Start with the chord formula
A basic triad uses root, third, and fifth. Seventh chords add a seventh, and extended chords can add further colour tones. Those notes create a hierarchy inside the larger scale.
Why chord tones make strong targets
Scale notes can all belong to the key, but they do not all describe the current chord equally. Landing on a chord tone when the harmony changes often makes a line sound more connected to the progression.
Map chord tones around a voicing
Take a chord shape or triad and find its root, third, and fifth on nearby strings and frets. Those notes become nearby melodic targets without requiring you to leave the position.
Connect targets through a progression
Play a simple progression and choose one chord tone to target on each change. Then allow passing scale tones between those targets. This turns a scale map into harmonic movement.
Chord Tones mode
Fretwise can display the chord formula and map chord tones across the selected range so the current chord and the surrounding key can be studied together.
Keep learning
Use these ideas as practice concepts rather than rules. The useful question is whether they make the fretboard easier to navigate and the harmony easier to hear.