Robert At Home - May 2023 

I do hope this adorable man, whose art we will love and listen to forever, keeps healthy and prosperous. Live long and happily, Mr Fripp.

I love the idea of Toyah being away and Robert's dressed up sharp in his man-cave playing guitar.

As Steve Vai has been saying for the last few weeks- your playing is relentless and beautiful.

I can't help it - my favorite parts are when he exclaims "Bollocks!"

A guitarist friend of mine told me something important we never seem to focus on but you clearly are here. Your breathing is slow and steady. Too many times I catch myself not breathing correctly, which of course leads to tensing up. I pray your mind, heart, and hands remain limber forever, dear Robert.

As I try to be a student, I am profoundly grateful to those who try to teach.

Robert saying "Shout out "Bollocks" for yourself" (while still playing) at 06:30 so beautifully captures this humble, hilarious, astonishing musician and person

One day his people will come and take him back to his home planet and we'll all be sad.....❤👽😁

A few of months ago Robert demonstrated the picking patterns of the polyrhythmic motif for "Frame by Frame." I commented: "Mr. Fripp, we want to see your method towards the lightening fast sixteenth-note marathons in "Frame by Frame."" (this was in Episode 15) I've been studying this almost a week now and have the following observations and opinions: 1. Although it seems he's only showing us the left hand, you can see how he negotiates the velocity of the pick with what he termed in an even earlier segment regarding skipping strings where the hand is somewhat "thrown," when playing very quickly. In this month's installment you can clearly see some movement in the arm up to the elbow but I'm sure, adhering to his habit of relaxation. 2. I doubt if Mr. Fripp was responding directly to my request but this is his approach to practicing the "marathons," in "Frame by Frame." a) His base-line of practice is the grip of the pick, and the b) placement of the pick over the strings, c) relaxed posture and carriage of the guitar (standard Alexander body-mapping), d) then performing the notes of the left hand with the attack of the right hand in perfect synchronicity...By 'attack' I mean the understanding that the pick is released through the string then returned (not just the common nomenclature of "up-and-down strokes". In my own practice of "Frame by Frame", when I'm fully aware and intentional about the playing I can approach the rolling effect that baffles both our ears and eyes when Mr. Fripp performs this riff. (I'm up to 138BPM on a good day). 3. The permutations of the left hand fingers are actually the key to keeping the right hand consistent. While strengthening/waking the "incalcitrant little fingers," we ensure we don't run before we know how to walk. (This is a big deal and a freebie the master has thrown to us that might not have considered to how to practice by looking just beyond what we can see). 4. Last observation: He takes us up to 148 BPM in this demonstration. Frame by Frame was recorded close to 156 or 157. Good idea to finish the video with some "Heroes" and the admonition for us to remember to have fun when we play the guitar! Thank you Mr. Fripp for teaching, sharing, humbling yourself by taking the time for fans and students alike, and for humbling us to practice with integrity.

I never tire of hearing Robert play "Heroes". It's just an iconic and beautiful sound he produces.

I am beginning to suspect Toyah just might be my favorite live 60+ year old singer. She moves so well and her enthusiasm is quite contagious I find. Robert, you sly dog, your 'new' career as a back up guitarist just might become something more. I love these informal lessons/demos of fingering practice you have perfected. The bollocks exclamation are, to my North American ears, so much politer than the 4 letter word that rhymes with duck that I will frequently utter in private sessions. It also shows that you are truly human and highlights your sense of dry droll humor.Thank you for these. Never stop.

The joyful honesty & humility of bollocks in the middle of a master class ! Both Robert & Toyah are class act human beings & kudos to all your hard work.

I had the pleasure of meeting Robert many years ago in Chelmsford. Over the course of a long lunch he kindly showed me photographs of his wonderful stamp collection. What a guy!

Robert seems like the most calm musician on the planet, and because of this he's going to make it to 100 years old with ease. My late grandfather passed away at 90 and he was a student of the steel guitar since he was 30, never stopped playing. God bless you Mr. Fripp. The strings would be lonely without you. 🙏

Without Robert Fripp we would never have had King Chrimson. For this and staggering innovation and craft on guitar playing and his service to music he should be awarded an MBE.

