Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Tomo Fujita Mod

4 months ago

Thank you Yuki for joining Guitar Wtsdom! Welcome! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.

First, Don’t worry! Nothing is “never too late” You can make it happen with your patient and clear paths to follow.

Be careful on researching on internet, AI and YouTube … bvecause there are many wrong information there so “Search” could come from wrong information with very smooth explanation so you would buy it! Be careful!

I highly recommend these lessons to understand “HOW TO LEARN” rather than “WHAT TO LEARN”

1) FT01 Simple Chromatic Scale Exercise 1233 (Learn this with less pressure, soft picking etc)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/ft01-simple-chromatic-scale-exercise-1-2-3-4

2) ET01 C Major Scale (One String One Finger Approach/Name Of Notes/Intervals/Singing Do Re Mi)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/et01-c-major-scale

3) ET12 Major Triad (Learn inversions One String Approach first with intervals not shapes and no noises!)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i/videos/et12-major-triads

4) FB Blues Shuffle Bassline (Play it slowly without any noises)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/foundation-core-music-lessons/videos/fb-blues-shuffle-bassline

5) FT Root 3rd 7th Swing Groove Technique (Left hand muting technique and learn R 3 7 chords)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/foundation-core-music-lessons/videos/ft-root-3rd-7th-swing-groove-technique

Please enjoy your guitar journey.

Tomo

Yuki

4 months ago

Hi Tomo-sensei,

Thank you very much for your kind and heartfelt reply! It's very encouraging. I also appreciate your recommendation of the lesson videos.

I'm a complete beginner on the guitar. So I also think that too much information from various sources on the internet might not be helpful (or could even be harmful for a beginner like me...), as I cannot judge what is right at this stage.

Following your advice, I practice chromatic exercises every day slowly and softly with my electric guitar (using a clean sound with an amp!). It's so fun when I can play the right note without any noise or buzzing. And it's so satisfying when I get a smooth connection between notes while moving my fingers. It's not easy. I make mistakes a lot, but I try to enjoy the process.

What I've also found out is that rhythm is extremely important, and I realize that I’m not very good at rhythm. So I bought a metronome. And I practice your picking exercise every day. I also feel great when I sometimes succeed in playing your R 8 b7 5 and R 5 b7 8 blues exercise in good rhythm.

For me, the fretboard looks magical! I hope your triad lessons will take me into a new world of harmony. I'm sure it will take me a long time, but I think learning guitar is like learning a new language.

Thank you again for your encouragement!

Best,
Yuki

Sammi Fujita Mod

3 months ago

So amazing to hear your story, Yuki! Thank you for sharing and diving into Guitar Wisdom. You are in the right place :)

Tomo Fujita Mod

3 months ago

You’re very welcome Yuki! So happy to hear that very much.

Internet is very useful when you know what exactly you know/want… yet… there are many wrong information as pretending like as if correct information so AI can gather all wrong information. So you need to decide what to take.

Simplicity is very important. Do not rush when you are making something very valuable like this. Good job! Sounds great!

Yes! Rhythm is more important than pitches! I was not good at rhythm at all! Listening music deeply as musician and you can work on tapping rhythm too.

Guitar is simply so amazing!

Tomo

https://tfujita.news/Guitar-Wisdom-Livestreams

George Mattingly Mod

4 months ago

Thank you for your post, Yuki. Welcome to Guitar Wisdom, where we encourage you to take your time and enjoy the learning process!

In these Forums, you will find the world's most supportive online community, so please do not hesitate to post your questions, comments and videos here!

if you would like to access Guitar Wisdom livestreams, please follow this link to subscribe or to see recordings of previous live lessons:

Thank you for choosing to learn with us. We are confident that you will enjoy this part of your guitar-playing journey!

Yuki

4 months ago

Hi George!

Thank you very much for your helpful information. I really appreciate it, as I wasn't aware of the livestreams.

I’m looking forward to exploring the forums and learning from everyone here. I’ll keep practicing the fundamentals slowly, try to stay relaxed while I play, and above all enjoy the process.

Best,
Yuki

ShaunR

3 months ago

Hi there. I'm excited to join this community. I'm 40 years old, from Massachusetts and have been playing guitar for 3 years now. I initially took lessons with a Berklee graduate who I believe took some lessons with Tomo. However, I have a high pressure job and 3 children, so taking consistent lessons is a challenge for me. I have a good grasp of harmony, scales, triads and the big 4 modes... but I'm looking forward to learning how to connect all of this information tastefully and melodically.

