Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

I just got guitar wisdom today and checking out some of the videos I am really struggling. I have been playing for 7+ years but never done any theory so this is all new and very very confusing to me. I learned the musical alphabet today and how to build the major scale on one string, then moved onto the lesson about understanding the major scale in more detail and its just so much more than i understand and is really tough.

I guess what I'm asking is, what would be the best plan of what lessons to watch and where to start from? Because even on these earlier lessons some of the things that are spoken about like they are common knowledge go right over my head. I guess I also get discouraged that a lot of this stuff is more behind the scenes knowledge, rather than anything that is displayed in your playing.

Welcome. There is a lot of information available on this site and it can be overwhelming. If you scroll down on the videos page you will see lessons 1-12. Start on those in order and it may help.

I copied this com a post sleepyhead made (thank you):
One great way to remember how to build major scales is that there is a WHOLE STEP between every single note EXCEPT for the 2nd and 3rd notes AND the 7th and 8th notes. So that is how you can build any major scale, I think that answers your question.

But just to dive a little tiny bit deeper.......

Basically, in traditional western music theory we use the 12 notes

A / A# (Bb) / B / C / C# (Db) / D / D# (Eb) / F / F# (Gb) / G / G# (Ab)

so when you play these 12 notes in different combos, you get diff ‘flavors’ and ‘moods’

BUT most music doesn’t use all 12 notes at once...
instead they just pick a specific group of (generally) 5 to 7 of these notes to focus on at a time...

and those combos of the notes that we choose to include OR EXCLUDE are called the key signature

...if you play all the notes that you decided to use in your key signature in order
from bottom to top...
youre playing them in a scale.

Does that make sense?
so lets talk about scales
the 2 most common scales in music theory are Major and Minor (also referred to as Ionian and Aeolian, respectively)

if you exclude all the shapes/flats

and just use

A B C D E F G

if you play this sequence of notes in this order, and start the sequence from A...

you get the A minor scale.

Next, if youre playing the same notes from this A minor scale

A BC D EF G

BUT now you start from C

(so C now becomes the first note)

then you have C D E F G A B

and thats the C major scale

so we’ve got the A minor scale

A BC D EF G

we’ve got the C major scale

C D EF G A BC

all using those same notes, just in a different order

so in other words
if you arrange the natural notes in order starting on A, you get A minor

starting on C
you get C major

when you learning a scale on your instrument

you should immediately start improvising with it, so that can get in your ears.

so you should spend a few minutes paling the A minor and C major scales slowly enough
so that you can recognize the names of the notes as you play them
- thats important -
then try jamming with the A minor scale over an A minor backing track
and a C major scale over the C major backing track

Play your a minor scale and start messing around with different combo of notes within the scale and diff melodies

I came to this site with Basic Theory knowledge- I'm able to follow the videos without too much confusion, and I am learning a lot and filling in the blanks or reinforcing what i already knew- absolutely love the lessons. I can see how it would be difficult however unless I hadn't already been exposed to Basic Theory.

That basic knowledge included: 1.Major Scale, 2.How chords are constructed from the major scale,3. What makes a chord Major, Minor, Aug, Diminished, 4.How to Harmonize Scales, 5.Intervals

I would seek out information pertaining to "Basic Theory". I would stick to topics using the major scale as the reference for study.

Everything I mention is surely in the videos, but I haven't sought it out so i cant give you specific videos to search. It may seem like a lot to learn but it's not. This is information that is talked about on many blues/jazz books-covered thoroughly in about 10 pages. You can learn it. There are no secrets.

If you'll learn the major scale and how chords are made from it and what is meant by a chord progression you should be able to click on these videos and learn from them.

I recommend continuing to watch the videos, even if you don't completely understand everything.
Simply keep watching them looking for a new tidbit of information.
Don't expect to learn a lot all at once too soon.
Relax and be kind to yourself.
Listen to the knowledge expansion that Tomo-san is laying down for you.
You don't have to play what he's playing right away. He's simply showing you the bridge between what is being demonstrated in the video and where you can take that knowledge.
Keep swimming in the pool of knowledge and eventually, you will not feel as if you are drowning.

I hope this helps.

Here is Tomo's comment:

"Thanks so much for subscribing to my Guitar Wisdom. I understand your struggle. Please think about these words from my Wisdom Picks: Don't worry! Don't compare! Don't expect too fast! Be kind to yourself!

"I think you are hurrying. It is OK to stay on ONE lesson for a long time! Maybe you can pick 2-3 lessons and watch each one as much as you need to, so information and ideas will have time to sink in. Watch a few lessons in the foundation section. Please don’t rush! In the beginning, many things are not going to jump out at you. Keep your mind (and ears) open, and you will get there!"