Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Day 8 - Time flies when you're having fun! I was recording with my eyes closed, and I looked up to see if I was getting close to a minute, and I was already at 2 minutes.

Thank you Scott, Jeff, Johno, Linda and Clay for your comments!

I taught another tape lesson this morning. This one is 4th lesson and I reviewed Chromatic scale and Open G thing. I suggested it to play much slower and with a metronome at 60 then I suggested to play a whole note so sustain 4 beats each. It is very difficult to play softer. It is very important to keep things very simple and slow. Shuffle bassline with super slow tempo too.

Thank you for watching my YouTube Livestream for public.
Beyond the Shapes: Start Hearing Your Guitar Fretboard
Sammi did an great writing on description. A lot of details.

With my Gibson acoustic, I susutain each note as a whole note at 60.
Very slow! Then about 2 mins.

Please watch my public livestream. It was fun sharing it!

Keep it soft! Keep it normal as pretty soft. No loud picking anymore.

This open G picking exercise is very deep! Please have fun!

Tomo

This day 6 was more soft dynamics with lite pick hold. Didn't hit a wrong note this time. I need to watch mini challenge live stream again. Feeling posture helped out my consistency.
-johno

I’ve been continuing my daily practice since last fall, including the 90-day challenge exercises like R37 and Chromatic 1212. It’s been about 200 days since I started, and I feel like I’m slowly improving.

Recently, I’ve been struggling with my R37 tone — it doesn’t sound clean, and my muting isn’t working well.
Then I started this open G string exercise, picking very slowly and softly. Through that, I realized that I was probably picking too hard in R37 as well.

When I slowed down and used a softer touch, the tone immediately improved.
This simple open string exercise feels very fundamental, and I think it applies to everything I practice.

Kazufumi

I love that every lesson is reflected in every other lesson.

Deep gratitude Tomo and friends!

:)

Okay, I tried to do a minute on Phase 1.

Day 9 - reviewed my recording from yesterday - I just did audio. It's interesting to look at the amplitude changes in the trace (they're pretty big lol). Did whole notes tonight, eyes closed again. There were a few times where I rested my pick on the string before plucking. I had eliminated this with the half notes. I think the longer wait time with whole notes makes me a little lazy. Will keep working on this.

Thank you, Tomo, Sammi, and George! I wasn’t able to join the livestream, but I wachted the archive. Together with Sammi’s great notes, it really helped deepen my understanding.

I have one question about the Open G string (meditative) practice. Apologies if I missed it, but I don’t recall hearing anything about muting, so I’d like to ask:

Should I lightly touch the 6th to 4th strings and the 2nd to 1st strings to mute them when picking the open G string? (I noticed that Scott above is muting the 2nd and 1st strings.)

Day 10 - I did half notes for a minute or so then whole notes. Got better at not resting the pick on the string while waiting to strike for the whole notes. I feel like half note volume consistency was a little better, but I didn't record, so can't validate.
I'll keep doing this, but my target was to post any a-ha's for 10 straight days of working with it. Probably won't post more practice notes unless I discover something crazy. Hope everyone keeps having fun with this!

Day 7 - Metronome day, 60 bpm with half notes and big football tones. Those whole notes had me listening to my tone, then was counting at a faster time to fill it out. Not really thinking 1,2,3,4, quarter notes more tah, tah, tah tah in 16 notes. Finding a body motion that flowed in that groove sense and bring it back to the one.. repeat. The half notes were cut in eighth notes. When I was thinking all that counting the pick was doing it's own thing, again resting a mute on the bottom 3 strings 654 The Metronome changed up my focus. I was happy :) with the tones either way.
-johno

Thank you Johno, KAZUFUMI, Sunil, Scott, Linda, Clay, Yuki for your pure dedication on daily practice on this topic and coming to this thread!

Just hitting that open G with softer touch. This way you can learn soft grip with a pick. Plesae re-watch the live stream a few more times. This way you understand this topic deeply. Look for better TONE!

I still practice R 3 7 Swing Groove and make sure I use super soft left hand touch and wide strumming with light picking dyanmics. Chromatic scale, I try to softer to softer so you can relate to this Open G picking exercise. Look for better TONE!

Yes! This lesson can be related many other lessons. Chromatic Scale, Triad inversions, R 3 7 Swing Groove and Shuffle bassline too. Look for better TONE!

Lovely Tone Scott! Listen careflly the 3rd hit, 4th one… you muted a note slightly… So you can go much slower and listen that part deeply and look for softer and better TONE! Great job!

Yes! Whole note and keep is a long note with very slow pace. Listen when you hit a note. Make sure that you don’t mute a note and stop that note. Very difficult to do! For tape lesson, I teach this part for 3 months at least.

Yes! Don’t worry to catch the live stream but you can re-watch it. Sammi does an amazing job organaizing the topic. I am so thankful to have Sammi here! I explained about muting! Left hand fingers to mute 1,2 strings & Right palm mute bottom strings!

It is very difficult to sustain and do not stop that ringing sound. So you need to play super super yet when you pick a note… you need to do that fast. This part is same as R 3 7 strumming technique.

Metronome day! I use my metronome everyday! I do now 60 bpm and play whole note. So keep 4 beats. This way you have more time to focus on each note. This way 1-2 minutes = 15 to 30 hits. Then you can apply this to chromatic scale exercise.

Tomo

Day 8 - checking in with both phases. It is funny, I rested my right hand fingers like a crutch on the pickup on the phase 2 and did not on phase 1. Not paying attention on changing it up between phases. Wondering about pick angle and depth after review. Check out that Metronome, it is old school and fits nicely on a music stand. :) - johno

What we're noticing as a community so far...

Over the past several days, many of you have spent time on the picking exercise, and it has been really interesting to see what is coming up. Thank you to everyone who shared notes and recordings. There is a strong sense of shared discovery happening here.

1. It is simple but not easy
Many of you mentioned how challenging this feels once you really slow down. Things like inconsistent volume, string noise, and feeling rushed (especially in Phase 2) start to show up quickly.

2. Awareness is growing
You are noticing details that might have been easy to miss before:
- Pick angle (edge vs flat)
- Volume and dynamics
- Attack and motion (resting vs smooth)
- Subtle differences in tone

And when something is off, it really stands out. That is a good sign your ear is getting sharper.

3. It is carrying over into other practices
Several of you mentioned:
- Hearing picking issues more clearly in other exercises (R37, etudes, triads)
- Realizing when you are picking too hard
- Adjusting the technique based on sound rather than habit

That kind of transfer is where this work becomes really powerful.

4. Slowing down changes everything
There is a mix of challenge and benefit here:
- Hard to stay slow and controlled
- Easier to observe and troubleshoot
- Feels unnatural, but gives you clarity

Some of you described it as meditative, which is great to see.

5. Small time, big impact
Even just a couple of minutes:
- Helps you identify issues
- Gives you something specific to adjust
- Builds consistency over time

Good day Guitar Wisdom. I have started recording my sessions. What is cool is I can see on my recording how heavy or light I hit by the line it makes on the ipad. I had some hits not even register on there. Maybe too quiet then? You all are doing fabulous. My goals is to start being more active 5 mins a day on here. What I notice is I need to get better at limitation. having dedicated 5 mins to tasks and move on to the next. I am trying a rapid planning method course and I am hoping it will help me get all my 5 min to do's in one spot. I am going to rewatch the video. At times I often wonder if am doing accurately or inaccurately You all are doing amazing keep it up.

Hi everyone. I recorded my way of practice. Some people say this excercise is very meditative. I feel same way.
Eiji