Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Day 6 is complete. It's not easy to track all the details, but that's what makes it fun and challenging!

Day 6 Complete!

Focus of today was my pickstroke and awareness of palm muting. Not sure of the best way to post questions but I’ll drop two here….

With your pickstroke….are you mainly letting gravity do the work of the downstroke and are you following through to the next string? It’s hard to tell from the video on the follow through, but it looks like you are not.

With palm muting….does your hand have a sensitivity to tell which strings are being muted and with which part of your hand? I know you show the where on the hand in the video but when I’m applying it I honestly can’t tell what part of my hand is doing it and often wind up adding too much pressure and/or flesh and dampening the string I’m playing…in this case I’ve been sticking to the D.

I know you’re traveling but I wanted to get my thoughts documented. I need to start keeping a journal! Thanks in advance for any input you are able to share. Safe travels….enjoy your time!!!!

Best,
Erik

Day6 - Breathing and finger noise today. Very meditative :)
Thank you!
Safe travels Tomo :)

Day 7 - focus on thumb position and slowing down. Started off changing strings this morning which put me a little behind schedule. So I started off going to fast because I lost some time I usually use to practice. Had to slow down and calm down and focus. But pausing and working through this chromatic exercise is calming and very Zen. Not rushing is definitely the focus today.

Safe travels.

Respectfully,
Bryon Mondok
Laconia, New Hampshire

On the seventh day.Today is a Ten—minute exercise.The fingers are still a little straight.
Best wishes Tomo ,Wish you a smooth journey!

Hi Tomo,

Been playing this exercise every morning! I love seeing the progress over time.

This brief but consistent practice methodology reminds of me of how I got into Data Science; initially some concepts seemed insurmountable when I tried to tackle them all at once, but I had a lot of success when I started approaching them with short iterative bursts of exploration (there's a great free course on Coursera called "Learning How To Learn" that's worth checking out for the neuroscience explanation).

PS I would love to be part of the raffle for that beautiful Ibanez guitar! Awaiting instructions on how to participate.

Best,
Mati

Day 7 | Week 1
Today's focus is:
+ thumb position back of neck
+ play each note slowly
✨

Week 1: Day 7

One of my favorite practice sessions so far. To minimize noise, I focused on placing my fingers as close to the frets as possible with minimal pressure, especially on frets 1 and 2. My palm is finally starting to settle comfortably around the bottom two strings. I’m also starting with my thumb slightly below the middle of the neck, knowing it tends to move up gradually as I shift positions across the neck.

Practice makes perfect.

Today my goal was "slower as possible" and focusing in palm muting. I played with my eyes closed sometimes to feel how my hands and fingers were touching the strings. More difficult than I thought ( some noise) but the last two series were almost perfect.

Day 7:
What a week! Looking back, I thought about all I learned this week:
• Slow it down! One-note-per-breath!
• Daily five minutes is plenty (no more, no less).
• Touch as lightly as possible = less noise, and is kind to hand. Focus on moving finger straight from string.
• Good ear training (really LISTEN to those intervals)
• Vibrato should not be habit.

All my weeks should be so productive!

Thanks for reading.

Day 7 hitting close to middle of the fret with focus on what sounds good use sustain until the note fades, then again. Focus 5th & 6th strings mute with lite picking between neck and middle pick up, very little grip, hold loosely pick half way out. Long sustain on forth note. Close with a jump to Bb triad run up the fret board,. good fun! *smiles, - jf

Week 1 complete! I'm enjoying focusing on the details. Feeling good about the results. Bring on week 2!

Clocked in day 7, my biggest challenge is left hand tension….slowly but surely I trod on. Thank you Mr Fujita.

Week one complete!

Today I worked on sustaining the 4th note and making sure to told my pick halfway out

After a week, I’m feeling great in this challenge and seeing improvement!

Thank you
Max

Week 1:Day 7

I am still focusing on moving while playing and palm muting. Not much improvement from yesterday, if at all. I am satisfied with the other parts of the exercise, however.

Michael Kimber