If you are what you practise, then you need to practise musical patterns, not scales that go up and down. This video is a bare bones walk through, quickly, of the six common patterns: a 3, 4, 5 and two 6 note patterns, all in C major, plus a bonus pattern from Brouwer’s Danza del Altiplano. They show you how to make a pentatonic scale musical.

The patterns

We are using the G shape out of the CAGED System for these musical patterns.

0:35, the 3 note pattern
0:52, the 4 note pattern
1:13, the 5 note pattern
1:34, the 6 note patterns
1:53, the Brouwer Danza pattern
2:16, why learn patterns?

What is the CAGED system?

It is five chord shapes: C, A, G, E and D. Each chord in the CAGED system has a pentatonic (the blues scale) and a diatonic (the Sound of Music “Doe, a deer” scale) with it. That is why it is so magical to learn. It opens up your fretboard and lets you see the harmony you are playing, not just the finger directions.

New to it? Start with The CAGED System: Part One, and the pentatonic shapes are in Part Two.

Brouwer’s Danza del Altiplano

Brouwer uses this system in his infamous introduction to Danza del Altiplano. The Danza del Altiplano lesson teaches it; see if you can spot the shapes and keys he uses. Spoiler alert: I do tell you.