Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Thanks for sharing!

So, with all those questions answered would you then tailor each lesson to suit each student?

You're very welcome!

I have many ideas for students and even I pick same topic... I do super duper slow & deeper lesson to each students. You just cannot learn this from YouTube! My speciality!

Many times, student expressed or wrote a slightly wrong way... that's about words (meaning)
So I translate their answers to their level of understanding.

Thank you.

Tomo

Tomo
Thank you for making this video and sharing your questions. Great video and great questions.( and lots of “ food for thought “ I’m planning to answer them myself. Thank you for all Sammi , George and you do to build this great community 🙏🎸🎶

You're very welcome Frank!

I have been asking these questions to all my private lesson student for years!

You can post your answer if you want... to this thread.

Thank you.

Tomo

Thanks Tomo !!! I’ll post my answers tomorrow. 🙏

Thank you Linda!

Learning guitar ....very very easy to get bad habits!

Great question!

Thank you.
Tomo

I resonate with these comments Linda. Whether it's GW, private lessons, or whatever, even the bast roadmap is useless if you don't know where you are. Beyond getting to know the student, I think Tomo's questions are a good way of getting to "where are we?"

Thank you Clay!

Very correct!
That's why ... memorization is not so great!

Yes! Better to know so we can walk toward right direction.

Thank you.
Tomo

You're very welcome Sergio!

Yes. This has been really helpful for me and my students.

Thank you.

Tomo

Thank you Mark!

This form is just a beginning of deep conversation. From these answers...
I help to translate toward correct, specific things...

Thank you.
Tomo

Thank you Johno!

Thank you Sammi!
Great input!

Thank you Richard!

EVH was influenced by Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton was influenced by Freddie King
Freddie King was influenced by T-Bone Walker...

Any famous guitar players was also has this 5 influences....

You can do Jimmy Page...
Earl Hooker " Two bugs and a roach " I bet Jimmy listened this album so many times!
Look up blues classic " Killing Floor" I bet Jimmy listened this song many times!

You can do more Ear Training. One String Approach & learn triad inversions.
More foundation so that you can apply what you already have learned.

Try same phrase to play 4-5 different ways!
3 notes phrase like " Triad " Even R 3 5..
1) You can play them on one string.
2) You can play them on two strings: Then two notes & one note or one note and two notes!
3) You can play them on 3 strings: 123/234/345/456 sets!
This is "Reason" I don't use tabs... tabs limits your imagination!

All of your influences... Then didnt use any tabs and any YouTube Videos and no slow down thing.

Thank you.

Tomo

Thanks Tomo.
Once again I just want to thank you for personally responding to all of our posts and providing us with all of your guitar wisdom.
I will check out some of those early guitar greats. I’m familiar with Freddie King but not Earl Hooker or T-Bone Walker. Looking forward to exploring some new music.

Tomo's newest lesson (ET13 Minor triads) does a deeper dive on this topic....triads and inversions on different strings sets.

My pleasure Richard!

Earl Hooker & T-Bone Walker.. great old blues guitar players!

Thank you.
Tomo

Thank you Linda.
This section is super duper important!

We are replacing all old videos in this section.
So please enjoy!

Thank you.
Tomo

Thank you Sunil!
Yes! It's not easy to choose only 5.

Since you love Wes. Did you study Charlie Christian?
Wes learned all Christian's solo by ears. Rose Room is so good!

Please dig in Essential theory section
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i

Learn more chords!
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/foundation-chords

Fretboard harmony / Applied Theory section
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-ii-applied-theory

More soloing ideas.... / Applied Theory II
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/fretboard-harmony-applied-theory-part-2

Having a solid foundation & techniques can make you better improviser!

Thank you.

Thank you Tomo. I understand — know influences work, know their influences work. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! Remembering what you commented to me “music is a journey!”
I am so lucky to take each step.

Very grateful to be alive here and now to work on this, sincerely.
From what I have read, Wes worked quite hard. He worked physically demanding jobs during the day, worked on his music and played late into the night, and died at 40. Wife and seven children (!!!) left behind…I can’t imagine his life, it seemed so hard. But he persevered and created so much beauty. And we are so lucky to hear it and learn from it.

I understand, step by step, …very slowly.
Don’t worry; don’t compare; don’t expect too fast; be kind to myself.

Thank you Tomo.

Correction, Wes died at 45, according to Wikipedia. My mistake!

I will work on the sections you mentioned above also, thank you!

If anyone is interested here is some information I am using to get started about Wes, and Charlie:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Montgomery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Christian

If anyone one has any books or recordings they found helpful, please let me know.

Thanks everyone; Thank you Tomo!

The sun is just coming out here in Northern California, I think it it will be a beautiful day. How lucky we all are to be alive right now, to feel, to hear, to play…profoundly grateful.

