The fretboard can seem quite big but finger patterns break it down into manageable sections which make it much easier to learn.
Each string has all the notes you need to play your melody but it could be quite clumsy and difficult to just play the melody of a tune on one string having to move up and down the fretboard accurately at speed.
Finger patterns show you how to play the same notes across the strings which is easier and will enable you to play more quickly.
Some important insights into finger patterns.
You can play a complete scale, major or minor, by starting at the root note and, from there, playing all the yellow notes, in sequence, within the finger patterns.
Each of the five finger patterns gives you a full octave and a bit in one small area of the fretboard.
The same finger patterns work for every major (and relative minor) key, you just start them at different places on the fretboard.
They stay in the same overlapping sequence going up the fretboard whatever key you want to use.
Root notes, blue notes and pentatonic scale notes are always in the same places in the finger patterns for every key.
The suggested fingering (the numbered boxes on your fretmeister) are just a suggestion. They are a good way to learn and explore your fretboard but you might want to do it differently when you are playing something. There isn't a right or wrong way so find what works best for you for a particular melody, riff or lick.
The numbers on the finger pattern charts suggest which
finger to use when you're learning the patterns.
1 is the index finger
2 is the second finger
3 is the ring finger
4 is the little finger