In this video
See highlights and exercises from this video tabbed out further down this page, along with clips of Tomo jamming with John Mayer!
I had the opportunity to chat with guitar educator Tomo Fujita and create some guitar lesson content together. The whole chat was so insightful and full of Wisdom that I figured I'd make the full chat available here - I hope you enjoy it!
Tomo has been teaching guitar at Berklee College of Music since 1993. He taught John Mayer in 1 to 1 lessons during Mayer's time at Berklee in 1998.
10 years later in 2008, John Mayer came back to Berklee to give a guitar clinic, and Tomo accompanied him during these lessons, many of which you can watch in the videos embedded further down this page!
Tomo’s philosophy, distilled into a one-liner, is that music is not just about playing; it’s about emotional expression. He teaches students to inject emotion into every phrase, whether the style is blues, jazz, funk or rock.
For more from Tomo - check out his Guitar Wisdom website here and his youtube channel here
Clip 1 - SRV style blues
Clip 2 - Jazz chords
Clip 3 - Slow blues with muting
Clip 4 - Chuck Berry thing
John Mayer talk 00:00
Reverb 04:54
Funk influence 06:30
SRV 07:35
Funk influence 10:21
Mayer 10:23
Muting 16:51
Practice routine for students/30 day challenge 19:46
Metronome 23:48
Mayer 26:08
Singing notes 27:54
Blues influence 29:43
Rhythm 32:21
BB King 33:33
Play below 12th fret 36:40
Fundamentals and limitations 37:23
Recommended listening 39:23
Practicing and keeping yourself accountable 45:28
PMA/positive picks! 47:30
Self analysis 49:55
Goals 52:47
Quick fire questions 55:05
See a selection of videos with Tomo and John Mayer below, plenty to learn from watching these too!
John Mayer & Tomo Fujita - Blue jam at Berklee
Gravity performance - John Mayer & Tomo Fujita
"How To Build A Guitar Solo" - Berklee Clinic 2008
Check out 4:27 for Tomo's solo!
Tomo Fujita on the Backstage Podcast with Rhett Shull
Finally, here's an interview with Tomo on the fantastic Backstage podcast with Rhett Shull - highly recommended!
