Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Thank you Hugo for sharing your view here. Yes! It is very subtle and you can not describe exactly about this part.

Basic idea is to play C triad with your first finger so you can use your 2nd & 3rd fingers plus pinky to mute other strings.
When you play D triad with your 3rd finger so you can use your 1st & 2nd fingers. So you need to use two fingers (or more) to avoid harmonics. (two fingers will not produce harmonics)

Tomo

Yes, Tomo! How come I didn't think of it. Two or more points of contact will eliminate harmonics - physics - so dumb of me haha! I'll try to put this into different chords + muting patterns in R 3 7.

Definitely have to play it slow in the beginning!

Hugo

On the barre chords, I can share a bit. It might have two relevant points on why it's harder for us to sound all notes:

1. Every hand and finger is different. E.g. I am very (very) slim (and god blessed me that I didn't have to do hand labor in my life yet), so my fingers are very "boney". So, when I barre a chord, there are "gaps" in between the three sections of my finger - I bet it's the same reason that why you pressed harder. There are actually a few "cheats" to make it work without pressing harder:

a. slightly rotate the index finger to the left when barring. That part of our hand is "flatter".
b. use our RIGHT elbow to push the guitar to the human body to counteract the force (essentially, we are pushing the neck to our fretting fingers). This is a great approach used by many people.
c. "Vertically", we can align our index finger a bit higher or lower in our "usual" position. You will discover some or more notes ring much better without any additional forces.

2. It's just "time", because I believe calluses will slowly develop over time and its thickness and "evenness" with other section of our index finger will eventually make things easier. The key is just to keep playing BUT in moderation. I heard that for the general public, the F barre chord takes a year or more to play - so, there's definitely too rushed to aim for a few months of continuous practice and we will get everything clean. (Needless to say my F barre chord isn't that stable too, but I kind of cracked with the cheats above.)

[Post-addition: Besides, I had this feeling to push really hard when I can't ring some of the notes; but when I processed it, I found that, normally, it's just too brief that any player will hold onto a chord - meaning that if we squeeze the neck hoping some notes will ring, it's actually not realistic. The better way maybe is just to press and play (at the same time if possible); release our fretting hand completely (or even from the neck); and do it again. In some ways, it also simulates real-world playing (as there ought to be some single note, previous chords, or at the very least it is the first chord of the whole song, right?).]

Hope it provides some angles. I understand that it may not be exactly solving your particular Q. Enjoy!

Hugo

My pleasure Andy! Thank you for making your video and your question.

I still practice R 3 7 and I never think I already mastered anything. I can play things very smooth but I am a human so if I don’t pay attention or if I don’t preapre and review things then my playing will stuck in same place. Then I have to spend more time on Reverb and Sweetwater!

I made this video for you. Please let me know what you think.

Tomo

Thanks much Tomo for the details. Exactly applicable on my journey of R 3 7 groove. I'll see if releasing the thumb method will help - almost forgot that.

Hugo

I feel like it's my birthday and I just got a great present. Thank you, Tomo. I will practice this. I really like your idea to practice the triads like the swing groove, playing each one alone muted and unmuted. I will also practice lighter picking. I will send another video in a week or two.

I was just going to post that I never see you playing telecasters. Nice one!

Thank you Chris for checking out that funk foudation video. R 3 7 chord and bassline. That bassline, I use my 1st finger and 4th finger a lot. So this way, you can use 2nd & 3rd fingers to mute other strings. It's very difficult to control left hand muting. That's why you need to practice R 3 7 Swing Groove with super slow tempo for working on your left hand muting technique. Another note.. "Awkward" That's why you need to practice 1212 3212 3432 1234... 4343 2343 2123 4321 chromatic scale EVERYDAY like you are brushing your teeth! Build your strong foundation with those techniques. That's why when people play "licks, patterns" right away... will not work.

Tomo

Yes Tomo! I am now doing R37 and 1212 daily everyday. I will keep working and also I started on the Funk Foundation first video basic pattern Down Up Down Up $xx$ | xx$x | x$xx | $$xx too to just begin to get that working too. These are all part of my daily regimen now.

Glad to hear this thread was helpful to others, Sammi. It's definitely been helpful for me, too. I have been applying Tomo's advice of using the swing groove approach (slowly alternating playing and muting) not only to C/D triads, but also to other muting challenges, such as various parts of "Catwalk," which Clay recently posted about. Slow progress, but I think I am seeing/hearing it.