The most joyfully different guitar lesson I’ve ever had. Love these two.

Fantastic! Wow the dexterarty ! Can you play smoke on the water?

Still one of my all time favorites. Friggin Fripp

This is a valuable lesson! Simply WOW, thanks!

One of the TRUE legendary Prog GOATS!

I appreciate this systematic approach to mechanics. It’s a great free lesson that Will be passed on to my students.

Fenomenal musicologías art músicos extraordinarios

God bless all teachers as us mortals fumble. Thanks for giving us hope. X to you both.

Mr Fripp, I, my children and my children's children will listen and practice patiently.

thank you for the great guitar lesson and insight into frame by frame!

Thank you so much M. Fripp (and Miss Toyah), for these precious minutes of sharing. 🤍

I'd absolutely love to see Robert and Steve Howe sit down and chat about music, guitars etc etc etc. - It would be fascinating.

Lifelong fan here... please, Robert, whenever you show us your playing or technique, show the right hand in the camera frame also! That's the area where you are most God-like, and which we most want to see... thank you!

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, humor, and smiles… It’s nice to see , what otherwise is impossible to imagine…king Crimson is the greatest thing ever recorded to vinyl. I tried to learn all of “ in the court of the Crimson King”… on acoustic guitar 🙏🤗🍺cheers

my fingers hurt just thinking about doing that. Love the bollocks. I also like the way you dress like a gentleman.

I thought about a lot of hugs of Robert with David (Bowie). The Heros! Robert as always is sitting and playing on the stage and thinking of his old friend...

Have a happy birthday this month, I'll be celebrating mine as well. You're a hero.

This is how I dress when I practice too!

Thank you for your instruction and inspiration This exercise reminds me of learning "Angola"-Wayne Shorter Thank You for this memory

Thank you for the lesson Father Robert! This really helps me understand your amazing work sir. 🙏 Simply amazing! Steve Vai really has his work cut out for him with the Beat project.

'Fripp Bad' in a Good Way. I've listen to Fripp practice in his room at a hotel . True I had to listen in the hallway through closed doors wondering what he would say to a semi-circle of chairs for listeners in front of his hotel door. 🤣 Practice will lead to improvement. Stay Healthy and Happy Toyah and Robert, PEACE

Mi admiración total por más de 40 años Respetado, Querido Robert Fripp!

Thanks you . ... Mr fripp❤

When i saw K.C. in 72'i never could imagine Fripp on stage playing pop songs fronted by a woman in a spangled dress.Never say never i guess.

Mr. Fripp, You are a true gentleman and so kind of you to take the time to make these tutorial videos. You still have the passion for music like a teenager discovering and experimenting different sounds.

Thank you Mr. Robert Fripp. I must admit I spend more time having fun with the guitar because my full time occupation is Maintenance Engineer and it uses up 10.666 hrs. a day five days a week.

What a cool video. So unique and a real look at the master at work.

40+ years of touting Mr. Fripp's greatness. Thank you for a lifetime of music to my ears.

When I met Robert he very affably suggested that perhaps not everyone is meant to play fast. And I’m suspecting he’s right. For the opening figures, I think his metronome was set somewhere between 140 to 150 b.p.s., which fine, okay … but sitting at home on my acoustic Ovation, I cannot play *one note on one string* - just the same note, pluck-y pluck-y pluck-y - at that speed. Basically my pick (a triangular black thing, gifted to me in the summer of 2020, made of maybe Delrin, I dunno what gauge) gets tangled up in my strings. Now, I hold my pick such that less than 0.2mm pokes out, so I don’t think that’s the issue. My fingertips do get sweaty, so I could try some sex wax, if anyone wants to recommend a good flavor. I suspect maybe my strings aren’t taut enough? I’m tuning to NST, but I chose a combination of heavy gauge and light gauge strings, and for my D and wound A strings I went altogether lighter than what’s recommended - I wanted to go easy on my guitar’s neck - so perhaps .61, .47, .30, .19, .12, and .10 aren’t giving my strings enough tension to be snappy. Or maybe I’m playing too high up on the neck … I’ve got a certain tone I chase, but maybe I need to readjust my whole playing position and bring my picking hand down closer to the bridge. And of course, I feel my strings’ action is a little high, but there’s not a lot I can do about that on this acoustic. Do people know what I mean? That sensation that your fretting hand is doing just fine, and that, in your picking hand, you’re holding your pick such that the tip barely touches the strings, “picky-pick-pick” … yet, somehow, the naughty strings are cheekily GRABBING your pick and hauling it away from you?? Any positive, helpful input is appreciated! Anyhow, I’m still plugging away at this - I’ve been a little incommunicado as I’ve been under the weather - but as the Curséd Old Ones of the Deep are my witness, I *will* get better at this guitar thing, ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!!

