Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Thank you Tomo! I'm about to move to page 6 now, Already feeling comfortable with the first 4 exercises, great to see this! 😊

Have a great Monday!
Sérgio

Thank you Tomo! This deserves its own thread, SO important, Great tip and visual instruction! Important to at least work on one or two measures slowly for a few minutes each day. I'm going to plug my Martin in to hear finger and string noise. Been a long time. Need to change strings too. It has a fishman pickup.
Have a great day!
Kurt

You're very welcome Sergio!
Please take your time! Good job!

Thank you.
Happy Monday!

Tomo

You're very welcome Kurt!
Yes! Totally! Even one bar!

Very nice! Good job!
You too!

Tomo

Thank you so much Sir , This is really important part and has not yet be discovered !
Let's try my Martin's pickup !
This is so helpful , appreciate for this !

Great work Jiayang! Happy new year! 🥳

Very well done 李jiayang!
Martin sounds lovely today. No finger noise- no string noise. Your hard work is paying off. I can hear it. You look so natural filming yourself. I know that is a long song that sounds simple, but involves so much muting etc.
Thanks for inspiring us! I see your cool book back there too ;-)
Happy New Year!
Kurt

Thank you Sergio , So happy , Happy new year ,wish you and wife health and happiness 😊, let's keep growing together !
All the best !

Kurt , Today Martin use amp ! Vibro champ , really great sounding , thank you , my Martin will happy for this!
Yes , when I need video , I just realized how hard this is , video can show many thing , but like Ken say , red light came on , haha , some things is change , but agree with this is a better way to practice & working .
The book really cool , still keep reading !
All the best !

Thank you for sharing Jiayang!

Beautiful playing! Even pros can make some mistakes and this song using a lot of open strings so it it really difficult to play! I listened it this morning again. Your palm muting is so great!

You are not only doing a great job but also giving a lot of inspiration to others!
That's so amazing! Thank you so much!

Very happy new year!'

Tomo

Hi Hi ! Ken !
Appreciate for this and really thanks for Tomo bing here and his teaching !
I 'm really appreciate for your praise and encourage , this so so warm and inspire me , yes agree , I really want to finish this duet in these three weeks , a full song , but I just can't be perfect in my mind . But we still can keep going , put effort to this song , not really finish !
All the best !

Thank you Ken!

So beautiful!

Tomo

Appreciate for this Sir , No rushing like we need
Don't worry , Don' expect too fast , Don't compare , & Be kind to ourself !

These powerful words really inspire me ,This is so great , change so many thing ,make people feel positive , Really thank you for this .

So happy to here this news from Berklee , I 'm so happy this idea will helpful , so pleasure about this !

Agree with this , all this is so inspire :·) Still keep going and growing !

So Grateful !

You're very welcome Jiayang!

You are doing really well with " Don't worry !" and " Don't expect too fast? "
And " Don't compare! " " Be kind to yourself "

Always be calm! Be positive at any times.
Guitar changed me so much!

You are helping my Berklee students indirectly but a lot of inspiration!
Thank you so much!

Thanks to Andrew too!
Page 6&7, Page 10&11
Must have!

Thank you.
Tomo

Thank you , Sir !
This so happy and surprise.
Yeah! We're moving :)
Andrew is so great , He is encourage me make video ,I love his performance, thank you Andrew !
The supplement course video is so help , Very grateful for this .

You're welcome!

We are going to better place together!
We are learning & growing together!
We are becoming "Family"

Yes! Andrew's post on P10&11... extra inspiration!
With your P6&7 inspiration! Amazing!

I am so grateful!

Tomo

Agree with this , the November challenge is such amazing experience !
So happy the video will help , let's growing together Andrew !
Amp & acoustic guitar 👍
Ps : The acoustic guitar pickup volume still need 7~8 ?
All the best wishes !

Thank you Andrew!

I practice like the November Challenge all year long!

I practice insanely super duper slow! This is the best!

I use my Orangewood Ava Mahogany Live with amp so that I cannot miss any string noise & finger noise. I focus to use less pressure from my left hand left fingers all the times.

That's why i can not use flatwound strings all the times. I have 12-52 Flatwound set on my 1956 Fender Duo Sonic.

Thank you.

