Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Thank you Andy for posting this video!
So happy to hear that!

Good job! This riff is super hard to play well.
Your alternate picking is great!

Please pay attention when you are using some hammering (left hand)
Your picking is supposed to keep moving.... do not stop that basic movement.

You can improve your left fingers (using less pressure) by chromatic scale.
Please practice chromatic scale everyday!

And you should practice R 3 7 swing groove everyday for left hand muting technique.
You are doing great! Please keep working!

Thank you.

Tomo

Thank you so much for your encouragement and advice!

I am practicing your chromatic scale (and crazy chromatic) exercise every day. But I didn't think so much about finger pressure, so I will start doing that!

Also, I have a question about R37, if you are able to answer. In the exercises, you usually mute with the first finger across all the strings. But in the funk riff + bassline you didn't do that. Is that because making the transition to/from that triad would be too awkward if you use the first finger only to mute?

You're very welcome Andy! Thanks so much for posting this thread.

Left hand pressure is very very important to about playing guitar in general.
Lighter touch is better!

It's simple. Try it and if you like it, you can use it sometimes.
Everything is case by case.... For funk riff & bass line... I use my first finger and 4th finger to play notes (single notes) and use 2nd & 3rd fingers for muting.

Thank you.

Tomo

Thanks, Chris. Means a lot to me to get your encouragement!

Thanks so much for the encouragement and link to the practice routine video!

Sounds pretty good to me, Clay. Lots of good work on your part for sure. I think you will get that second part soon enough.

Thanks Linda!

Thanks so much Tomo! I'll keep working - this will definitely help.

It's a bit advanced but I love the explanation and breakdown. Thank you!

Hugo

My pleasure Clay! Plesae enjoy it!

Tomo

Don't worry Hugo! Once at a time! Thank you!

Tomo

So great to see your progess on Catwalk! Looks like you're getting the second part now. Yeah, so fun to play! I've been working on it very slowly to see if I can clean up all my muting mistakes.

Sounded great, Clay!

Thank you Clay for making this video. First part, 4th beat, your hand is stopping in the middle of that riff.... while you skip note and pull off note.... you needed to keep moving your 16th notes strumming! Your 2nd half was great! Almost there!

Very important part is you keep moving your strumming hand with 16th notes. You can skip, susutain... but your 16th notes are keep moving! I can show you that part alone with slow tempo.
You can lower your left hand thumb position even a little more.

Good job Clay! I love what you are doing! Great inspirtion to all of us!
I am so happy for you!

Tomo

Excellent - thanks for the feedback and kind words. This riff has been great for confidence building - the first time I tried, my self-talk was "I'll never be able to do this." But I committed to trying, and feel good about progress, which has made more confident and comfortable trying other things that seem impossible at first.
I will focus on keeping the hand going in 16ths. I noticed that when you play it a little faster, you actually shorten your strum width a bit in the place that I am stopping. First thing for me though will be to slow it down until I get the consistent motion.
Also can't wait to work on the thumb position - I hadn't paid attention. But I'm looking forward to seeing if that cleans up some of the muting issues.

Hi Clay, thanks for sharing your efforts! It’s really inspiring. I’m going to give it a try too!

Thank you Andy for sharing this video. Your picking direction is correct! I see it is a little hard time keeping slow tempo! Please keep moving your right hand wide enough!

Keep going! More R 3 7 Swing groove for FUNK!

Tomo

That's awesome Andy! You got it down mechanically, which is the hardest part for me.

Awesome work, this is not easy t play this exercise.

You know I sometimes ponder and wonder if John mayer was influenced by this exercise when he wrote "who did you think I was" , the riff to it is kind of similar in feel and vibe to this funky exercise.

For me its undeniable to see Tomo's influence in johns playing which is so cool :-)

Thank you Smooth! I taught John a few things very deeply. Correct clean alternate picking and a lot of super slow R 3 7 swing groove and super dry bright tone! Now he got same touch / dynamics from these clear exercises.

Tomo

Hey Smooth... I didn't know about that John Mayer song, so I checked it out. First of all, what a great riff. And yeah, you can definitely here the connection. Thanks for turning me onto that!

Thank you Andy! Yes! It is case by case and you should do without rempo first then slowy you need to add "tempo" within super slow tempo so that your right hand is moving a steady 16th notes. Keep going!

Tomo

As Sir Edmund Hillary said after summiting Everest, "It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

That's some dramatic gains from the first video in this thread! Be proud! And I love that Tele!

Good job Andy! Almost there! Please move your right hand evenly where pull-off & hammering part. Do not change your pace.

Your alternate picking is good! Be proud yourself! Most self-taught players cannot play like you!

Tomo

Thank you, Tomo. Yeah, I noticed that I changed my pace on the PO/HO. I think I did better the 2nd time I played the riff but I will keep working on it!

I don't feel self-taught. You are teaching me so much.

Thanks for pointing that out, Matt. I hadn't watched the first video for a long time so you got me to take a look, and yeah, I can see the progress. It's funny because the more I learn, the more kinds of mistakes I notice, so it's hard to notice progress in real time.

Great job Andy! Like that you added that variation - those are really tough to do and stay in rhythm.

Feeling this! So true, I am just realizing.

Thank you for highlighting the idea Sammi! Great thread and effort Andy, I need to read from the start. Clay, sounds really good below! I remember your progress around the time you started "Another You", your swing groove has noticeably improved a lot. Thank you for highlighting the path, Clay and everyone!