Love your playing behind Toyah! also your house is amazing - so many nooks and crannies!!

Thank you for the great lesson, Mr. Fripp!

So fabulous. He’s such a soulful machine.

Mr Fripp, you have been entertaining, enlightening, teaching and amazing for many years my friend! And still going strong! Peace Brother! You and Toyah rock! You bring me back a lot of memories!

You know what's wild, my pinky finger was getting tired just watching the retrograde 6/8 exercise. I wasn't even doing the exercise and my mind was telling me to stop playing. 😂

Thank you Mr. Fripp

Outstanding advice on healthy living. And there's the flabergasting guitar section. Oh boy... This veteran drummer is learning a lot today. Thank you.

To anyone watching who doesn't play guitar... and I'll start by saying that this is a massive generalisation, but I think it's worth saying. When you see someone like Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai or Yngwie Malmsteen playing (if you are that unfortunate), they are using techniques (hammer-ons and pull-offs) whereby they play one note and get another six or eight notes out of it. It sounds pretty fluid and is a bit 'nicer' sounding than picking every note (and not 'nice' in a good way). The way that someone like Robert Fripp plays (or Angus Young or Bernard Butler) is pretty much picking every note with your right hand whilst fretting with the left hand. As a guitarist of 30 years I can tell you that that style is immeasurably more difficult than the way that Van Halen and Vai etc play. It also sounds a lot better as it is (generally) more aggressive and lively. To put it bluntly, Robert Fripp could probably play anything by Van Halen or Steve Vai with his hands tied behind his back. Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai would struggle to play anything by King Crimson. Again, this is a bit of a generalisation, but I'm trying to point out the immense skill that Fripp has to someone who may not be aware of the technicalities. And to quote the great man - if you disagree, shout out 'bollocks!' for yourself ;-)

Thank you Robert.

I remember when I first heard Zero of the Signified (later God Save the King) and realized that pattern wasn't a loop, he was actually playing it for ten minutes. I've been looking at a lot of guitarists' 4th fingers over the years and RF still has the strictest 4th finger discipline, or at least you can't find a pinky that behaves much better. Something to aspire after. & you know ... bless Toyah, maybe she is the Fifth force; if particle physicists and cosmologists take Toyah into account with their calculations, that may solve the discrepancy with the hubble constant and a few other issues in the universe besides. She's the type who doesn't realize you can't divide by zero, so she just might end up doing it

Dear Mr Fripp. I started playing Guitar in 1982. My First Classical Guitar Teacher was Benjamin Spender. Not only was he my teacher but was a fantastic mentor and within my first year of playing introduced me to Bath’s (my Home City where I grew up) Guitarists that he personally knew. Among them was a Jazz fusion Guitarist who played me a video tape of King Crimson performing The Discipline album. The first thing that grabbed me was the eccentric and energetic playing of Adrian and the cool still postured but tight playing of yourself. It can possibly be said that before I knew countless names of Guitarists that I would go on to admire and be inspired by, your name was one of the first.

Thanks Bob

That woman must have some pull to get the original guitarist for her cover of "Heroes" 😄

I still listen to the discipline album at least twice a week all these years later it’s still so relevant… even more so these days haha

May 2023? Always knew you were ahead of your time Bob…

Robert... always awesome. Regards from Brazil.

Too good to be true! Love it. Take care, dearest Robert.

