Extension Box Riffs | Pattern 1 | Minor Pentatonic

You can add extra real estate to this pentatonic position with the help of 2 Extension Boxes. They are cherry-picked from finger-friendly regions of neighbouring Patterns 5 and 2. This allows us to:

• increase riff-making potential,
• introduce more lateral movement across the neck,
• increase the range of available pitches and textures with extra extra bass and treble notes.

The Lower Extension Box is an enclave of notes located at the 3rd and 5th frets of the low-E and A strings constructed in the following way:

• A new bass note is borrowed from Pattern 5 (a G on the 3rd fret of the low-E string).
• A and D notes are already part of Pattern 1
• The C note (3rd fret of the A string) is the same pitch as the one on the 8th fret of the low-E string i.e. it is just re-positioned.

The Upper Extension Box is located on the 3-2-1 string set.

Many players refer to it as the “Albert King box,” as this is the finger-friendly area where he forged many of his famous blues licks.

• A new note D (10th fret of the high-E string) is borrowed from Pattern 2.
• The E and A notes are simply moved from their 5th fret positions, and the G and C notes are the ‘linking notes to Pattern 1.