5 completely different puzzles with no connection.
But here’s the secret: every single shape has two patterns hiding inside.
I call them The Twins and The Triplets.
The Twins → one pair of adjacent strings with a 3-fret span.
The Triplets → three adjacent strings with a 2-fret span.
Once you spot these, you’ll see the same patterns repeating across all 5 shapes.
For example:
Look at Shape 1, the twins are in red and the triplets in blue.
In Shape 2, you’ll find the same thing. The triplets shift slightly because of the B string tuning, but the pattern is still there.
In Shape 3, the twins shift slightly because of the B string tuning, but the pattern is still there.
Look at all 5 shapes and you’ll see twins + triplets every time (Shape 5 is trickier, but the triplets are split across the B, both E strings, and the A string).
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Here’s where it gets really useful:
The notes inside the twins and triplets are the same across all the shapes. That means the riffs you play on one set of Twins or Triplets can be lifted straight into another shape.
➡️ Watch this quick video of me playing a short riff on the twins and triplets in all 5 shapes so you can hear it in action.
That’s how you stop memorizing random boxes… and start making music all over the neck.
Once you see this, you’ll never look at the pentatonic scale the same way again.
- Dustin
The 5 Pentatonic Shapes are part of my Fretboard Fluency Bundle. But you’ll get the most from them if you’ve already built a foundation with the 3 Essential Skills Bundle. That’s why I always recommend starting there — and when you’re ready, moving into Fretboard Fluency takes everything to the next level.