Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hello all from Oxford, England. I joined last year but cancelled due to money reasons but am back now and very pleased to be!

I know open chords, barre chords and, obviously (!), first position minor pentatonic scale. Where would I be best placed to start with the lessons?

Thanks a lot and all the best,

Ben

Hi Ben from Oxford! What a place that is, cool you are back to TFGW!! If I was you brush up on the Metronome and R37 blues, do the strum methods, and watch the examples in the forum under 'grinning dog pickups' , excellent techniques video examples. The selection is vast with all new stuff, check out ET 17-18 & 19. Use the search feature helps. I am not great on these hand held devices otherwise I would throw down links. There is also a good forum search for ' Tomo questionnaire at Berklee'. Hope that gives a refresh on the latest :) cheers-johno

Hi Ben,
Welcome back sir!
I think you will be surprised about how much we get out of Guitar Wisdom these days.
Tomo is on fire with his teaching and has the help of Sammi and George, who keep things rolling along so smoothly.

I'd do the Essential Theory videos in order. Spend a long time on each one. They are really musical.
You will be singing Do Re Mi. (Or my favorite " Me So Do-Do ".)

I'd do the sight reading too. Just get the real paper book and get after it slowly. This is where we learn to sound good. No string or finger noise. You learn patience and how to really hear what you are playing.

Jazz Standards lessons in order will teach you to use R37 swing groove shell chords.

I really love the videos Tomo and everyone put up in this forum. They inspire me to try something new or go back and review etc.

Have fun!
Kurt in Seattle

Great teachers! Thank you Jeffery and Kurt!

I am so grateful!

Thank you.

Tomo

Hi Ben - Great advice given so far. One thing I'd add is start working through triads. For me, they really started to open up the fretboard, both visually and musically. I'm one of those guys that Tomo always talks about that learned a pattern and then never got any better. Learning (still working on them, lol) triads has started to change my mindset from "what fret do I play the pentatonic at" to the chord is Bb, so play the Bb triads. It's a very simple realization, but it took me decades to make it.

Good luck to you. This is a great place full of support and encouragement.

Welcome back, Ben! It's great to see that you have received ample support from Tomo, Michael, Johno, Kurt, and Matt.

As you head into the weekend, I recommend considering George's advice as well: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/forums/general/72938-welcome-to-guitar-wisdom-march-2025.

A common theme in everyone's suggestions is to be mindful of how you approach learning. While the lesson content is important, your approach is the game changer. Take your time, review often, watch the material multiple times, and don’t overlook the seemingly simple concepts.

Looking forward to how your journey unfolds!
Sammi

Thanks Sammi for sharing this!

I am so lucky to have our amazing GW team!

Tomo