Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Day 4 | Week 1
Today, I will focus on:
+ palm muting
+ thumb position back of neck

Happy Monday!

Day 4 done… worked on posture and moving my body. Also, focused on sustaining the fourth note and changing hand position with no noise.

Respectfully,
Bryon Mondok
Laconia, New Hampshire

Focus today was on sitting up straight, adjusted my strap as well, and I was also thinking about the name of the note I was playing. Lastly was working on relaxing the elbow. Have a good day all!

Practice the fourth day!
Today I realized how difficult it is to maintain thumb position and relax wrist.
And I can't practice with the front of my index finger.My hand angle is different from Tomo's. It's like I have to turn it sideways and can't straighten it.
Speaking of which,I realized that I had forgotten my original intention a bit.To tell the truth.I have always had a problem.That's just too urgent,so I need to come back,deep breathing and remember:
Don't worry Don't compare. Don't expect too fast. Be kind to myself.

Day 4 and I feel calm and happy :)

I'm noticing how this exercise effects the rest of my practice too! I'm working on songs from BB Kings Live at the Regal. I noticed when I go up a quick octave (a Bb note on the e string to a Bb on the b string for example) my thumb gets left behind! The chromatic exercise is really helping me break some bad habits that I hadn't noticed before.

Thanks Tomo!

Day 4….gonna break this up into a two 5 minute sessions from now on. 5 minutes the first thing I do when I pick up the guitar for the day and 5 minutes the last thing I do before going to bed. I’ve noticed that mental focus on all these little nuances is seeping into my other practice routines thus making them more of a conscious effort rather than my mind straying away while my fingers do all the work. Thanks again Mr. Fujita, wish I had the resource of this channel when I started playing.

Day 4 observation:
• I can't seem to play each sustained note without vibrato (out of habit, I guess). Practically impossible. Is this bad? Tomo, travel safe to China and back home!

Thanks so much.

D4

This is fun.
I never knew i pressed so hard on the frets! :) slow.... slow..... progress every day!
Thank you
Howard

I just completed the 4th day. At first, the biggest thing I noticed was my left hand was having some pain. By today this has reduced significantly. By practicing over the first 4 days I learned to fix this by applying less thumb pressure and slightly more finger pressure. My other big challenges are holding the pick half way and my posture. I played for so many years with just the very tip of the pick extended beyond my thumb thinking that it gave me more control, so this change is interesting. My posture is generally horrible in life :) so working on that is good.

I really love focusing on tiny improvements and changes.

I'm having fun with this and building a positive practice habit!

Doing this daily. I notice that the A string gradually begins to vibrate in a distracting way as I proceed down the neck. Since I am palm muting the first three strings, what can be done?

Hello everyone!

Thanks so much for your comments!
All your words are melting my heart.
So much joy with your interactions here.

I am heading to China tomorrow.
From Boston to San Fransisco then go to Hong Kong.
Playing Macau Jazz Festival on the 9th.

I am going to give my guitar clinic at Macau Jazz Festival on the 7th.
So I am gonna be busy traveling and working so I may be late commenting here.
But don't worry! I will read all of your comments.

Thank you so much!
You guys are so amazing!
Hard worker!

Thank you.

Tomo

Week 1:Day4

I have become very comfortable playing slowly. I kept my eyes closed to immerse myself more deeply n the practice session. I still have to remind myself to move while playing. I have not attempted palm muting yet.

Thank you, Tomo. Safe travels.

Michael Kimber

Day 4 is in the books! Challenging to place each finger of left hand right near fret wire and maintain low pressure with the hand!

Have a great time at the Festival Tomo!! Which guitar are you touring with? Happy travels!! Day 4 is pick expression and even length notes. Feelin' great!! Thank you!!! John

Hi Tomo,

Sorry if you got this question twice. I didn't know how to add a comment on this thread until now!

I wanted to clarify a bit (if indeed this is the second time you've read this):

When you are pressing the G string with the tip of your index finger at the first fret, is the rest of the index finger touching the strings beneath it?

I have been working on posture and thumb position/relaxed pressure.

Thank you for all this.