Hi Mr Fujita,
It is an honor to meet you and the whole community. I am a new student/player from Asia who did not have a chance to play due to work/studies. I would love to learn from you personally but unfortunately I cannot afford Berklee's tuition fees/arrangements. Besides, I have enrolled electrical guitar classes locally but fear that my development is not all-rounded. Please find below my answers for the questionnaire: -
1. My five influences:
I am not very sure, as if I am a kind of "everything goes" person - I like both pop songs and guitar instrumental songs. The list is not in particular order of preference.
a. Steve Vai (why I was attracted to the instrument)
b. John Petrucci (why I was attracted to the instrument)
c. Polyphia (more recent)
d. John Mayer (for the tone and his Jazz (?) incorporation into pop songs)
e. Marcin (more recent)
2. 5 favourite CDs and my favourite songs from each artist
a. Steve Vai - Album: Alien Love Secrets; Songs: Tender Surrender, For the Love of God, The Audience is Listening, The Animal, Erotic Nightmares
b. John Petrucci - Album: Suspended Animation; Song: Glasgow Kiss
c. Polyphia - Album: Remember That You Will Die; Song: Playing God
d. John Mayer - Album: Continuum; Song: Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
e. Marcin - Album Song: Classical Dragon
3. My strength as a player
a. Beginner-level alternate picking
b. Beginner-level string skipping (e.g. between G to High E string)
c. Critical to my sound and hard working to correct mistakes
4. My weakness as a player
a. Broken Chord - keeping an evenly forced (or bigger force when required), accurate alternate picking when jumping between strings.
b. Finger independence. E.g. While holding a barre chord (or its broken down version) and some notes (I suppose are transitions to another chord) are added, I sometimes apply excessive force on my fretting hand/fingers or moved the wrong finger(s).
c. Music Theory and its application. So far, I understood: i.) the composition of major, its relative minor and minor scale (but not on harmonic minor and other modes); ii.) basic CAGED system (the five shapes, their relationship with major and pentatonic scale, and finding/logically working out roots and notes on the fretboard); iii.) randomly doing major scale in the first 3 strings to locate the key of a pop song. But I consider these lacking if I wanted an all-rounded development.
d. All other basic and advanced guitar skills (e.g. minute details on bends, vibrato, harmonics, etc)
e. Lacking style and genre identification and music sense.
5. My list of gears, guitars, amps, effects, strings, picks, cables... etc
I was gifted some gears which I rely on learning the instrument:
a. Guitar: Suhr Modern Plus (HSH)
b. Amps: No Amps. Only powered speakers and headphones
c. Effects: Neural DSP Plugins (e.g. Soldano) and Kemper Stage MK1 (but I don't know how to tune it)
d. Strings: Stainless Steel (as I have severe allergies to nickel and cobalt). I'm testing Rotosound and will try D'addario Pro Steel and Chromes.
e. Picks: Dunlop Jazz III 1.0mm
f. Cables: Ernie Ball instrument cable and "generic" ones
6. What is my goal (and additional comments)?
Long-term goal: I would wish to pursue guitar-focused music professionally - Skill-level-wise I'd wish to be as good as the guitar idols above (though I understand that it is near impossible given my starting age); but realistically, I would wish to become a great teacher who understand and can transition between various genres and train younger musicians.
Short-term goal: I'd wish to lay very solid foundation on both technical skills and theories. I'd also want to be in touch with the latest trend of both "classic/vintage", modern and hybrid techniques. I may not be able to understand or practise them right away, but I would wish to be kept informed for futre use.
Other comments: My region's music scene is pop music dominated (for many years and has no sign of change). Although I have enrolled in a local guitar class, the teacher focuses on giving (J-Pop/Rock) songs/tablature for practice instead of explaining more on music theories or why certain things/notes are there (despite my request to mix theories "slowly"). I would wish to develop good ears for identification and good skills for playing and mixing all sorts of music, but I fear that I will not be able to do so with the current status. Besides, although I am late to the party, I am extremely passionate and "greedy" in learning. I dedicate hours practising and trying to pursue the said objectives.
My name: Hugo
It will be great if I can receive a response from Tomo and other members. Thank you very much!