Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Day15 | Week 2.1 : )
Had to do my 10 mins early morning today (to keep habit unbroken), as going away overnight hiking.
(I live down under in NZ).
Focus on pick grip and muting today. Looking forward to week 3 when I return tomorrow night : )
Those recent videos are so helpful. Thank you so much Tomo.

Day 15 Complete!

Today I focused on posture and my pick angle when striking the string. I noticed that I inadvertently pull my left shoulder back and keep the guitar almost parallel to my body. The palm mute video really reinforced the proper angle the guitar should be at and how the right elbow helps keep it there. Also had to raise my strap a little higher too.

I also noticed that I was tilting the pick towards the floor instead of attacking parallel to the string. Modifying these two subtleties seemed to help my palm muting, string noise and tension. Today felt like a bit of a breakthrough. Several things to check as I enter my next session tomorrow!

Thank you Tomo!!!

Best,
Erik

This challenge reminds me to breathe. To not rush this sacred process. I feel like I’m finally understanding how to really control tone for real. Some days I fall back and find my self speeding up and of course the tone control slips when this happens. Trusting the process and allowing myself to come back to breathing and going slow. Being less hard on myself.
Also applying the slow down method to scale work and triad practice has taken pressure off me that I didn’t even realize was there! There’s no where to go or get to. Just to be able to pick this guitar up on the daily is a true gift.
Thank you Tomo for sharing the wisdom with us! AND for actively engaging with us in our journey. It means more than words can say… These lessons and your method of teaching is changing more than just my playing!!! Let’s keep going friends!!!

Completed my w2 a few days late since I have been sick for the last few days. I have frustrated for a moment that my streak was broken, but the feeling was let go quickly. We are here in Guitar Wisdom anyway, so I shouldn't worry about it :)

For the week 2 topic, I knew going backward would not be easy, but it was more challenging than I thought. I had to pay extra attention to the tension built up in the fretting hand. I even did it wrong for the first 3 days by lifting all the fingers up except for the fretting one. For example, this was me on day 2:

It's a good reminder that I should review the instruction video more; maybe doing that as the 1st thing before practicing for the first few days.

On the day 7 I felt I have improved a lot:

It isn't obvious in the video, but my left hand is a lot more relaxed. I can now sense the force I apply to each finger better, so I do granular control. Once again, there are still a lot left for me to work on, but it's time to move on. Looking forward to where the week 3 practice will lead me.

Thanks for sharing! Even after this November Challenge, we should keep going with this chromatic scale!

4321 ... place 4 3 2 1 fingers on the frets lightly when you start. Then move your finger 4,3,2,1....
Please watch my video a few more times.

2nd video is good! Thank you.

Tomo

This thread is also "Gold"

Amazing communication & daily posts from our members.

I am so grateful to have you guys here at Guitar Wisdom & our forum.

Thank you so much!

Tomo

7 pages of amazing comments!
Thank you so much!

Everyone should read these comments & watch my additional advice videos.

NOVEMBER CHALLENGE: WEEK 2
General · 95 replies · 2294 views · 35 followers

Thank you.

Tomo

Will do! Good call to refresh and read everyone’s ideas again. Lots key tips and themes. Maybe we missed out on one before or wasn’t paying as much attention to something we see others are doing