Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hi everyone, thanks again for joining the livestream!

This thread is a place to observe, reflect, and learn from each other as we explore the same idea. I've included a brief overview of what was discussed in the stream below. You can watch/review the full stream on the Guitar Wisdom playlist.

1. The Practice: Steady Picking
Exercise: Open G string, all downstroke, sustain
- No tempo (Phase 1)
- Play half notes at ~60 BPM (Phase 2)
Focus: Smooth and steady picking, consistent tone and volume, feeling notes
Purpose: To build awareness and control in your picking hand.

2. The Approach: Going Deeper
This isn’t about completing anything. It’s about spending time with one idea and developing awareness through intentional practice. You don’t need to move on for this to be meaningful. The challenge is to build consistency in your picking motion, volume, and timing.

3. The Benefits: Anything is possible!
If you spend time with this, you may begin to notice:
- More consistency in your picking motion
- Greater awareness of timing and spacing
- Better control of tone and dynamics
- Improved coordination between your hand and your sense of rhythm
- More confidence in simple, repetitive practice
- A clearer understanding of how to practice effectively

4. Guidance for Participation: Be flexible - try for a couple of minutes each day, and feel free to share your struggles and observations.
You might share:
- Small changes you felt in your picking
- Something you noticed in your tone
- Questions about what you’re experiencing
- Anything that felt challenging or different

Final Note on Community & Reflection
Our livestreams are here to bring us together and focus on one idea at a time so we can go deeper. This thread is a continuation of that, and the mini practice challenge is an invitation to put this type of exploration into practice. Spend a few minutes with this when you can, and share what you notice. There’s no deadline—just an opportunity to explore and improve over time.

Honored to be on this journey together :)

Keep going!
Sammi

Thank you Sammi.
I’m so bummed I forgot about the livestream today. Hopefully I remember next time.
Gonna watch the replay right now.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic lately because I notice when I’m practicing Chromatics my picking volume is sometimes all over the place so it is an area I need to focus on.
Hope everyone at GW is doing well.

Great stream this morning! After spending a few minutes with this, I found that it's much more consistent for me when I angle the pick a little bit so the flat of the pick isn't hitting the string, I'm using more of the edge of the pick. But wow, this exercise in general isn't nearly as easy as it sounds!

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ou9W6AY9mNQ?si=7J1si6TIeMiaHKgr

Should we aim for a certain number of hits in phase 1 and phase 2? Or not worry too much about that

I listened back and felt like my first hit was too strong in phase 1. I liked hit number 9 I think the best. Some of the softer hits didn’t always sound pure to me. They sounded a little thin even though I picked soft I didn’t quite catch the note. Phase 2 I felt rushed I was trying to keep in time but also not pick too hard but also have a full sound on the softer picks. I heard a lot of string noise.
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Thanks for setting this up!
From the live stream I liked the idea about expiration date on lessons. You don’t want to wait too long before reviewing. And taking time learning something is better don’t rush. If you want to be ok at something you can go fast but you won’t ever master it. And George’s story an out tomos performances - big thing about his playing is how he plays each note and when the couple gave him 50$. Little wing such a great song!
Thanks Sammi for explaining and organizing. Looking forward to learn more about how to approach this lesson and following along and learning with everyone. Thanks!

After I practiced open G for about 5 minutes, I moved on to R37 swing groove practice. I was surprised that now my R37 strumming sounds so loud! I challenged myself to get the R37 as quiet as the open G. I couldn't get it all the way, but I it sounds much nicer now.

I also noticed that at first I was bringing the pick to rest on the G string then slowly sliding it off. But seems like Tomo is doing more of a smooth motion for the attack. I am practicing that smooth motion.

Just watched the stream before practice. Very first time, I actually caught myself resting the pick on the string right before plucking again, so my G sound had breaks. Was able to clean up after two or three plucks, but pretty cool - already found an issue and cleaned it up.

Good catch Clay! Just like this... we need to notice something so we can fix it. Not all about learning something new and adding. Balancing! Open G is very sensitive string. Loose and loud!

Tomo

When I first tried this, I thought, "This feels like ringing a bell." And then I remembered the way Tomo was describing circles while playing without the metronome, and I realized it felt a LOT like one of the exercises we used to do when I was playing handbells. Maybe Chuck Berry was on to something when he described Johnny B. Goode as "play[ing] guitar just like ... ringing a bell."

I also remembered how my daughters learned to ride bicycles. When I learned, I learned to pedal on a tricycle, then learned to balance. But they learned by balancing on bicycles with no pedals, and then we added in pedaling. This is like that - it's easy to forget that our two hands are doing entirely different jobs until we separate them out like this.

Felt a little better on phase two last night. I think the extra hits in phase one were beneficial just felt slightly more balanced this time overall. Still noticing inconsistency with the attack while some hits sounded good others too loud. Are we supposed to close our eyes or should we look at the place on the string we are striking. Thanks

Thank you Parker, Hugo, Matt and Jeff for working on this mini challenge! It's so simple yet it is very deep! No tempo, long sustain, open G note, all down stroke and work on touch, dynamics....softer picking touch!

...riding bicycles at first time. It's all about "balance" at first. This case... it's all about "Awareness" on tone and timing.
Similar to no tempo (no metronome) at first.

Plesae remember... no rush at all. Keep your own pace. You guys are doing so great! I am so happy!

Tomo

Guys, I tried with half notes, 40 bpm. It seems to give sufficient time to 'lead' the beat instead of just reacting to it. Besides, I feel so much from the neck feedback when plucking the note. It's almost like ripples from a water drop (usually coming in twice from each soft plucking) - no exaggeration.

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Hugo

For day 3, I found that there is a level of "soft" that I can do consistently. But there are levels below that that I can reach, but not every pluck.

This is great! Especially, since the feeling in my fretting hand is getting better. I watched the live stream, and I'm very excited. This has made me realize how hard I'm picking during other things, like Jazz Blues Soloing Etude. Now, I can back off a little. It sounds so much better, too! Thank you, Tomo!

I take it that we do not use reverb and/or gain with this exercise, correct?

This is interesting in tone and structure. I agree with the whole balance perspective. This has been more finesse to close the loop on the next pick, same as the last. Relaxing all around. Start with this or end the practice session, maybe both.

Hi there - I think I'm still having navigation issues, could someone point me to the stream please?