Thanks also for your compliment on my video quality. I lead classes and meetings for my work, so when most of that went remote during Covid I invested in my video setup. The main pieces are:

Fujifilm X-T4 camera with Viltrox 23mm lens — Zoom / Meet are getting good at simulating "boke" but real lenses are still better. Only problem is autofocus tends to focus on faces, so my fretboard is sometimes blurry!

Elgato HD60S+ — For getting the camera video into Mac/PC

Neewer NL660S lights — two, mounted on poles above my desk

FWIW you look very clear on the livestreams too!

This is fantastic Andy. No wonder! You have a professional camera!

Good reference if I ever have to shoot covers/songs in the far future.

Hugo

Yes, though I think you could get similar results with a cheaper camera, as long as it has a decent lens. So many more options have become available since I made this setup.

Thank you Andy for sharing your studio! So clean and fantastic! Very impressive!
Thanks again for this thread about muting triads and glad to hear that Clay's post really helping you! So happy to hear that effect!

Tomo

Nice work Andy! Way to keep that right hand going.

That triad fill is challenging for sure. Sounds good. The practice in Tomo's video at 5:10 seems great. I tried to slowly, repeatedly play the triad part as in the original, searching for a position (vertical, fret adjacency & angle) that works best. Fast and wideish pick sweep seems to help to grasp the feel, even if the actual tempo is slower. Keep going!

Thank you Andy for sharing this video!

Good job using less pressure. I think your strumming technique got better with more relaxed left hand and your strumming hand is doing well with wide strumming.

Only thing you need to focus is not stop this groove so you need to slow down so that you can play this groove (chord and triads all together) Maybe you need to figure out that rhythm around those triads,

Thanks so much for making this video. It is very valuable.

Tomo

Yes — maybe the hardest part for me is getting back to the Am7 fingering in time! I will work on it.

Thank you Andy! Great job! Keep working! I made this video for you.

Tomo

I'm doing pretty much the same thing, super simplifying it until I get comfortable keeping the time and then try and add things in. That video was the one that got me focused on this!

I am focusing a lot on getting my thumb off the neck during the muting. That's been really great to reduce pressure, and also it makes the muted scratches sound cleaner.

Yes, Andy. It feels a bit weird trying to lift off our thumbs from the back of the neck. I'm feeling it when I practice chords/triads too.

Hugo

I guess I shouldn't say "I don't need help." Any tips would be great. I was just trying to let Tomo know I'm not requesting more work from him.

Totally useful! Thanks Tomo. I'll do more 1212 chromatics (I haven't been doing every day) and the other things you mention. I like the Nile Rodgers history too!

Thank you Clay! I am so happy! I am about to practice now! First one is 1212.... then R 3 7 Swing...then ? Blues soloing tonight. I practiced Just Funky related funk rhythm guitar last night with 8 different guitars! This was I don't get to used to one style guitar. 22.5 inch, 24 inch, Gibson scale and Fender scale. This way my fingers can react quick to fit with any guitar(s).

Nile Rodgers loves JAZZ!

Tomo

Another great tip! For whatever reason, I only practice on my strat (maybe for single coil sound), and I only play my SG with my band. Those are the only electric guitars I have, but I should practice with both. And now that I think of it, for the first 20min or so of band practice, I have to look at my fretboard when I play the SG. Could probably eliminate that if I practiced with it.

Thank you Clay! Nothing wrong with playing practicing with one guitar. That's one way its so ideal. I hate having too many guitars. But since I found my first vintage Fender Duo Sonic and I didnot know that there were a few different scale like Gibson & Fender. Especialy I love using my bending technique and my fast funk rhythm guitar playing. That's why I decided to practice same thing with a multiple guitars so that my techniques can fit with any sizes styles guitars.

Your band practice, I hope you make recording (make other members to make recording as their homework!) Try to practice something with your SG without looking at the fretboard.

Tomo

I am quite weird. I never really have GAS but I feel I should explore more - perhaps just by trying guitars at stores without buying.

For practice, I rarely really look at the fretboard now since I joined GW (unless it's moving quite some distance of course). Feeling the fretboard actually frees me from some posture issues too. It's fun! Try it!

Hugo

That is excellent Andy! I have been working on the same thing and cannot get my middle finger down to mute at the same time as I release thumb pressure. I can get the riff to sound OK, but my mechanics still need a ton of work.