Hugo W

3 months ago

Welcome and nice to meet you Shaun! It's uber-duper tough to handle heavy work and family, yet you find time for guitar - which is fantastic!

I'm starting out new and probably won't be helpful. But I'd love to tag along with your journey here!

Perhaps enjoy this song by Tomo: Kyoto, as my welcoming gift (we were just talking about its key in another post.)

Hugo

Tomo Fujita Mod

3 months ago

Thank you ShaunR! Welcome to Guitar Wisdom! I have taught many students at Berklee since 1993! You can take your time and your pace at Guitar Wisdom. No need to push yourself too much. Be kind to yourself and Don’t worry! Good Dad for your family! Job and taking care of children… a lof of work! That’s so great to hear that! Just in case, please watch the first lesson at Essential Music Theory section. Foundation is super important! Yes, you can learn from GW video lessons and you can enjoy your playing with tastefully and melocically! Deep listening! Please enjoy your guitar journey!

Tomo

Tomo Fujita Mod

3 months ago

Thank you Hugo for your sweet welcome! Thanks for sharing my song KYOTO! That melody... I had to learn it and built it tastefully, melodically with bending technique and dynamics. A lot of triads, some tasty arpeggios that not too big. Keep it simple!

Tomo

(This post has been deleted)

Parker Morse

3 months ago

Hi, Shaun! I'm in a similar boat: raising twins in Massachusetts, working, trying to squeeze in playing among all my other responsibilities. I'm coming back to guitar after decades away, and it sounds like you have a better base in theory than I do; I'm focusing on getting consistent practice time and working my way through the basics. I find I know the headlines ("This is a C chord") but I'm filling in a lot of gaps with the details (alternate picking, the difference between a 9th and a sus2, etc.) and it feels good to be learning and not just guessing.
(Also, how fun is it that "practice" means we get to hug this thing that buzzes in ways that tickle our brains?)

Sammi Fujita Mod

3 months ago

Hi Shaun and Parker! Thank you for joining Guitar Wisdom! Glad to hear it supports your goals and fits your busy life.
We host community livestreams once a month, and since you're in the same time zone, I hope you can join!
More details here: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/forums/general/77862-livestream-schedule-march-may-2026
Sammi

Sara

3 months ago

Hi, I'm Sara,

I just subscribed and just wanted to stop by and say hello. When I was little, I took guitar lessons for a few years, but then we moved to a different neighborhood and I stopped. That was 20 years ago, so I'd love to start again from scratch, I'm a complete beginner now and I don't know where to begin. I'd like to be able to play and actually understand what I'm doing while I'm playing.

I decided to join this class thanks to your YouTube videos, you explain things really well. I'm from Spain, so even though I can speak English, I sometimes find it a bit hard to follow some of the videos, and the English subtitles help a little. I'm not sure if they're available here too, but that's not a big deal.

I wanted to ask for some recommendations on where I should start, so I don't get frustrated and can feel like I'm making progress while also having fun.

Thank you so much for all the work that goes into this platform!

Tomo Fujita Mod

3 months ago

Thank you Sara for subscribing Guitar Wisdom! Welcome! Now you can learn guitar playing again. We do a lot of detials with very slow pace so you can do with your own pace.

You’re very welcome and thanks so much for watching my YouTube channel! That’s like my fun hobby! So happy to hear that you thought I explained things very well. Thank you! I wish that subtitles here… but we don’t have that here.

Definitely you can start with your foundation and techniques. Maybe you can pick a few lessons and stay focus on those for a while. I can list up a few ideas for you. Thanks so much for sharing and asking!

I highly recommend these lessons to understand “HOW TO LEARN” rather than “WHAT TO LEARN”

1) FT01 Simple Chromatic Scale Exercise 1233 (Learn this with less pressure, soft picking etc)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/ft01-simple-chromatic-scale-exercise-1-2-3-4

2) ET01 C Major Scale (One String One Finger Approach/Name Of Notes/Intervals/Singing Do Re Mi)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/et01-c-major-scale

3) ET12 Major Triad (Learn inversions One String Approach first with intervals not shapes and no noises!)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i/videos/et12-major-triads

Please enjoy your guitar journey.

Tomo

Hugo W

3 months ago

Welcome, Sara!

Further to Tomo's suggestions above, remember to do the one string one finger approach across all strings. I/We have some threads on ET01 (first 1-2 pages of the forum) and Tomo has additional insights for us, since a couple of us joined recently. Be sure to check them out - they will make the practice well-rounded and likely tackle similar questions.