He's finally learning how to atomize his experience down to the level of us (semi?)"normal" mortals who never want to play like that, but admire the Discipline.

I will try these exercise if I find the courage... But apart from that, what would the heroes be without your amazing riffs dear Sir Robert

I was just paying attention to the Discipline album and specifically Frame By Frame just last week! So glad to see this, something about the changes in that song are just magical.

Ooh!!! I like that guitar sound!

Thanks you for the amazing lesson.

Fripp is actually a lost member of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" ... They lost him at a Busstop in the early 70s....

What a wonderful video. Thank you Robert

Thank You!! Really enjoying, well, you at home!

Oh, the joy you have brought me throughout my life, Mr Fripp. How I'd love to sit down with you, a couple of Les Pauls, and have some tea.

We mustn’t forget to look gravely serious!

I love these tips!

The Wimborne-accented BOL-LOCKS! is pure joy 🤣

Robert, "you are my guitar Hero" ..your guitar work on David Bowie's Album Scary Monsters and Super Creeps is unmatched

A class act all the way.

Watched this quaint old man try for 12 minutes to play ‘Spirit Of The Radio’ by Rush. This guy is hellbent on playing it wrong though.

You have been an inspiration for many many decades to millions of musicians. I got introduced to King Crimson when I was about 9 years of age in 1975. From that point on, I began playing guitar. Thank you Robert for your amazing gift and beautiful heart.

One of my fondest memories is my girlfriend practicing her violin at home for her upcoming Florida Grand Opera performances. Like many musicians, it was impressed upon her by someone how annoying it could be to hear hours of such diligence. It took all I could do to convince her otherwise. I found it pure bliss as well as a precious view inside the mind of the one I loved.

I don't recall the last time I was inspired to practice guitar and now I'm plugging in and looking for those notes up at the 7th fret. Wether or not this requires new standard tuning we shall see. You are an inspiration sir.

Hi Mr. Fripp. I saw a gig last night. It was called Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew Remain In Light. They do this heavy song called Born Under Punches. The audience were way younger than the songs that were playing but the crowd was mesmerized.. and pulsating.

there's a nice progression in the song Fallen Angel I like follows a step pattern like these

Thank you, Mr. Fripp.

Robert, I have loved you and been intimidated by you in equal measure since about 1972 when I got my first Harmony guitar on my 12th birthday, and somehow had Crimson records around instead of all the pop shit. And here you are still practicing something you nailed 40 years ago, because it was so good no one could ever possibly master it, not even you. Never change.

Your dexterity is amazing. Your sense of humor is delirious. I want to thank you for including Fort Worth, Texas on your tour a few years ago. It was a magical musical night that I'll never forget.

Real nice, wish there were more of these teachings with Mr. Fripp ! And would love to see the picking hand, for me (and I think Mr. Fripp) it's as important, or even more, then the fretting hand !

Wow...like the dancing lights in the sky...

The four starting points has been immensely helpful and tied together many ideas that I was getting close to. Thank you.

still displaying his chops and teaching thats INSPIRING

What marvellous human beings Robert and Toyah are.

"Robert is relentless. Relentless." - Steve Vai

🌠✡ u guys Rock ! good video , & I liked the crimson 50 dvd, heavy parts with bill & your teacher..I will remember u..& the ending is funny, my friend Adrian Conner is warming up 4 Joan Jett 2 nite..in Texas..looking 4ward 2 your video tomorrow ,i saw my friend gretchen menn in zepparella last nite & seein them again 2 nite..her father don menn worked 4 guitar player magazine...⭐

remember to always have some fun... life is short.... and who knows whats next!!!

It’s good to see someone using that fourth digit that so many have forgotten is actually pretty useful.

Like you all I have fantastic hands. My hands can almost do anything but when I hold my guitar they turn to boxing gloves. I am 63 and get happy as a child when I can play the bass of "La Bamba". God bless us all.

Thank you Mr Fripp. I'll get right on it.

Thank you.

Would be eternally grateful if we could please see some shots of the right hand Sir! Thank you for these insights and lessons.

Robert you are the BEST!!!!

MASTERFUL !

Thank you so much for this, and thank you forever for the guitar on “Heroes.”