Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Great performance, Johno!
I really like your warm sound!

Thank you Johno! So happy to see you here!

2nd phrase, fingerings are 3 4 …then 1 1..

Good melody run & rhythm is so steady! Great job Johno!

I think overall volume is not loud enough for using soft picking.

R 3 7 finger picking is very steady. You can pick a little bit more toward the front pickup.

Please keep working and enjoy this!

Tomo

Nice johno!
Sounding so very groovy!
It never gets old hearing that cool melody.
You are right in the pocket the whole way. Love it!
I like to hear you talk too :-)
Looking forward to the next round....
Kurt

Really good Johno! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Tadashi about the tone. It might have something to do with my phone settings. I like it with the live sound, turn it up :) - johno

I appreciate you Rich!! Comping with this song is a goal in the looper too, one day.. Going to try to get engineer a louder even sound into the recording. These phones are unpredictable. Enjoy the good stuff!! Rose room inspiration another day. :) - johno

Great job, Eiji! I find it difficult to balance soft picking and volume control. There's a lot to learn on our guitar journey.

OMG Eigi ~ I feel like you have mastered the art of soft picking. That was a great performance. Thank you for the close up of your picking hand. Good job with alternate picking too. I struggle with that. I’m interested to hear what Tomo thinks. But very nice demonstration of soft picking!

Thank you Eiji for sharing this video.

You are getting your softer picking very well.

Thanks for showing your picking too. I see your thumb is so relaxed.

That MMB amp sounds just so perefect!

First and 2nd melody….. please watch out the 3rd note (sustain a little more)

Finger picking is very hard! Your thumb and your 1st & 2nd fingers can get closer together for warmer tone.

Tomo

Rich, That amp... vintage Fender Musicmaster Bass amp is the pefect amp to practice. It sounds so pure and so honest. A modern amp like a Fender Princeton... too many things are in. I have been teaching Eiji with my audio casette tape lessons for a while. He really changed his picking technique a lot.

Tomo

Soft picking 101 with Eiji!

Thanks very much for this great demonstration!
I appreciate all your videos very much.
Kurt

You're very welcome! This exercise has a lot of details! You want to hear every note's duration. If you can pick closer between your thumb and other two fingers... near the front pickup.

Tomo

Thank you for adding this helpful video.
One question: is there a difference between "making a solid sound" and "playing hard"?

You're very welcome Tadashi.

Those are just words so without exact sound.... touch to define.

Solid means good sound, tight sound... more strong feeling than strong (power)
Playing hard = Loud = Hold a pick tight.

Tomo

Thank you for your reply.
The reason I asked is this: I felt that especially with acoustic guitars, if I try to focus on a "solid sound," it tends to end up sounding "noisy." Recording it would be good practice.

I should have had softer touch so I could make my part sing instead of scream. Lol.

Thank you Eiji!

Tomo

Eiji, love your continued efforts. You are a great player. I can't wait for my guitar sing like yours. Have a good day

Really great Eiji! That 5th string F kills me every time (the 1/8 note one). I always play it loud, even when I am playing soft.

Thank you Clay for encouragement!

That's not easy at all! Thumb position is so important too!

Tomo

Thank you very much Tomo-sennsei. I am going to read this comment
many time and write down on my guitar note.
And listen my play many time to make sure what is my problem for my soft play.
This setting is very sensitive because of MMB amp and funk master pick up so I can listen everything I play.
Maybe I am in the totally different guitar environment now compared to former environment which I used Blues jr or other modern amp and normal single coil pick up.
Thank you again for this lesson I appreciate it.
Eiji

Yes I agree Clay, killer F5th string it is!
Eiji

You're very welcome Eiji! This one is very difficult to do! First you need to play each note very clearly yet you need to pick a little softer. If you played it unplugged then you cannot hear anything from your guitar itself.

So happy to hear that yoyu have a super sensitive amp Musicmaster Bass Amp and the funkmaster set from Grinning Dog Pickups. You will need more time to settle in. Please take your time. No hurry! ギターは、１日にして鳴らず！

Tomo

I have a very specific question for Tomo…

Does your palm mute the G string when you are playing the second phrase on the high E string?
I keep getting slight noise from my G string and the only way I can control it is with palm muting but when I watch you play the melody it doesn’t look like you are using your palm. I can’t figure out how you’re playing the melody so clean.

