In Time with Tomo Fujita, mentor of John Mayer and Eric Krasno.

Our friends from In Time podcast, Ameer Khan and Joe Marlow, interviewed Tomo Fujita to discuss the creative process, techniques, and culture surrounding music production. They have contributed written versions of their insightful interviews with respected musicians such as Mark Holcomb, Adam Neely, and DOMi & JD Beck to Soundbrenner's blog.

In this episode, the In Time podcast returns from hiatus for a conversation with Tomo Fujita, a guitarist and professor at the Berklee College of Music. Tomo specializes in blues, funk, and R&B styles and has been teaching for nearly three decades, mentoring guitarists like John Mayer and Eric Krasno.

Tomo discusses adapting to online teaching in response to the pandemic. He mentions that creating YouTube content and his online course, Guitar Wisdom, prepared him for this adjustment. The subscription format of the course has allowed him to teach students from over 80 different countries, making Berklee-level tutoring accessible to people from all backgrounds.

“[I’m used to] teaching in different time zones. I’ve been doing this all of the time, so nothing really changed for me.”

Tomo Fujita goes on to discuss his early influences and the impact of culture on his musical experience. He highlights the differences between Japanese and American popular music and acknowledges that his admiration for Western blues and rock inspired his move to the US. He credits artists such as Larry Carlton, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin for introducing him to these styles.

The importance of playing by ear

Next, we explore the significance of feeling and learning to play by ear. Tomo prioritizes this approach when teaching, rather than focusing on tablature. He explains that his experience playing at church when he first moved to the US emphasized this. Instead of being provided with charts, Tomo was expected to improvise for what he called ‘2 hours of ear training.’ He recounts being told to simply ‘play like B.B. King’ on his first day and offers sound advice on how to handle a similar situation.

“First thing? Don’t play anything. That’s the best thing to do. I would just listen, then gradually fill it in as I start to understand the chord progression.”

Following this, Tomo Fujita expands on his experience teaching John Mayer and how he tailors his approach to individual students. He humorously notes that it often involves learning when not to play and using softer dynamics. In line with this less-is-more philosophy, Tomo shares that most of his YouTube videos are filmed in just one take, including his popular video with student Zack Gibs, which was their first jam together.

“Guitar is not just playing, it's about the gear too.”

Wrapping up

We conclude the episode with a look at Tomo’s favorite equipment. He showcases several of his original Fender Duo-Sonics from circa 1960.

He also demonstrates his signature Kanji guitar, which features just one pickup, emphasizing the importance of tone. Tomo then gives us a tour of his pedal board, which includes Lee Jackson’s spring reverb and Vemuram’s Jan Ray overdrive pedal. Finally, he praises the Fender Musicmaster bass amp for its simplicity and affordability.

The full episode of In Time with Tomo Fujita is available at https://www.InTimePodcast.com. You can also listen on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music. Follow @InTimeUK for all clips and episode information.

More information on Tomo’s Guitar Wisdom course can be found here. He also uploads content to his YouTube channel several times a week.