Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hi Tomo,

Thanks for your reply. I will definitely record myself doing chromatic scales and post it here.

And come to think of it at times I do think that my fingers aren't able to stretch like they want to for those chords/triads I mentioned.

I look forward to seeing your feedback on this :)

You're very welcome!

When you have any problems with fingering for chords... Your left hand thumb position & how relax your fingers...
So chromatic scale exercise that you need to pay more attention.

Thank you.

Tomo

Hi Tomo,

I did the chromatic exercise videos for both descending and ascending, just uploading to YT as I type. I should have the links ready to go soon.

On the bright side, I'm working on triads today and the 654 and 543 root triad is finally getting good. I've been slowly working on the fingering and technique for weeks and today the fingers are all going down at the same time :) Small baby steps! :)

Hi Tomo,

The videos are taking forever to upload to YT for some unknown reason.

Here are the google drive links. They are all video that you can watch. I hope this works so you can see them.

Here they are:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fJWQypqjNdQ7sqk9tVLGeZzz1PexYY_p/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qGtweRuLPTbambl6PGQjyFhKlynjoSoV/view?usp=sharing

Btw if it doesn't open you can download them and watch them on any player. I hate technology sometimes.

Great news! Thanks for letting me know.
Looking forward to checking on YouTube links.

Thank you.

Tomo

2nd video.

Just listen two patterns. You can hear that each note's duration is not full all the times and you can hear harmonics from 6th & 5th strings (vibrating from 4th string's certain pitch).

1212... 4343... is good one to practice but you may want to do super simple chromatic patterns... 1234....4321
and do much slower tempo and shorter like ... starting at 5th fret to 9th fret (your first finger)
I practice a lot of this so that I can pay a lot of attention on my both hands timing, duration of each notes and muting techniques (muting lower strings all the times)

A lot of people tends to think this exercise is for fingering & picking but more than that.
Very important to notice that something you haven't notice before.

Hope my comments will help to make these exercises with better results.

Thank you so much! I have learned something from these videos.

Thank you for sharing.

Tomo

Thanks! I will try to make the notes sustain more and will work on the timing between both hands along with better muting technique.

Now, back to the original question about trying to place all fingers down at the same time for the C/D CAGED shapes and some of the drop 2 voicings. Do you notice anything in the chromatic exercises that would indicate issues with finger dexterity and flexibility? If so, how should I fix this?

P.S. the problem uploading to YT was that I was using Firefox browser instead of Google Chrome browser. I hate proprietary software that does this. So, so frustrating!!!!

You're very welcome!

Yes! I see a few major problems on foundation.
That's why you should do simple pattern with no metronome and pay attention those things.

Then you can play chords much easier!
I have practiced more chromatic scales so I have control on tiny details which makes my chord move faster and cleaner.

Okay! Here we go! I have done that too!
Yes! I hate technology but we need to know a few!

Thank you.

Tomo

Do you sit on that couch to practice your guitar?

I am curious about your lefthand thumb movement on your triads, drop2 chords.

Now that I know how to upload to YT I will start recording myself more often to post here. I'll have something done over the weekend and I'll post it here early next week.

And yes, I do sit on the couch, I really don't have any decent chair to sit in that doesn't have arms that get in the way of a guitar. I am looking at getting a proper guitar stool or chair at some point.

P.S. I'm left handed so my fretting hand is my right hand. I think you want to see how I'm fretting the notes, right?

Great!

Your position of body is sinking into the couch so it's hard to keep your posture straight.

Now you can sit not deep so that you can keep your back not touching back of the couch.
For instance, I sit on the chair and my back never touched once on back of the chair.

Yes! I noticed it. Fretted hand thumb position is so important.
You can play some example of your chord playing and when you post a video, include the topic name & description so we can communicate better plus other subscribers can learn something from posts.

Thank you.

Tomo