Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

I’m just into the first few days of foundation technique and theory, and have a concern about the shunning of shapes in the lessons. In lesson 4 of theory 1, Tomo says “think about the notes of D Dorian”. Is the expectation as the lessons progress, to not think at all in terms of shapes and patterns? If so, I think this approach will become highly inefficient very quickly? Or is this heading toward something like the intervalic functions à la Tom Quayle, which seems to stress efficiency via chord/scale formulae and intervals relative to the root note.
I’d just like to know more where Tomo’s approach is heading. While I agree that I want the approach to be thorough, which Tomo’s definitely is, it also needs to be efficient.
Any advice, thoughts and experience is highly appreciated.

hey jonathan, here's how i interpret and understand the intention behind that... the idea is to help you understand why scales sound the way they sound, rather than memorizing the shape of the scale.

it's not that tomo is advocating "never use shapes," but rather "learn the notes of the scales so that your playing isn't fixed to a specific shape."

personally, i've learned shapes when i started out, and it was really hard to break out of it when i started tomo's lessons. once i used what he taught, i noticed my playing progressed from relying less on shape/memorizing... to more feel and understanding of note placement relative to the chords.

learning this method of scales also gave me more freedom (and confidence!) on the fretboard.

unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) it's harder to improve on the soloing aspect, as tomo also explains. i still get loads of notes wrong when i jam, but that's cool. it's all part of the process.

tomo is one of the best teacher i've encountered, but just because i think he's great and will listen to everything he teaches, doesn't always mean you have to do the same :) i think it's good to question this, and to find your own way of learning that helps you best.

it's okay to take bits of pieces of what you like from tomo, and others from the teachers you've had in the past. that's all part of how you develop your own voice and sound on the guitar. and to me, that's what tomo is trying to provide for us as guitarists - a way to discover our own unique voice through understanding of the individual notes.

Thanks Tim.
Is there a video which you can point me to on this which Tomo clearly and succinctly summarises his framework? I get the sense that note names, solfeggio and degree/intervals feature heavily, with triads acting as essentially a tool of visualisation? Thoughts?

hey jonathan, not sure if this satisfies the "succinctly" part of it, but he reiterates this throughout the music theory 1 series. specifically in the mixolydian scale video, he talks about how learning the notes (rather than shapes) can help you break the wall most intermediate players hit.

i was at that point before joining tomo's guitar wisdom, so it resonated most with me. it might be a little basic for you, but it was an "aha" for me :)

here's the video, and it starts around 4:15. https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i/videos/theory-05-g-mixolydian-c-mixolydian

I am pretty new to the GW site, but Tomo seems like an excellent teacher. He certainly seems to know his stuff. And he can demonstrate very precisely. Honestly, did you ever meet anyone who is so happy to teach you guitar?
I accept his role as teacher, and mine as student. I respect his playing enough to try to listen and follow his advise.
Every teacher is different as is every student. Tomo obviously loves triads and arpeggios, so I am trying to fill in the gaps I have there.

To add to what these are guys saying .. pretty much if you learn pattern shapes you’ll still need to learn the intervals of the chord
Which he emphasizing a lot starting with triads CEG (R-3-5 )or CEbG R-b3-5 etc etc