Some last humble thoughts as I leave this topic for the day:

First I thought Robby Krieger (guitarist, The Doors) should replace Jerry in my list. He studied flamenco, and applied it to rock. When I looked up his influences, I was surprised to find guitarists Wes Montgomery, Albert King, and Larry Carlton listed! It often seems that all paths lead back home…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_Krieger

I also thought, for things that I know deeply, I am always reading about the newest thing, but I also find myself returning to the fundamentals. Perhaps to see if my new work or knowledge of what others are doing has shifted my view on the fundamentals.

For example, there is a “Deep Listening” thread that is active now, as you know.
And for the last year, I have been working on scales and most recently triads.
But it wasn’t until I started the ear training with the first lesson “C Major”, that I noticed that I am hearing differently, that is, my perception of notes are changing. There is a YouTube video of Joe Pass explaining how he plays which I watched recently. He was talking about using scale tones to connect chords, and I was quite surprised that I could hear and understand some of what he was saying! I had not been able to do that until very recently.

So Tomo, for the survey, you could tell your students to submit a final list when they leave school, if you are not already doing that.

For me, just having a list is now helpful, because I am always now checking to see if it is true and how it is changing as what I understand affects my perception.

Thank you Cam!
" Houston we have a problem! Cam wrote 6 names! "

You only can pick 5! Try it!
Very hard!

Do you listen Albert King or Lighnin' Hopkins? (JH's huge influences!)

Have you been practicing any R 3 7 Swing Groove with Blues, Jazz Blues, Jazz Standard from Jazz Standard section? Great way to train your ears to hear those chord progressions.

Triad inversions are doing well with you?
Did you watch Essential theory (ET1 to ES14?)
These lessons will answer what you are looking for. (mastery of musical knowledge & improvisation skill over chord changes)

Thanks for sharing all these!
Fantastic!
Thank you.

Tomo

Lol! Yes I had trouble narrowing it down, about 10 names popped into my head while thinking about the prompt. I rescind Frusciante, he takes so much from Hendrix anyway.

I will have to check out Albert King and Lighnin' Hopkins, thank you for the suggestion. I have been listening to a ton of Freddy King as I work my way through the Blues Foundation section. He is really great, it has given me a better understanding and appreciation for the blues. Currently I have been working on the E Blues Soloing Ideas featuring Hideaway and E Blues Turnarounds (with metronome), really helpful to play in multiple positions and know what intervals for each chord. It’s already helping, just taking time to internalize.

I will have to get into the habit of practicing the R 3 7 groove and get into the Jazz Standards section, there are still so many videos I haven’t gotten to yet. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction!

The ET videos are awesome and really helped me understand modality. I fundamentally understand and can explain them, but application takes time, I am staying consistent and not expecting too fast.

I have been practicing triads a lot, everyday for months now. Recently I have been going through triads for all the whole tone chords, as you showed for C and F in the “3 Things to Do” and practicing root to root spread voice triads in diatonic order. That and practicing arpeggios, adding the 4, 9, 13 has really helped my knowledge of the fretboard and recognize patterns and “flavor” of the notes.

Overall I have come a long way towards my end goals in only 6 months, it’s been really great, thank you for all the wisdom!

Thanks for your reply!
Yes! It's so hard to narrow down to 5... but super important to focus on 5 so you can figure something out... much more effectively.

Great idea! Now you can edit that one.
For studying purpose, less is more!

Please check those guys! Check Earl Hooker " Two Bugs And A Roach " album too!
Freddie King " 1934-1976 " album is dynamite!

Thanks for sharing what you have been studying at Guitar Wisdom.
So great to hear that! You made me so happy!

Good job watching & studying the ET videos.
Great!

Review triads a lot! Good job!
Please do R 3 7 swing groove with a metronome everyday. Even 5 minutes!

It will take some time to understand all important foundation & learn styles.
Good job for staying over 6 months. Please keep going! You're very welcome!

Thank you.

Tomo

OMG! Yes! Adrianne Lenker and Big Theif!!!! They are amazing artists! Glad someone finally mentioned her/them.

Hope you have seen this performance. Just sublime!

So cool! Yes I have seen this one, her recent performances are really something to behold. She's so versatile, too. I love how her and Buck split the lead guitar role in Big Thief, they each bring something different to it. I was looking it up the other day, every member of Big Thief went to Berklee, makes sense!

Thank you Johno for sharing this.

Have you ever any research influences on your influence artists?

Those songs that you love... did you transcribe any chord progressions by ear?

Bad habits: From watching YouTube lessons with tabs? From these " 5 Pentatonic scale positions " " The CAGED shape forms " It's easy to stuck in same place.

