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Connect the whole neck. Because each stack's diagonal pair of notes is an octave apart, stacks chain together into continuous diagonal pathways that span up to three octaves — the most common way guitarists shift position while soloing. You'll learn the two main pathways (working up from a low string and down from a high one) and the one bend that links them, for both the minor and major stacks.
What follows is this lesson’s section of the Course Guide — you can read it here or in the full guide →
Because the stack shape contains two notes separated by an octave, where one stack ends, another begins. This creates diagonal pathways that make it easy to move around the fretboard quickly. Here are two complete A minor pentatonic diagonal pathways (these repeat every 12 frets, but only two complete pathways are shown):
Similarly, here are two complete A major pentatonic diagonal pathways:
Notice that the overall shapes are the same, but their locations differ because the root position for the major pentatonic is different in the stack than the minor pentatonic root position.
Memorize this: Don’t forget that you can always bend the upper note on the upper string to reach the same note as the upper note on the lower string:
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