The more we understand and are familiarized with the C Major, the easier we can deduce what's going on for other modes, keys and chords. For example, I now have no trouble understanding (or close to constructing) simple minor triads and 7th chords (because you will realize basic music theory's like simple math formula). I don't exactly know what they are for - but they are sure popular or common in all modern songs and genres, so we have to piggybag all of them "sticks/ yummy carrots" for later use. Just 1 - 1.5 month (on and off) since I joined, who would've guessed!

Practise slow, and we actually improve faster!

Hugo

Sammi Fujita Mod

3 months ago

Hi Sara! Welcome :)

Thank you for sharing your story. It’s really special that you’re returning to guitar, and I love that your goal isn’t just to play but to understand what you’re doing, too. That mindset will take you very far.

To help you avoid frustration, feel progress, and have fun, I’d suggest keeping your practice simple and focused. Pick just one of Tomo’s lessons and stick with it for a few weeks.

And one small habit to anchor everything: take a few minutes to play a single note slowly and really listen to your sound. Don’t worry about being “good” yet... always come back to slowing down and listening.

You’re starting with curiosity, and that’s the most important part. I’m glad you’re here, and I’m excited for you to begin your journey!

Sammi

Steven Groh

2 months ago

Hello from Colorado!
I just discovered this community, after working through the Guitar Wisdom e-book and the accompanying videos.
Currently I am just beginning Chapter 5 on Triads.
How do you recommend integrating the Guitar Wisdom book with these lessons and this community?
My background:
I tried to learn guitar about 30 years ago, but gave it up after taking a few months of lessons and learning songs, by understanding the circle of fifths and using the number system.
I always knew I was progressing at a faster pace than my limited fundamentals would support.
A few months ago, I decided to jump back into guitar, and I have with a vengeance!
I signed up for Guitar Tricks, Ultimate Guitar, and iRealPro, and worked on learning songs.
But I knew something was missing.
Then I discovered Guitar Wisdom, and I have thoroughly enjoyed geeking out on the fundamentals!
I am a ski instructor here in Colorado, and I love nothing more than working on perfecting fundamentals, because that is always the path to excellence.
When I figure out the logistics of video, I will begin to record my practice, because I know how effective video critique can be.
Thank you so much, Tomo, for sharing your guitar wisdom; I am a sponge.

Sammi Fujita Mod

2 months ago

Hi Steven! I'm so glad you found us :)
Thank you for sharing your background. I love how you connected this to skiing - the fundamentals are where it's at.

To your question about integrating everything, I’d suggest keeping it simple:
Use the book as a guide and let it help you focus. Then use the lessons here to go deeper into that same topic, rather than jumping around. For example, if you're just beginning Chapter 5 on Triads, I'd suggest going back a step to studying C Major Scale (there is a lot to absorb in Tomo's lesson here: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/et01-c-major-scale).

Tomo recently called these materials a triad - the Guitar Wisdom lessons, book, and community forum. They work together. The community piece is just what you’re already doing! Sharing, asking questions, and eventually posting videos when you’re ready - that will keep you going.

If more questions come up, feel free to start a new thread. More people tend to check the first page of threads in the forum than this pinned one.

Sammi

Hugo W

2 months ago

Nice to meet you Steven. I'm a beginner who joined recently too. I've been working on triads and other beginner topics. As Sammi suggested, C Major Scale (one string one finger approach) is highly relevant (or you can say, "bundled") because it connects us with the intervals of Do Mi Sol (Root, 3rd, 5th), the starting note of the triads and their inversions (and bunch of other reasons).

It will be painstakingly slow but I'm sure it's rewarding. All great musicians learn/know lots about triads (recent example is Mateus Asato).

Having platforms are great, but keeping things simple might be a good idea. I practised long hours but it's at most 2 - 3 Tomo's topics daily. Repeated but short runs may be helpful. It is hard for me to strike a good balance if I spend equal time on other materials/platforms.

Hugo

Tomo Fujita Mod

2 months ago

Hi Steven! Welcome to Guitar Wisdom! So happy to hear that you have read my book Guitar Wisdom!

Thank you so much! Good job on Chapter 5 Triads. I wrote this book in 2010 in Japanese. Sammi and I updated so you can read same topic if you are interested. Just like our Guitar Wisdom. You don’t need to fo lesson 1 to lesson 10. You can follow by any topic and you can read book too. You should read Essential Theory ET01 Major Scale and you should practice Chromatic scale and please look at ET12 Major Triad. Check these links.

