Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Tomo - thank you for checking in on us!

I have been working on 4/4 6 out of 7 days per week. I tried with the metronome, but was making too many mistakes so I turned that off and slowed down. I still look at the notes on the page every time, but I have found that as I have it more memorized, I can get through it with minimal mistakes at a decent pace. The picking discipline required is a big challenge for me, but I’m determined to nail it. Sometimes I go back to the alternate picking exercises in the Leavitt book (I think around page 19), but I also need to use time for 1 string, triad work (Bb blues - 3 ways), R37 swing groove and other pages in the Leavitt book. So, I try not to dwell on it more than 5-10 min.
JD

Thank you! I’m really enjoying the myself with help from you and from the people in the forums. I put together a practice plan before I start that includes what I mentioned above plus the chromatics - downs, 1212. I was having trouble palm muting as i changed strings so, I started doing the chromatic exercises vertically like you showed in one of the videos (both 1212 and downs) where you move up one fret one string up so it’s both vertical and horizontal. I’m better feeling my palm move up with the string, but the 5th is tough and especially the 6th string because you can’t really palm mute it. I think I saw you mute it with the pick. Anyway - I do those every day too.

This ain't easy for me. Counting and going slow. Will get there soon enough.

It is not easy but if you make your efforts on this technique for a few months. Then you can bring yourself to next level which can make other things easier. This is one of very important picking techniques.

Tomo

99 percent of the time I do the chromatic exercises on the 4th string because it a wound string and makes more noise with the treble and volume up. I think if I can keep it quiet on the 4th string the 3rd is easier. I also do the vertical chromatic - moving up one string and one fret so I an improve palm muting over all the strings. The 6th string is tough though because there’s no palm muting…

Ok - good idea to work on clean upper strings.

How's everything with "Four Four" alternate picking exercise guys?

Tomo

Yes, thank you for checking in - that is so nice of you!

I have 4/4 as part every practice since last time, but the last few weeks I could only practice 5 days instead of 7. I’m improving, but very slowly (don’t expect too fast!). I have been using the metronome. I have a natural pace with it around 50 BPM that seems to work (faster, I can’t keep up; slower I lose focus). One thing I’m trying to correct is that in the single note part I find myself looking up at the pick direction and not at the notes, then in the scale part I am better about it, but still drift up to the picking direction. And I do it better if I have the discipline to look at the notes!

I have been working a lot on the R37 swing groove, Bb blues triads 1,2,3 strings and also 2,3,4 strings. Chromatic exercises horiz 1212 and down picking, and vertical (all 6 strings move up one fret) 1212 and downs to improve my palm muting moving up strings. Lastly, I do at least 1 of the pages in the Leavitt book. I’ve been working on p. 20 Etude for about 3 or 4 weeks and also go back to other pages (Sea to Sea, Here we go again, Counting and picking, etc.). I really like that book.

The exercises require picking discipline and all the other things like palm muting, timing etc. One thing I still struggle with is shifting down from the last measure on one line to the beginning of the next line - especially in the middle of the page and if there are 2 guitar parts - to stay on the right one. I’m not sure what to do about it but sort of memorize the piece…

JD

My pleasure JD! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Very important to practice "slow" Not so important to use a metronome until you can really play that example without any struggle. 40-50 BPM great tempo.

Please do R 3 7 Swing Groove everyday even 3 minutes! So important! Bb Blues, F Blues etc. Triad blues is good too. Good job! 1212 Chromatic on 4th and 3rd strings. Great! Method book too! So happy to hear.

Let me make a video on this topic. Super important to go through. Thank you!

Tomo

Let's review "Four Four" slowly without a metronome.

Can you play them cleanly? Can you repeat 2-3 times?

Good job!

Tomo

Hi Tomo, that is so great of you to take the time to do that video. I pull more details out every time you do one. It is really helpful and I appreciate it. I like this exercise - I feel like it is one of those that lead to real progress. I’m going to think more about the muting too - both hands…

Incidentally, what amp are you playing in this video? I have kind of a lousy amp right now (Orange, I think 20W solid state). 8” speaker - sounds like a box, but with the amp on 8, treble up, guitar bridge pick up, tone up, all the noise is very apparent - though after several months of working on no noise, I have definitely gotten a lot better.

I did not expect too fast, but I have to admit I did think it would be faster than what it is… hahaha

JD