Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hi all, I'm Mario from Mexico, and I'm just starting my life-long journey to become a good guitarrist! I'm 35 and have never played the guitar before, took a couple lessons when I was 12 but that is it. My older brother however is a great guitarrist and as a gift he gave me his very first Gibson Les Paul! Because I told him I wanted to learn and play guitar.

He recommended me to learn with a program that focuses on fundamentals, rather than just playing songs and trying to copy tabs. And hence, I discovered Tomo. I just subscribed and bought the book! But I'm completely overwhelmed, can anyone please help me understand where should I start as an absolute beginner?

My brother also gave me an amp, a Yamaha THR10ii, I see the amp and guitar setup in Tomo's book but even that is confusing. So I'm super eager to start, but I really have no idea how, and where. Its quite overwhelming with all the material. And seems that you need to have quite a lot of knowledge before hand?

Any and all advice will be highly appreciated! Btw, my favorite genres that I would love to play are blues and jazz with ocassional rock.

Excited and thanks!!

Hi Mario,

Patrick from Surrey, England here.

The great thing about Guitar Wisdom is that it is for beginners like yourself. Everything you need to get good is right here.

Start on the Fundamental videos with Chromatic scale exercises 1234. Also, fundamentals chords.
Take your time and be patient. Within a few months you will see good results. But what’s very important is to be consistent! Consistency is the mother of all learning.

Good luck on your journey and know that you have support from a wonderful community.

Hi Mario

Good advice from Patrick as to where to start. Keep it simple, little and often is good - practice regularly and don’t miss a day if possible. Don’t try to move ahead too quickly - this works for me anyway.
As you work at it questions will come up and you will always find answers right here - from the community and from Tomo himself.
You are in the right place!

Jonathan

Hi Mario,
Glad you are here.
SO SMART to get the book!
Use it!
The book will help you with the lessons here.
We are all on our own pace. You have to make your way.
Watch the videos many times to really start to get it. Start at the beginning.
Watch the GW Playlist for deep dives:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENaipLZZvuSe09K52-fo1VPMLrWfJa46

Don't Worry.
Don't compare.
Don't expect too fast.
Be kind to yourself.

Have fun!
Kurt

Wow! What a great teacher.... Serena, Partick, Jonathan and Kurt!

We are so lucky to have you guys!

Tomo

Nice to meet you, Mario!
Welcome to Guitar Wisdom!
You made a great choice by coming here.
What great advice from your brother!
No other guitar teacher places as much emphasis on fundamental practice as Tomo.

It might be a good idea to start slowly with lessons in the "Beginner" series or the "Essential Music Theory" series.
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/beginner-series
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i

I also recommend checking out the "November Challenge" and "June Challenge" in this forum.
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/forums/general/70889-november-challenge-week-1
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/forums/general/74733-july-challenge-week-1

We're so happy you've joined us on our guitar journey.
Let's keep going!

Mario, I want to say that it's imperative to take it slow. It's okay to go very, very, very slow. Before I came to Guitar Wisdom, I felt pressure (from myself) to hurry and learn songs or concepts, but it is so nice to be supported in my journey and the fundamentals. Tomo urges everyone to go slow. I appreciate that. Take your time and do what Tomo says: learn one thing at a time. I'm so glad you're here now!

Mario you have a Gibson Les Paul! That is so awesome. I think the advise everyone shared here is awesome. Especially what Scott said take your time and definitely to expect too fast.

*Don’t expect to fast

holy cow everyone awesome!
mario welcome!

serena's ft3 video is awesome.
i am working on that now actually.
i like her suggestions about body movement also.

everyone is on their own path as kurt said.
all the exercises are deep. you can spend a lifetime on them, and tomo has. :)

be kind to yourself, don't worry, don't expect too fast, don't compare...will save you from many dark moments.

did anyone mention the one string method?
find scales and triads on one string.
i find myself coming back to that often.
triads are like a "three string method"

peace, my friend.
sunil

Thank you Jeff and Sunil for encouragement!

Tomo

Welcome to the journey, Mario! Feeling overwhelmed at the start is so normal. As many of our friends have said here, take it slow, one step at a time. Whichever lesson you choose to watch first, don't be afraid of feeling confused or making mistakes. This is all new to you.

I think watching some lesson videos without your guitar might be a good way to get a sense of how Tomo teaches. Since you have the book, you've already got a sense of the proper mindset for fundamental practice. You're right - there is a lot of information. Even one lesson is very deep. Don't worry about choosing the "right" first lesson - everything is an opportunity to learn, and if the lesson you choose ends up being "wrong", then you learned something! If you feel like you are missing information, please feel free to step back and try a simpler lesson. At this point in your journey, you may not know what that is, and that's okay! You can ask all of us - we'd be happy to help.

Some background on the lessons people have recommended:

Foundation: Technique: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/start-here
These lessons do not have to be done in order; however, FT01 should be your first lesson.
The first lesson, FT01 Simple Chromatic Scale Exercise 1 2 3 4, is THE essential practice exercise for developing your fingers. In Tomo's book, he compares it to the piano exercise, Hanon, which is meant to develop finger interdependence and control. Notes are side-by-side, so you can focus on your technique, which has a lot to do with coordination. For more on this exercise, such as common struggles or daily motivation, read through our November Challenge Week 1 Forum thread: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/forums/general/70889-november-challenge-week-1

Essential Chords, Picking, Strumming, Muting: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/beginner-series
This series is meant to help you learn how to play some nice sounds on your guitar. I like to think of it as lessons for those eager to play right away.
B1 Open Chord - E minor, Guitar Basics, Picking, Strumming will have plenty of information for you to spend a week+ on.

Essential Music Theory: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i
This is your bread and butter. These lessons can be done in order 1-30, but you don't need to focus on this section alone.
ET01 C Major Scale is possibly THE most important lesson, where you begin to understand notes on the fretboard. Like Tomo's book, this lesson introduces the One-String/One-Finger approach.

These three lessons are all great choices. They should be simple enough to follow while still challenging to do - but a good sort of challenge!

A lot of info about how to learn, how to get started, and what each section is can be found in this video: https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/gw-learning-with-guitar-wisdom

Thanks Sammi,

In truth I have been ‘playing’ for a long time but felt there was holes in my knowledge and understanding. After looking for the right course for sometime I came across Tomo’s Guitar Wisdom course. Starting from scratch again has certainly started to feel those holes. Your layout above is a great help. Thank you.