1) FT01 Simple Chromatic Scale Exercise 1233 (Learn this with less pressure, soft picking etc)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/ft01-simple-chromatic-scale-exercise-1-2-3-4

2) ET01 C Major Scale (One String One Finger Approach/Name Of Notes/Intervals/Singing Do Re Mi)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/et01-c-major-scale

3) ET12 Major Triad (Learn inversions One String Approach first with intervals not shapes and no noises!)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i/videos/et12-major-triads

Then you can go jump around at Guitar Wisdom lessons. Plesae use “Search” function too.

Good job! You know things very well! Thanks for sharing your guitar learning experiences. It is very useful.
Thank you so much! You’re a Ski instructor! You understand about good solid foundation. Record yourself is the best tool for improving yourself. I do this everyday.

You’re very welcome! Please enjoy your guitar journey!

Tomo

Steven Groh

2 months ago

Thanks, Tomo.
I recorded myself playing triads today, and boy was it illuminating!
I could see my eyes going back and forth between the neck and the bridge.
I am fine playing one string, one finger, staring at a spot in the wall, but it’s a lot harder doing that while playing triads!
Also, I am starting the Bill Leavitt sight reading book, and it really does dovetail nicely with triads.

Tomo Fujita Mod

about 2 months ago

My pleasure Steven. Good job! Recording yourself is best way to learn and improve!

Triads are so good! Please keep going!

Tomo

Ben Lemcke

2 months ago

Hi everyone,

Nice to meet you all!

My name is Ben and I am a 39 year old IT senior system administrator from Germany. I was already subscribed to GW in 2023, but had to take an extended break cause work did not leave me any free time. Originally, I was recommended Tomo’s lessons by a close friend who went to Berklee (he wasn’t in Tomo’s class, but some of his study mates were).

So, what brings me back?

Recently, I lost my step-dad after a long battle with illness and it has made me reevaluate some priorities in my life. I’ve ditched almost all meaningless distractions to focus on things that really matter and I want to reconnect with the things that used to be bring me joy and a sense of relief the most. So here we are. :-)

It’s not like I stopped playing guitar completely. I kept noodling around for stress relief between work meetings. I even bought more gear (don’t we all?! GAS is real), just didn’t practice anything other than playing palm muted power chords very slowly with the gain all the way up on the amp. There’s something about that raw energy that gives me “stank” face. You know, when you play something and your are are really feeling it? Kind of like so:

My music journey started on an acoustic guitar at the age of 13, and many moons ago, I learned to play numerous metal riffs. What mainly stuck over the years tho are the usual cowboy chords that many of us started on, well, and “power chords.”

As a teenager, I felt like a rockstar in front of the tv, watching Metallica live DVDs while playing along. As a teenager who suddenly looks like an adult in the mirror, I wish I had taken lessons and music more seriously when I was younger, but as you can’t turn back time, the best time to re-start the journey is now and I am really excited to delve back into Guitar Wisdom.

Over the years, my music tastes expanded quite a bit, and while I am still big on rock and metal, that’s not my musical goal.

Ultimately, I would love to be able to really freely jam with my friend that I mentioned at the start of this post and to understand and play jazz, especially fusion and bebop. There’s also plenty of music in my head that I would love to bring to life on a guitar. I would love to become a hobby musician rather than being someone who just plays other people’s songs, even tho that’s fun, too. But yeah, those are the long term goals.

More details will follow in the questionnaire thread.

To close this out, I wanted to say thank you for all the dedication and heart Tomo and Sammi put into this course and helping people. So many other online courses and teachers are looking for an easy cash grab, you guys are the exact opposite. One can tell you’re good people.

Much love from Germany!
Ben

Tomo Fujita Mod

2 months ago

Thank you Ben! Welcome back to Guitar Wisdom. Great timing! Now we have Guitar Wisdom E-Book and GW Essential Theory section lessons are all new! Thank you for sharing your guitar learning experience.

So sorry to hear your loss. Even simple rhythm guitar part with “power chord” you can make it funky! You can add more twist and spices on top of what you already have. Hope you find another joy in learning guitar.

Jazz, bebop and fusion. There are a lot of fun choices and ideas on chords, phrasing. Maybe you should learn R 3 7 / R 7 3 chords and learn, practice Blues, Jazz Blues and a few standards like Blue Bossa, Autumn Leaves, All Of Me, There will never be another you… etc.

You’re very welcome! We love to make people happy, smile with guitar.

