Hey Chris, you wrote above:
"For now, as a beginner, it's enough to know that one pentatonic box shape & work on making music with it."
I'm really glad you said that. For some reason, I was getting wrapped up with trying to go up and down the neck as a beginner. Seems stupid in retrospect. Anders said something that compliments what you said. Something like, "Limitation fuels creativity", then went on to demonstrate that by playing some awesome sounding improvised blues riffs over a backing track... using just 3 notes.
Your advise about staying in one pentatonic box must be constraining for advanced guitarists, but it's liberating for beginners like me. Thanks!
Sascha
Yes, the goal is to make music. That's the only reason to learn scales as a step in the process. So, it's always best to keep that in mind. Learning a new scale or pattern can certainly be a great incentive or motivation to make more music in a new way. But it's not helpful as an end in itself. If you can get all the licks you want out of one pattern (or 3 notes!), then that's all you need.
This is true even when you know more scales & patterns. The ultimate goal is to make a bunch of music with each one. Or it's useless info that isn't helping your musicianship.
And yes, I agree that Anders does a great job of demonstrating that principle in his lessons.
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory