Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

​Hi Tomo-san,
​I don't know if you remember me, but I'm the 36-year-old beginner who previously asked about a subscription discount on one of your youtube post :) ı I ended up taking your advice and just went for the monthly subscription! This is the first time I've ever played an instrument in my life, and I'm really excited to be learning from you.
​I’ve attached a video of me trying the chromatic exercise. I literally just started this exercise today, and I know it's nowhere near good enough yet, but I wanted to get some early feedback. My goal is to try my best to improve and post update videos on Day 15 and Day 30 to track my progress.
​In the video, I was actively trying to focus on a few things:
​Keeping a relaxed body posture.
​My thumb position (trying to keep it lightly touching the back of the neck).
​Muting with my palm and my 1st/4th fingers (which wasn't very successful yet!).
​Getting clean notes to sustain (which I failed at again and again).
​I am having a really hard time, especially with sustaining the notes when I play with my ring and pinky fingers. I struggle to keep the sustain both when pressing down and when releasing the string.
​Could you give me some serious advice based on what you see in the video? As a complete newbie, I really want to make sure I practice the right way so I don't build any bad technique or habits as I progress.
​Thank you so much for your time guidance.

Thank you both, Tomo and Clay, for the quick replies! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.
​I have a follow-up question: Are there any exercises I can do off the guitar to build strength and independence in my ring and pinky fingers? Right now, when I have my ring finger anchored, I struggle to use my pinky without the ring finger lifting or the knuckle collapsing. This ends up killing my sustained notes or causing me to accidentally hit other strings. Any advice on practicing this away from the fretboard would be great.

Gorkem, you're doing great. First day!

Hi Tomosan, it's been 11 days and my chromatic scale practice is going well. However, I've noticed that my pinky struggles to mute the higher strings, especially around the 4th to 8th frets. Are there any exercises I can do to fix this?

https://imgur.com/a/DoqZYeX
I posted two photos there just in case if i couldnt make myself clear. Because english not my firsy language :)

Great job Gorkem! So happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your progress.

How about this... once you hear any noise. Stop first, then go slower than that tempo. You can play it super slow. Slow down so you can fix any problems.

I made this video for you to review your fret-hand. Please let me know your thought on this video.

Tomo

Dear Tomo-san,

I have been following your advice and practicing the chromatic scale (1234 and 1212) and the C major scale (one string, one finger) for about 45 minutes every day.

Here is a video showing my progress with the chromatic scale on Day 16. It isn't perfect yet, but when I compare it to my Day 1 video—which took me over 15 tries just to record and upload—I feel like I am doing much better!

I also have a question regarding muting technique. I noticed that you use the side of your pinky to mute the strings. I currently use my pinky directly to mute, because I cannot rotate my pinky in the same way I can rotate my first finger.

Is this going to be a problem for my playing in the long run? Should I actively try to find ways to fix this, or is this simply a normal anatomical difference that varies from person to person?

Thank you for your time and guidance!

Great job! Everything is so clean and slow pace.

Try to practice from 5th fret so it is easier for you to control your fingering.
Please do similar as I play. It will take sometimes. Don't worry! You can fix things super slowly!

So please don't master this technique in a few weeks or a few months. I recommed to do this and Major scale less than 30 mintues everyday.

Keep going!

Tomo

Hello Gorkem,

Good work I can see you're making progress. :)

I wanted to give you some adjacent things to think about.

1. Guitar setup. this can make your guitar feel like a million bucks and a joy to play. This can help with muting. (Although It's mostly technique)
Tomo has a video here:

2. The R37 Swing Groove Chords actually helped my chromatic scale progress. It helped with knowing the amount of pressure required to mute. Also, helped with tucking the elbow in on my fretting arm.
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/start-here/videos/ft-root-3rd-7th-swing-groove-technique

I noticed that your fingers are not getting close to the frets. Please keep this in mind.

Happy Practicing!

Hi Gorkem!

It's been really fun watching your progress in this thread.

The challenges you're noticing now are much more specific than the ones you described in your first post, and that's usually a sign that you're developing awareness and control (which is a very good thing).

What I see is someone who is brand new to the instrument and doing exactly what a beginner should: making attempts, paying attention, and gaining experience. The challenges you're running into with sustain, muting, and finger independence are all very normal parts of learning.

As for the pinky, I wouldn't spend too much energy worrying about whether your hand looks exactly like someone else's right now. Keep paying attention to the sound, keep moving slowly enough to notice what's happening, and keep giving your hands time to adapt to these new movements. Over time, your ears and hands start working together to sort these things out more naturally.

There's no need to chase perfection here. This work is a lifetime. You're already doing the important things. You're practicing consistently, listening carefully, reviewing yourself, asking questions, and making adjustments. Looking back at your Day 1 video and seeing progress after 16 days is a really good sign. Try not to lose sight of that.

You're off to a very solid start, and I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop for you over the next few months.

Keep going!
Sammi

Thank you Sammi for encouragement and detail suggestions!

Very helpful to everyone!

Tomo