Tomo

Sammi Fujita Mod

2 months ago

We are so happy to have you back, Ben! One other installment, I guess you could call it, is a monthly livestream for the Guitar Wisdom community. Here is a link to the schedule with instructions on how to watch: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/forums/general/77862-livestream-schedule-march-may-2026
Thanks for being here and sharing your journey :)

Ben Lemcke

2 months ago

Cool beans! It's great to see them scheduled in a way that works for my time zone! I'll make sure to stop by on May 9. Thanks! :-)

Jeffrey Croteau

2 months ago

Right on Ben. Welcome (back). What are your favorite jazz albums? We have a jazz listeners thread in the forums there are great selections from Tomo there and other members. Check it out sometime

Ben Lemcke

2 months ago

Hi Jeffrey, thanks for the recommendation! Right now, I am really drawn to Scofield's "Still Warm." I love love love "Virtuoso" by Joe Pass, but also Wes Montgomery's work on "Smoking at the Half Note" really tickles my brain in a certain way. Another favorite of mine is "Visions of the Emerald Beyond" by Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin was one of my gateways to jazz fusion.

Jeffrey Croteau

2 months ago

Mmhm. Very Nice.

Adrian Slade

2 months ago

Hi Tomo, and Team,

I am very pleased to join Guitar Wisdom, Tomo's teaching videos are great , I have jumped in at Triads.

I introduced myself elsewhere so will not repeat that, in short I have been trying to learn and play guitar since 11 and I am now 67 and started properly again in 2024. I have used various apps, decided that is not a good approach, found another teaching site and did all the beginner lessons and a Blues course. Now feeling I need to consolidate and understand the guitar and music properly to be able to move on and play the instrument well and be able to be more artistic and free, not constrained to learning others material and copying.

Main Influences:
Jimi Hendrix, BB King, John Mayer, Carlos Santana, Wes Montgomery (and so many more from the 60/70's)

CDs/LPs:-
Santana - 'Santana', Jimi Hendrix - 'Are You Experienced', John Mayer - ' Continium', Was Montgomery - ' So Much Guitar', B.B. King - 'L.A. Midnight'

Favourite Songs:-
B.B. King - 'The Thrill Is Gone', Santana - 'Samba Pa Ti', Jimi Hendrix - 'Voodoo Chile', John Mayer - 'Gravity', Wes Montgomery - 'Something Like Bags'

My best guitar assets;-
I practice daily working to a practice schedule, I record myself and review it myself and with peers. I am persistent and try and find ways to improve my playing.

Guitar playing issues:-
I have always struggled getting rhythms and timing, strumming has improved but it can be inconsistent depending on patterns. I find it hard to get speed beyond 100bpm playing licks and if I do I have to practice them a lot. Finger stretch fo some chords with the pink can be problematic.

Guitars - too many really , but I treated myself to a Gibson ES335 18 months ago, which was a dream for me and I play it mainly, I also was extremely lucky in January and won a Gibson SJ-200 in a raffle which I love to play.

Gear - used VOX AD50VT old school modelling amp £110, Kustom Sienna 30 Pro, £160, Cornford Harlequin Mk1 valve amp I swapped a LP Turntable with a guitar nut friend, this amp is my favourite. Various pedals and and a small mixer into a cheap car amp and old Sony speakers for monitoring. I use mainly dunlop picks ranging from 0.6mm to 1.15mm, recently I have been trying to used 1mm or more. Strings are mainly 9-46 although I have increased to 9.5 - 46 recently and have 10's on one guitar, which i find hard to bend accurately.

Goal:-

Become a competent guitarist, who can play in various styles, and develop my own sound and feel. I would love to be able to play with good rhythm/timing in the groove and to improvise freely.

Here's a recent video of me playing for a course I have been on

6 Likes

Tomo Fujita Mod

about 2 months ago

Thank you Adrian for your introduction. Thank you so much for your kind words!

I love BB King too! You should challenge “Bb Blues Soloing Etude” for phrasing, time feel, space and chord tone (triads and 7th chord arpeggios. You can prepare your blues soloing. Thrill is gone ’s intro solo! That’s a great exmaple too.

Thank you for sharing your playing experience. That’s normal. I didn’t have a great time feel at all when I started playing guitar. But I practiced my basic rhythm guitar with a metronome. That was when I discoverd how terrible my time feel was! So noticoing own weakness with positive way is good.