Thank you Rich for your question!

Yes! Each phrase, any strings... my right hand palm muting will follow each phrase as needed.

Play it slower! It's simple...once you hear any noises... play it slower! No rush. That's why "Modern Method Book Vol One" is a great book for muting techniques.

I also use my left 1st finger... I place my first finger a little higher than others so my first finger can also mute one string above.

I just posted my response video on bottom of this thread.
Thank you.

Tomo

Thanks Tomo. These vids were helpful. I switch my practice between strat and SG (my only electrics), but I don't spend much time on amp settings when I switch. This info is useful for me.

You're very welcome! Glad to be helpful! You should not change the amp setting at all! You can just adjust guitar volume & your picking volume!

The pickup height can change your tone very much.

Tomo

Thanks Tomo ~ I have a lot of work to do.
First on my to do list is try to get the intonation of my strat fixed.

You're very welcome! Please enjoy & keep working.

Your tone is your hand touch! Softer lighter touch (your left hand)
Softer picking volume and picking dynamics. It is very hard to gain but its so much fun!

Tomo

Hi Maestro and GW friends,

I’ve been following along.

For me, Blue Monk is not easy (I thought it would be easy! Haha! )
…muting Bb7 with finger 1, and playing notes with 2,3,4, is something I’ve never done before. Usually I barre with the first finger, so it is interesting to be able to work it into muting and playing the muted rake without extra noise. But it is improving, helps very much to play slowly, as you consistently suggest maestro. Also seems somewhat easier on my silver sky which has higher action than my usual guitar.
It is high enough that it made me feel I am using a pedal on the piano. I will continue slowly.

Also over the last year or two, I noticed a lot of similar ideas between GW and “Old Path, White Clouds” by Thich Nhat Hanh.
It is a secular review of Buddhism.
Highly recommended for all sentient beings. :)

https://www.parallax.org/product/old-path-white-clouds/

Thank you again for the lessons maestro and thank you fellow students for sharing your honest efforts . I am learning so much, and I am very grateful for your efforts as I continue my own.

Peace everyone!
Sunil

Thank you Sunil! Thank you for following this thread!

Blue Monk is very catchy and very confusing too. 1st & 2nd melody (chromatic scale!) very important to mute other strings. I prefer higher action in general.

Thank you for sharing! That's such an honor!
You're very welcome! My new book will be available very soon! You are learning a lot from GW! You made me so happy!

Tomo

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to clarify my entry above.

I think of myself as a humble beginner in all things. Since knowledge is infinite, how can I say I know a lot? Kind of funny I think.
(I found a pinned thread written by George that explains this and more much better above. Thanks George for the reminder!)

Above I meant blue monk comping is “hard even for me” …as a classical guitarist. First real 10 years of guitar for me as classical. (My classical guitar is 35 years old now, crazy…)

And I had not come across this technique in classical rep….maybe it’s there now with Andrew York and other modern composers…

But I think electric guitar is a different instrument. There is so much of the technique that requires muting this highly sensitive instrument.

Usually when I barré a chord, the tips of my fingers are perpendicular to the fb.

But I found if I just lay my fingers down closer to the fb then I can comp as (maestro demonstrates in the videos…), sort of, it’s been getting better over the week.

Apologies to all for not being clear.
I am just a beginner.

Sunil

One at a time, Johno. Enjoy!

Wox, great performance. Tadashi. Everybody loves this. Soft picking and soft fingering and good rythm. I assume you have practice a lot. Congraturation for what you achieve.
Eiji

Thank you, Eiji! BlueMonc journey is still on! I'll do my best!

Thank you Tadashi for posting this video! Blue Monk Melody 2!

3rd & 7th on 4th and 3rd strings. I use 1st and 3rd fingers.
Maybe slighly longer on 4th note of 1st and 2nd melody. M3 4 CH 5
If you can... keep playing and play R 3 7 rhythm guitar so that song form is keep going!

Good job! Very smooth rhythm!

Tomo

Great Tadashi!
That is advanced playing! You are so relaxed and smooth.
I'm always inspired when I see you demonstrate what you are working on.
Please keep the updates coming!
Kurt

Wow, Tadashi, so good. Your touch is so nice. You are really inspiring me to join the Blue Monk challenge!

Thanks, Rich! Yes, it's a SQUIER (Fender) guitar, I love it!