The Steel Guitar Forum

I am not trying to hijack a very interesting topic regarding Box playing. However I think by starting a new topic and furnish the givens to define a Box and how it is used both on the Standard Guitar and the E9 PSG, we then can enter into a discussion of how to apply and use this info as apposed to debating what is or is not a Box.

The Minor Pentatonic scale is the bases of most Heavy Metal, Rock and Blues.
You can hear it used by most artists from Chuck Berry to Van Halen.
Finger patterns of the Pentatonic scales on the Standard guitar built around each minor chord position is commonly referred to as a Box.
The beauty of Box playing is that you can learn one or two boxes and pretty well have the ability to play most Blues and Rock. I am not suggesting by any means you stop there but it is a very good start.

My approach to playing Blues and Rock is to adapt the Boxes to E9 PSG in the same manor they are used on the Standard Guitar in that you build the boxes around the Minor chord positions and play the scale in the usual manor you would play E9 by playing the scales within the each Box using pedals and levers to form the Pentatonic scale. This in no way means you can't move the bar around in each box instead of using pedal in fact I encourage using both.

The first example below is comparing the Standard Guitar Boxes to the E9 PSG Boxes.

The second example is comparing the difference between the Standard Guitar and the E9 PSG in how you can play the scales within each Box.

Thanks for reposting this. I saw it the other day and by the time I got around to really working with it, it was gone. This is very helpfull.

Let me show an example of how I approach the bar movement within the Boxes which usually takes in two or more boxes.
I the following example I use a combination of Box 1 and Box 5. In this instance it is in the 4 chord of A and Box 1 becomes a D7 and Box 5 remains an Am and you alternate between the two positions for some double stop Chuck Berry Scale
E=lowers E string.

Thanks Bo
Seeing that was like flipping the light switch on ! All of the sudden things become clear.
By the way what program do you use for the tab and notation you posted . That is too Kool!!

Thanks again

Shane

Bo, thanks to both you and Stewart for getting this up on The Forum again. Really helpful stuff. steve t

Bo
would it be to much trouble to have that sent to me via email I am not able to play anything at the moment but would like to have this when I get my guitar back. jba9328547@aol.com

Joseph, Hope you are better soon. Perhaps you can just SAVE Bo's post to your computer. You'd also have it that way. steve t

Thanks Michael Chapel, Shane Glover, Steve Takacs and Joseph Barcus for your interest in this. You have made Stuart very happy.
I will be happy to email info on this subject.
I wish we all had the program that Stuart and I use called TablEdit. We then could all exchange by Email, notation, tab and midi in one simple file that would open in TablEdit.
The beauty part about the TablEdit is that it plays in midi the tab and/or notation along as you follow the tab and/or notation and you can import the midi of your finished product to BIAB and make an arrangement of the tab. You can also reverse the process and go from BIAB to TablEdit, what a concept. There are so many good things about it I could go on all day.
Just type in TablEdit in your browser and get the info. The free version will not work for PSG so don’t be cheap, spend the $59.97 (not even $60) and download it instantly and let the fun begin.

Bo, this is just GREAT of you and Stuart to share this with everyone,,,,it is difficult for experienced players, let alone newbies to comprehend the depth of knowledge in these pockets.

While the concept of pockets IS coming together for me, and BIAB is a very useful tool for me, I am totally ignorant of the "midi", "tabledit" your referring to! Could you expond on these a little???,,,BTW,,,I love your cartoons!

Here is a link to the Buddy Emmons article on C6 pockets,,very useful stuff,,,many months of learning here.

http://www.buddyemmons.com/Pockets.htm

I'm not music theory savy to say the least, After looking at the E-9 PSG Box example above, can you play most 1-4-5 songs using:

Boxes 1-3-5 Frets 1-3-5-7-9 pedals up?
Or, Boxes 5-1, frets 1-3, pedals Open and A/B?
Or, Box 3, frets 7-9, pedals A/B and Open?

What is the constant or pattern being constructed here, if any? It seems there has to be something that pulls it all together.

Thanks for your response...More questions to come later!

Tommy

Tommy. You can play any of the Boxes over 1, 4, 5 chords. As I said the Minor Penta Boxes are built around the Minor chord positions. The Idea is to figure out your own selected path within each Box.
Below is what I refer to as the root of each Box which by using pedals you can play the Am Penta scale within.

Now after seeing this i need lesson's!

The last time i tried to play in the box was right before my first divorce! Come to think of it, it was also right before my second divorce!

Thanks Bo! I play alot of this but couldn't tell you what i'm playin if you stopped me and ask!

I have to cal Gimble or Swain to find out what i just played!

Saved it! Now post a clip on how to play it! If i see it i get it alot faster! You know me and speed!

Excellent! Keep 'em comin'!

Sonny Jenkins wrote:
While the concept of pockets IS coming together for me, and BIAB is a very useful tool for me, I am totally ignorant of the "midi", "tabledit" your referring to! Could you expond on these a little???,,,BTW

Sonny, I’m not speaking of a new midi version of TablEdit. It has always been, type in your tab and click play and it plays the tab with a follow along line so you can see and hear each note of your tab. You can export it as a midi file and import it into any program that accepts midi such as BIAB. You can also import midi into TablEdit.
click on the url below for a midi clip of the lick I posted earlier for Box 4.
http://boleggs.com/boleggsmoose/Tab.html