Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

How in the world do you go from playing in the living room by yourself to playing with other people? When are you ready to play with other people skill set wise?
Is there a good way to get out of the box? I think I am afraid to try it anyway because of à la j of confidence.

I used to go to a local bar that hosts free jam sessions on Sunday nights. However, not everyone there has great skills, and since I'm still learning, I feel like I can’t bring anything new to the jam. Because of that, I haven't gone back in months.

Hi Marcus. To play with other people is so fun! I had the same luck of confidence myself only to realise that no one is perfect and also the best thing that can happen to you is to make a buddy that can help you grow! For me the first thing that you must practice is rythm! Learn to play really good the E shuffle 12 bar there is very good lessons about that from our professor. Learn the A blues with full chords maybe try also with metronome or find a good backing track on YouTube and follow to take the groove and learn the structure and how long you should play each chord. My personal favourite Learn minor blues the thrill is gone this lesson is great here and you can search more to find different grooves the simpler the better try to highlight the 2 and 4. Learn easy songs with repeatable chords like:
knocking on heaven's door
Hey Joe
Hotel californication
Comfortably numb (the solo section Bm/ A / G ,D Em/Bm)
While my guitar gently wipe
Also practise your own stuff the best jams comes from simple 1m b7 b6 5m or 1m b7 4m 5 or 1m b6 b7 1.
Try to learn some solos under this songs or progressions or try to improvise 1 box at a time or at 1 string or at simple 1 2 b3 4 5 try to make music with little and most Important have a great time to improvise good is very difficult but to Jam with people is very spiritual and even if the solos are not like our professor or favourite player the satisfaction to create something or to play a solo in time with someone will.keep you going and happy for more. Have a great day I am sure Tomo will give you the best guidance.

Thank you Tobi and Markos for encouragement!

Anyone can prepare rhythm guitar part and record it. Then you can review your playing and you can use it to play other part (Melody or soloing)

Tomo

First please learn how to play blues chord progression!

You can do these:
1) Shuffle Blues Bassline
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/fb-blues-shuffle-bassline

2) Shuffle Riff groove
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/fb-blues-shuffle-riff-bassline-play-sing-with-a-metronome

3) R 3 7 Swung
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/ft-root-3rd-7th-swing-groove-technique

Tomo

Plesae follow this thread! Kurt is so good!
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/forums/general/73188-practicing-with-tomo

Tomo

The video below is meant to be tongue in cheek, but I really got better when I joined a band. I started playing at my church and then when I was a little more confident, me and a few friends started a classic rock band.

Thank for all the feed back and suggestions. I will not worry and focus on the suggestions provided. You all gave me a great path to follow. I don’t want to get caught in the trap of never feeling “ good enough” to try playing with others but I wanted a solid path so I could plan to eventually feel ready enough to try. I like the fact that we can’t know everything and we just keep growing better. My best leaves so much room to improve but I think that will always be the case.

Great topic! Id love to try to jam with others as well. Such great comments in this thread. Schedules always crazy, so I'm thinking of buying a guitar / MIC interface I saw announced at NAMM in 2025 that allows up to 5 people to jam together with almost no latency.

Anyone tried to jam with friends online?

Got this thing quick. Best opening experience to a product ever lol. Let you guys know if I can join one of the live jam sessions with up to 5 and if it sounds good. Jamming with others! :). [url=https://postimg.cc/ppRRxRSQ][img][/img][/url]

So many great suggestions!
I'd like to add that the situation of jamming has a lot of unknowns that can cause anxiety. The preparation part Tomo emphasizes helps you feel more confident when you jump in.
You will never feel fully ready, and things don't always go as planned, but that is part of the beauty. While you practice elements to prepare for playing with others, go out and see where people like you might be playing. Not to compare your skills against theirs, but to understand the dynamics and meet some people.

I think about this tiny bar I went to outside of Acadia National Park. Anyone could write their name down on a piece of paper to get up and play or sing. There were locals and visitors, various instruments and styles, but everyone there was simply happy to be surrounded by music. Nothing about it was polished, but it was pure. I certainly was not there to evaluate someone's playing, just to enjoy the atmosphere of live music. In situations like jams, everyone is along for a ride, audience included.