Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Good job! Thanks for sharing! So happy to hear that.

That's too long! Even Berklee private lesson is one 1/2 hour!

R 3 7 Swing is super hard to do well. So think about this... many hours will not do anything good.
Instead, do it 5 to 10 minutes. Maybe 15 minutes top. But you don't even do any chord progression first.
Play just Bb7 (R b7 M3) and make sure you use 2 3 4 fingers. Do that only Bb7 for a while.
Then practice Eb7 (R M3 b7) super slowly. Fingerings are 213.
After you feel comfortable on those 2 shapes then you can introduce Bb Blues chord progression.

Like this, whatever you find .... don't do so fast or too long!
It will not work effectively!

Try this way, no tempo!
Super slow but you need to strum every strings!
So you need to work on your left hand muting technique.

Do like this for two weeks.
Record yourself everyday! Even two minutes. Only way to improve is to review your playing.
Please let me know your progress.

Thank you.

Tomo

Oh I see I see, I will start simple first, for the two weeks do you mean by just strumming Bb7, Fb7 & A7 without chord progression, until two weeks if I'm comfortable with it I can introduce Bb blues chord progressions?

Yes! Do it very slow and longer days...

Right! No song, no chord progression.
Just each chord. One chord. So you can focus a lot of details.
6th string root and 5th string root.

Do these for 2 weeks then try any simple blues chord changes.
Good job!

Tomo

Hi Zxuan,

I too have a longer daily practice routine. I do think there is a learning curve to a practice session. Tomo and many other teachers say 5-10 minutes but when I watch their videos of a sample practice routine they do so much since they are already advanced. When you are beginning it takes such a long time to do such small thing such as just fingering for a chord. Maybe like me you want to learn so much that you put in long sessions.

However, there is wisdom in shorter practice sessions with deep focus. If your long sessions start with focus then slip then it's a good idea to take a break or stop. If you noodle around, and nothing wrong with that, then you could be doing it for hours with little to no progress. So, I still do longer sessions but I take pretty frequent breaks and only for a few minutes to reflect, take notes, stretch, get a snack or a drink of water. And in the long sessions I have most 10-15 minutes sections that focus on different things. On holidays and weekends when I have more time I put in even more time but might break up the sessions into two 2-hour practice sessions with mini lesson in between.

On work days as I am progressing I am finding shorter, deep sessions are just as effective as long ones. Just make sure that you have a very small goal for those sessions and really focus on that one or two things.

I hope you find some balance in your practice scheduling. Good luck!

Okay noted! I will take note. Thank you for your time, Happy Holidays!

Hi Jeffrey thank you for replying! Yes I tend to get distracted easily as I have an idea on what I need to improve/learn to improve my playing, it's just that I’m strict with myself about what mistakes I should be avoiding and getting frustrated when the correction I want to do it's not going how I expected, but I'll try to be patient and focus on one thing at a time. Prolly will review on my goals considering my current skill set. Thanks for the tip :)

Yeah, being strict with myself is a double-edged sword. I know what mistakes to avoid, but sometimes I get too caught up in them and can't move on to something else. This frustration with repeated mistakes can lead to mindlessly playing the same thing over and over, which affects the quality of my practice :*) . I'll try and take your advice about reviewing other things, allowing me to come back refreshed and ready to tackle it later. Cheers!

Haha! Yeah, I've been grooving to a Bb blues progression at 50 bpm for months now. Still don't have the swing groove right. So deep an exercise for sure!

Yea currently I have the luxury of time due to school holidays, so I am able to play for 2-3 hours a day compare to maybe only 1 hour during the school term, but I guess being focused and disciplined on practicing is very important

Me too, a few extra pieces of time this season. More music, practice, and belting it out there! To me, guitar study is a very important part of any school or curriculum. Keep the balance up, plus all that learning in all ways!

Hi Jiayang! Nice to meet you too:).
I am glad that I can relate to what you're going through.
Please correct me if I am interpreting you wrongly, so 10 minutes for each single content for practice (Eg. Chromatic Scales, R37 Swing Groove, Triad exercise), make sure all must be slow & deeply focused. After the end of practice review on the recording and take note what's good, what's there to improve on.

Afterwards if I have more time can I look into other stuff? (Currently I am interested in Essential Music Theory & Fretboard Mastery: Triads)

After practicing I normally reward myself by learning a song that I like(Focus on weaker parts, playing it slowly, taking notes after practicing the song etc.).
I hope this routine is not too much information for myself to handle.

Thank you so much for your kind words and time. Happy Holidays!

Reading tomos note and it’s 15 mins top practicing r 3 7 swing. Yes happy holidays!

Happy for your spirit , Expect your guitar journey!
Everybody all in here :)
Happy holidays!

I see I see! I have yet to think that far into planning my practice routine, it sounds like a good idea to switch things up slightly to prevent burnout. As I tend to feel that way most of the time if I practice something too many times.

But yea I will try to take things slow as I am just picked up guitar during March this year, I sometimes do feel that I lack in theory and technique aspect, but I will try not to compare myself with others and don't expect too fast ultimately.

Thanks man, cheers, have a great week!

A question I’ve asked myself over the past few years is “would I like to have ‘me’ as a teacher “? And, honestly, the answer has often been “no! absolutely not!” That has begun to shift with Guitar Wisdom. “Be kind to yourself” has become a kind of mantra. For me, real, deep learning, is not easy but so worth it! Whenever the going gets rough, I remind myself that I’m learning something new, and to be kind to myself. This has made the whole process more enjoyable even when the results I want seem to be hiding from me!

Agree! If songs aren’t coming or having a tough day can always come back to the well here. There’s always something to learn work on and others with same passion to get ideas. And I learned from watching your videos you can perform and also know what’s going on and study deeply

Hi Ken!
Thank you for your advice. Being my own teacher is definitely hard, as "I" expect a lot from myself (down to the minutiae of playing), but I will trust the progress and be kind to myself.

Hi Jeffrey!
Yes you're right about reviewing about playing, I tend to get a bad habit of not reviewing my stuff after practicing ( me being lazy to sit down and review through my videos again..), but I will try to be mindful about to continue to improve as a player

Hi Jiayang!
Yes i have watched it already, good watch :) !