Thank you for sharing your playing video. Can you play this song’s chord progression?
A few tips. You can start from “pickup phrase” There is a great pickup phrase like BB King … CH M3 5 M6 R… if you hear this you can recoganize. Or You can wait a few bars then play. For IV chord …you can play more minor pentatonic (in that key) or chord tone / triad notes. You can analize yourself on your own playing so you can prepare something for next time,

Please listen this…
Bb Blues Soloing Etude
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/fb-bb-blues-soloing-etude
FB Bb Blues Soloing Etude
I highly recommend these lessons to understand “HOW TO LEARN” rather than “WHAT TO LEARN”

1) FT01 Simple Chromatic Scale Exercise 1233 (Learn this with less pressure, soft picking etc)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/ft01-simple-chromatic-scale-exercise-1-2-3-4

2) ET01 C Major Scale (One String One Finger Approach/Name Of Notes/Intervals/Singing Do Re Mi)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/et01-c-major-scale

3) ET12 Major Triad (Learn inversions One String Approach first with intervals not shapes and no noises!)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i/videos/et12-major-triads

4) FB Blues Shuffle Bassline (Play it slowly without any noises)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/foundation-core-music-lessons/videos/fb-blues-shuffle-bassline

5) FT Root 3rd 7th Swing Groove Technique (Left hand muting technique and learn R 3 7 chords)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/foundation-core-music-lessons/videos/ft-root-3rd-7th-swing-groove-technique

Please enjoy your guitar journey.

Tomo

Steven Groh

2 months ago

You're killing it dude!

Jeff

11 days ago

Hi I’m Jeff, from the SF Bay Area, I’ve been following Tomo a long time on YouTube and finally decided to join. I’ve played guitar and bass and sung for many years but am very rusty after stopping for some time. I have very limited knowledge of music theory and am horrible at notation so that’s the main thing I want to learn here. I learned to play guitar from John Mayer’s first few albums (Continuum and earlier), then I stuck with fingerstyle and then learned music by guitarists like Mark Knopfler and Tommy Emmanuel. I can play decently with a pick but just haven’t used one much the past few years. Though I have started listening to a bit of bluegrass and have been practicing alternate flatpicking. And, I actually feel like my voice is my real talent, I just never put much work into developing it. Most recently I did learn the rhythm parts to Isn’t She Lovely and I’ve been working on the lead parts. But it seems like the bass is definitely the most challenging.

Sammi Fujita Mod

10 days ago

Hi Jeff! Welcome, and thanks for sharing your musical background. Sounds like you have a lot to draw from, even if you're feeling rusty.

Since you mentioned wanting to improve your theory knowledge, I'd suggest starting with ET01 in the Essential Theory section. It provides a strong foundation, and you may find that many things begin to connect naturally from there.

As for notation, you may also fine the Sight-Reading series useful later on. It follows "A Modern Method for Guitar, Volume 1" by William Leavitt, which Tomo used with many of his students, including John Mayer. Tomo's lessons guide members through each page of the book and help develop technique, an important ingredient for good guitar playing. If you decide to go that route, you would need a copy of the book.

There’s no need to rush or measure progress by how quickly you move through material. Some members spend weeks or even months with a single lesson, and that’s completely normal. What matters most here is the depth of your understanding and how comfortably you can play what you're working on.

Take your time, enjoy the process, and let things unfold naturally. Feel free to share updates as you go—we’d love to hear how it’s going for you.

Sammi

(This post has been deleted)

Tomo Fujita Mod

8 days ago

Thank you Jeff for joining GW! I really appreciate your introduction.

Do not worry about anything! We love to help you all the way!

Finger styles are so great and simple regular picking style is fun too.

For me, 1) Pick style
2) Pick and fingers
3) Finger picking
So 3 choices and more fun!

Please check a few lessons…
1) Essential Music Theory (One String One Finger Approach… common mistake=not to check C Major Scale lesson!
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i/videos/et01-c-major-scale

2) Techniques include Chromatic picking and fingering exercises.
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/start-here
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/start-here/videos/ft02-chromatic-scale-exercise-1-2-1-2

3) Triad Inversions
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/start-here/videos/ft02-chromatic-scale-exercise-1-2-1-2
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/foundation-triads/videos/ftr-02-triads-on-strings-3-2-1-and-learning-the-fretboard

4) Jazz Standards: R 3 7 / R 7 3 voicings and swing groove (muting techniques and chord progressions)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/jazz-standards
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/jazz-standards/videos/js02-autumn-leaves

Plus Sight-Reading section for everyone!

And you can add your own choices.
Please enjoy your guitar journey!

Tomo