Box, shape, form, position - same or different?

Are these basically synonomous or do they refer to different things?

Thanks

Originally Posted by: dlwalke

Are these basically synonomous or do they refer to different things?

There is not necessarily an industry standard. So, it's best to be as clear as possible & define your terms up front. But there are general usages as follows.

Box and shape usually refer to fretboard/scale patterns. As in "the A minor pentatonic box", or "the C major scale shape". The term box usually refers to a pentatonic scale because there are 2 notes per string & visualizing one of the pentatonic shapes forms a "box" due to the 2 "sides" formed by the notes & orthogonal "sides" formed by the strings on which you choose to stop visualizing the box. I cover that in my tutorial on pentatonic scales.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=296

Sometimes shape refers to finger placement, as in "an E major barre chord shape".

Form can refer to a fretboard pattern or a fingering pattern, as in "the C major CAGED form", or "the E major barre chord form".

Position usually means the lowest fret used in any given fingering or musical passage. As in "the G major barre chord rooted on the E string has the 3rd fret as the lowest position", or "the A minor pentatonic scale starts on the 5th position, or fret".

I've heard some players refer to shapes or boxes as position, but I try not to because that term already has a pretty solid traditional usage as the lowest fret used.

Hope that helps!

A position is way of expressing where fretting fingers are placed in relation to frets. In first position, for example, the first finger corresponds with fret one, the second finger with fret two, the third finger with fret three and the fourth finger with fret four.

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