Tomo

Insanely super-duper :-)

Thank you Jeff , I 'm so grateful for this !
You encourage and help is so amazing for me !
Ps:You words still in my wall : You won't feel results while you are playing it's the consistency over time that's making all happen .
Still play a role.
All the best !

What a great glimpse of the future Kurt! When I get there I would like to make a split screen video with the 2 parts 😊

For now I stepped back to page 4 and 5 because I was blocking to much, had to step back to get better.

I'd love to see that, Sergio!
Good thinking! Stepping forward, then back, so you can step forward.
Like doing the Hokey Pokey.
Kurt
"You put your right foot in, you take your right foot out
You put your right foot in, and you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey, and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about"
(Repeat with left foot, each hand, then your whole self!)

Thank you Kurt!

Thank you 李jiayang for reminding us of those important words! Worth repeating like a mantra.
We are getting somewhere! Slowly. I can tell when I can pause a Tomo lesson and can predict what he is going to call an inversion or interval etc. We keep going and growing with Tomo! I'm excited for a new fun new week of learning and making music.
I'm grateful to be here with my friends in the GW Blues Funk Skills laboratory!
Kurt

Thank you Kurt !
Oh ! GW Blues Funk Skills laboratory , cool name :)
Yes , We Don't worry
Don't compare
Don't expect too fast
Be kind to myself :)

Ps :Okey , I think my Boss DB-90 metronome are almost drive me crazy , there so many coach is inside ! Little bit dizzy with this new gear , Be kind to my self , I will come out :)

Sorry to hear your Boss is being a brat. Franz is quite polite. He likes when I dust him.

I think Jeffrey named this place the "GW Funk & Blues Laboratory".
I can just see Tomo in his white lab coat, conducting experiments and teaching us.

Always a good idea to take breaks and get outside when the machines are cranky.
Kurt

That’s right I did. And named you chief scientist Kurt. Overall think Franz and I have a ok relationship. He does not like being left on the edge of the table so always move him toward the center out of respect. Agreed likes being dusted off too

Chief scientist Kurt , Seems your and Jeffry ‘s Franz is lovable ,don't worry , I will not let my brat boy Boss sneak up .
Take advice , give the machine a rest & come to outside :) She will feel better
—To GW Funk & Blues Laboratory

Pure hard work we can do that! Let’s stay focused!

Limited time ! & No magic !

Thank you Ken!
Good job!

Picking direction!
For example, 2nd bar each beat... should be down beat = down stroke.
This part is super duper important.

I would practice this at 48 per beat so that you can check all the details.
Sounds great! But if you want to improve, always go slower than you would.

8th bar 2nd beat...you need to release note C from beat 1!
2nd GUITAR... overall you need to move your thumb more! This part is very hard!

Overall good job Ken!
Thank you.

Tomo

Thanks Ken!
That was nice!! I'm looking forward to working on that one eventually.
Your beautiful guitar sounds and looks amazing.
Kurt

Thanks Tomo! Very observant teacher you are! I was oblivious to alternating on those quarter notes! So, basic rule is quarter notes get all downbeats.

Slower, makes me laugh because I did this at 60 bpm when I felt 70 was a bit too much! It’s all in service of paying attention to the details. Hard for me to remember this!

Release the C! Yes, I let it ring because of 1st inversion right after it, but you’re right, it’s not written that way.

And, release the thumb! Thanks for your prompt coaching Tomo!

You're very welcome! As you know I can explain more details when I teach in private lesson.
I just picked a few important part. Alternate picking & choosing right tempo.

For entertainment purpose, play two parts mixing ...good!
For educational purpose, you want to record each part (not together) and slow so you can fix things. Improving guitar is not about how many hours to practice... notice something you didn't notice before and fix it with slow tempo.

I don't choose tempo with what I feel... I think carefully to choose tempo... because once I play fast... I just repeat same things and generally not clean (techniques). This etude is great one!
I used to practice (48-52) so I can use more dynamics and catch duration of notes & muting etc.

I think you can work on your thumb position more. Best way is to practice more triad inversions in 3 ways but focusing on more your thumb position. I teach that very often to my students at any levels. From beginners to Pros.

Thank you.
Tomo

Nice, Ken! I see the hand is healing nicely. (I also spy your practice notebook in the background. Good discipline!)