Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hi All,

This topic came up in the Unofficial GW Discord that was created. We started talking about our practice schedules and ear training came up.

One person said they are doing the Do, Re, Me, etc. from each note and doing solfege etc.

For myself, I am doing this but also use an app that does major, minor, and chromatic scales and you have to identify the given note and/or interval. I'm also trying to find patterns on the fret board and the intervals associated with them. Finally, I've tried transcribing but have gotten very frustrated with the lack of progress so far.

What about you all? What is your ear training methods?

HI ,Michael , I 'm learn this now , there is so good and helpful lesson:
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/et01-c-major-scale

https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/ftr-01-triads-on-strings-5-4-3-and-learning-the-fretboard

I found some quote in GW , think is important :
·No matter what happens ,don't get frustrate , because there is no way to speed up guitar learning .

·Treat the foundation as my heart , provide fuels in my progress ,then more I can challenge myself .

·Live is only once time, I have to try every possible position whether I like or not .

·You need to hear all the notes before then you can play then, and if you can't hear them , play them at a very slow speed.

·Remember to approach each lesson with curiosity and take small steps.If you're focused on your ultimate goal that you're hard to enjoy the road you walk.

I put there powerful words on the wall , when I feel tired , it will work , reminds me of original intention and can enjoy my journey.

Hi Michael

A bit slow on the uptake with this tread! I like you are having issues. I have tried a fair few methods, familiar songs, basic apps and one which plays a cadence first. I'm not bad at getting the right interval but trying to work out intervals in a song I have major problems. Tomo says you need to hear the note before you play it. Well I took this thought and are not applying it to ear training.

So I play a cadence, C E G, and have a dice app on my phone which I "roll" to give me the interval. I then try to hear it in my head then sing the solfege and check on the guitar. No idea if this will be an improvement but I'm finding it hard so reckon something must be going in.

All the best
Andrew

Because I am so bad at hearing and identifying intervals I went on a search of the internet and came across something that seemed like the real deal to me. I was wondering if anyone has heard of the Ploger Method. Developed by Marianne Ploger. Here’s a link to her website. She’s not one of those internet shysters trying to sell you a quick fix and her method seems pretty sound (pun intended) to me. Let me know what anyone thinks.
https://www.theplogermethod.com/

I have been working on this too and also the Leavitt book. The exercises in the beginning section of the book (where I am) use the C scale. So, to supplement my ear training and to maybe help train me to hear a sound when reading a note on the page (rather than a finger position) - I marked up a couple of pages (imitation Duet) and copied them so away from my guitar I could try to sing the notes - do RA mi etc.

I can’t tell if it’s working yet though! I’ll keep you posted.

John_D

John - I had the same insight as you - It works! As a new beginner my practise is sequenced as FT-01, ET-01, SR-01. I was singing/sofege-ing the notes (badly) to help with sight reading.

Jordan, that's good news. I find it most difficult to sing it (also badly) - with no guitar - when the melody skips a note in the regular sequence. That's probably why the sequences Tomo suggests skip notes to hear the intervals.

I was watching BF Blues Solo Etude video the other night. It was cool and maybe simple enough to play with enough practice (by copying), but the explanation was way over my head - talking about 6ths and flat 3rds etc. and their relation to the chords... I have a long way to go. I'll get to that one when I'm ready. I don't want to sit there and try to copy it. I've had enough of that.

Best,

John

I'm not great at recognizing intervals.

But I've been walking through the Essential Music Theory section, modes, one string one finger, sometimes two. Last few weeks.

It is helping with ear training and recognizing intervals I think. Slower is better.

I listen to an app called Functional Ear Trainer in the car. It has a hands-free listening mode that works well. The first time I used it, I was awful, but my recognition has improved significantly.

Ear trainer in the car sound like a good way to get some practice in at an otherwise waste of time. Thanks for the tip.

Tomo - in the video, I saw that you could sing the notes of one guitar part while playing the other - hahaha - I can’t even see the second line of notes while reading the first. I have enough trouble making the transition from one line to the next!

Thank you. I understand your point. I need more time with the guitar to think about it... So, a triad one played one note at a time - you can recognize that it is a root, 3rd, 5th or their inversions - then you can hear it played as a chord (3 notes played together) and recognize as root, 1st, 2nd inversion - then as a full chord (with C form, A form, G form, E form, D form) hearing the triad within the full chord - root and inversions. I just read about this last night in your book (and the accompanying video). To study these chords and hear the triads in them. Something like that. I also have to think more about the intervals vertically within the scale - I haven't really put my mind to that yet. I can play the C Maj triads horizontally and vertically and can recognize root or inversions by sound - but I don't have a real handle on their position in a scale vertically like I do horizontally.

My pleasure John! Guitar is so deep! I think it's a great idea to study triad inversions in 3 ways and very musical ways. Yes! Any chord forms/shapes... you need to hear all intervals. Most people rely on CAGED shapes not CAGED sounds.

Thank you so much for reading my Guitar Wisdom book and watching one of 53 additonal YouTube videos. I am so happy! That's why this book and GW Essential Theory lessons. You need to watch all 30 video lessons. If you only watch a few of them then it is not enough. One String One Finger Approach on 30 lessons!

PS, Guitar Method Book Vol One. Page 60,70,80,90,100 covered all 5 different vertical Major Scale shapes. But they don't say anything about CAGED forms.

Tomo