Phrasing: Try this (Learning tips) Let's say you are learning blues phrases in E. First try not to play anything beyond 12th fret because it is easy to fall back using a vertical position from 6th string to 1st string. So you need to learn one phrase from old record (BB Kling or Freddie King)
To play that phrase, only use 2 to 3 strings. Do not use more than 4 strings. Once you learn one phrase, even minor pentatonic, relate to Major triad and move that same triad in different string set. So technically you will have 3-4 different string sets & different fingerings. That's a huge part why using tabs is not so great! It erase our imagination!

Playing CD is good! When you listen one CD, try this. Do not listen whole cd first. Divide in half. 4 songs / 4 songs ... like that so you will listen only side A for 4-5 times before you listen other half. Musicians way of listening!

Thank you.,

Tomo

Great guidance, Tomo. Thank you! Tomo wisdom: "Musician's way of listening".

So happy to hear that! How to listen music deeply is totally different than how to listen music for background music. You're very welcome! Thank you.

Tomo

My pleasure Johno!

Good job! Fun going a few steps back. I love blues!

You can transcribe a few musical examples and analyze them with theory knowledge.

You're very welcome! Thank you.

Tomo

Thank you Michael for sharing!

I wish I can jam with Tommy Emmanuel!
I just jammed with Mike Dawes... I love listening & watching Tommy very much!
His techniques and musicality ... so amazing! A lot of inspiration from him!

Blues improvisation is so much fun!
I love jazz too! If you would like to improvise blues & jazz... then maybe you can add some blues listing and jazz listening for fun!
In order to improvise Blues & Jazz .... be familiar with that languages.

Thank you.

Tomo

Hi Tomo,

You should reach out to Tommy Emmanuel. It'd be great to see you on stage with him when he's in Boston next time. From all his live videos he loves to play with others! It'd be so amazing to see!

Thank you Michael!

Maybe I will try it.

Very excited!

Thank you.

Tomo

Hi Tomo,

For sure, I'd give it a shot. I know his contact is very friendly and responsive. I am seeing him in March here in Canada and doing a meet and greet with him. I reached out to his contact regarding details of the meet and greet and how to bring a group of students to the show. Each time they replied within 48 hours with all necessary information and with much friendliness and professionalism.

Here is a link to his contacts if you decide to take the plunge :)

:https://tommyemmanuel.com/contact/

Exciting if this happens! Have a great day sir!

Hi Michael,

Thank you!

If I want to contact Tommy... I will go via Mike Dawes!

Tomo

Thank you Matt!

Great guitar players! You need a little more blues guitar for soloing.
Definitely you want to figure out your hero's influences a little deeper.

Should study more " Essential Theory " One String Approach and Triad inversions.
For tasting more chord sounds. Please practice R 3 7 Swing Groove with simple chord progressions,

Bb Blues (Blue Monk)
1 4 1 1
4 4 1 1
5 4 1 5

F Blues (Chicken Shack)
1 1 1 1
4 4 1 1
5 4 1 1

Do you do your deep listening? Listen one album for two weeks or same song for many days etc? If you want to improvise soloing over chord progressions. You need to have a few great examples and these should live inside of you! If music is not inside of you then nothing will come out or ended up... thinking " minor pentatonic shapes " than feeling music.

Looking forward to your Guitar Journey here at Guitar Wisdom.
Thank you.

Tomo

Thank you so much Tomo! I’ve downloaded Blue Monk and have started transcribing the melody. And I’m seeing how it’s all based around the triads! PROGRESS!! Do you suggest learning the melody and then starting to improvise on the melody? Is that a good path?

I’ve also downloaded the best of Freddy King and will pick a few tunes to focus on deep listening. I do listen to a good bit of blues based music, but the assignment was to only pick 5. That was a very difficult assignment! I mean how do you exclude Dickie Betts, Duane Allman, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards?

You're very welcome!

Especially that song Blue Monk... you should not learn by just listening. Please watch this video for fingering & picking direction!
Very important to know all the details. Great song for learning alternate picking too.

Blue Monk Melody & Solo Etude

You can improvise around melody and that range, that type phrasing.
You can copy from above video. Solo etude right there!

Listen Freddie King " 1934 - 1976 " Great record!
Good job picking only 5 so now you can do your homework... finding real influences!

Thank you.

Tomo

Thank you Tomo!

You're very welcome Matt!

Prince! He is such an underrated guitarist. He is phenomenal for sure!

Love this solo:

Thank you Jacob!

Try to play softer picking and use less pressure from your left hand too.
In order to notice this, you need to play a little louder & a little brighter so you can notice your tone better.

For pick, I use 1.00mm for everything so I have my own picking volume. 3 levels (overall)
Loud, Normal and soft. I try not use "Loud" picking so I try to use normal to soft.
I hold my pick super soft. I almost drop my pick!

To get your own tone... best way is to use vintage Fender combo amp. (simplicity)
Blues improvisation is fun to do too!
Looking forward to your guitar journey here at Guitar Wisdom.

Thank you.

Tomo

Thank you Tomo!