Mason Williams Classical Gas by tvarga
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neverfoundthetime
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Hey Tom, that is an heroic effort, in my opinion, you really have got to grips with the whole thing. I am especially impressed when you go up the neck... that looks really difficult to get any kind of clear sound out of what you have to fret. Great job indeed!
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Hydroman52
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Tom,
Very nice job. This looks like one tough song. After getting it to this level, all other songs must be a breeze to play.
Hydroman52
Very nice job. This looks like one tough song. After getting it to this level, all other songs must be a breeze to play.
Hydroman52
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Music Junkie
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Tom:
That was a wonderful job! My eyes were tuned in to your picking hand quite a bit. Very good position and technique. I am very envious, and inspired by this performance. Like mentioned above, you never go for the easy one do you???? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
It is always a treat to watch one of your posts. Keep up the great work, and I can't wait to see what you tackle next. B)
MJ
That was a wonderful job! My eyes were tuned in to your picking hand quite a bit. Very good position and technique. I am very envious, and inspired by this performance. Like mentioned above, you never go for the easy one do you???? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
It is always a treat to watch one of your posts. Keep up the great work, and I can't wait to see what you tackle next. B)
MJ
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AcousticAl
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Nothin' but net!
Always loved this song and very impressed with your version, Tom.
Well done!!
Always loved this song and very impressed with your version, Tom.
Well done!!
Hey everyone ... thanks for all the kind words! 
Is it wrong to admit that this is one of the main reasons why I love TG? I don't have the confidence to play live in front of anybody yet, but I love to challenge myself to take on harder and harder songs with the goal of learning something new and best of all uploading my attempt at it to share with everybody. What a great motivator...
It's funny how I've been able to improve technically over the past few years and yet I still get so jittery and stiff fingered when the camera's rolling. Hopefully practice and more experience doing it will eventually get me past it.
Bob, thanks for the thoughts. My neck problems are finally past me. However, crossing that 50 mark seems to have started a whole slew of problems.
A few weeks ago I got a pretty serious blood clot in my right calf (deep vein thrombosis) that could've been life threatening. Luckily I caught it early enough. But the funny thing is, a few months ago I started feeling some very specific pains in my right calf just where I cross my legs when I hold by guitar (just like Neil does). I don't know if that is what caused the clot, by I'm not taking chances any more and instead am using one of those foot stools that classical guitarists use. It's actually more comfortable and I don't get numb legs if I play for hours at a time.
Scott, I decided to limit the number of takes in the hope that not trying for a perfect play-through might reduce the pressure I'd feel and maybe reduce the number of flubs along the way. I can't say that it worked, but I don't think I could've done better even if I tried 20 takes. My old mind wanders and the next thing I know ... I forget where I am and things go haywire.
Mark, it's funny you mention my big honking guitar. I drop in to Guitar Center every so often and play a bunch of guitars all the while wishing I could get one of them I think I'm eventually going to go with a Taylor like yours. I thought it had such a nice sound when we were playing together. The problem is that 2 school tuitions don't leave much for fun new toys.
Many of you mentioned how hard it is to undo bad habits. That sure is true. I've been trying for years to get the feeling for alternate finger same string picking down. Every time I tried, I ended up giving up. Somehow, I think I finally got it. I just had to play the same few bars over and over and over until my darn fingers got it.
I'm glad to hear that others are trying to learn Classical Gas. Neil's lesson on it is really great. If you take to heart every single suggestion he makes and then play it over and over and over again, you'll get it down. I'm guessing that I've played it at least 500 times in the past few weeks. Initially, my left hand's fingers hurt like heck. Then, my left hand would be completely exhausted after only 2 or 3 play-throughs. However, I've been amazed at how quickly I was able to improve my finger conditioning so that I can now play it over and over without getting tired. Surely, practice is the key!
-Tom
Is it wrong to admit that this is one of the main reasons why I love TG? I don't have the confidence to play live in front of anybody yet, but I love to challenge myself to take on harder and harder songs with the goal of learning something new and best of all uploading my attempt at it to share with everybody. What a great motivator...
It's funny how I've been able to improve technically over the past few years and yet I still get so jittery and stiff fingered when the camera's rolling. Hopefully practice and more experience doing it will eventually get me past it.
Bob, thanks for the thoughts. My neck problems are finally past me. However, crossing that 50 mark seems to have started a whole slew of problems.
A few weeks ago I got a pretty serious blood clot in my right calf (deep vein thrombosis) that could've been life threatening. Luckily I caught it early enough. But the funny thing is, a few months ago I started feeling some very specific pains in my right calf just where I cross my legs when I hold by guitar (just like Neil does). I don't know if that is what caused the clot, by I'm not taking chances any more and instead am using one of those foot stools that classical guitarists use. It's actually more comfortable and I don't get numb legs if I play for hours at a time.Scott, I decided to limit the number of takes in the hope that not trying for a perfect play-through might reduce the pressure I'd feel and maybe reduce the number of flubs along the way. I can't say that it worked, but I don't think I could've done better even if I tried 20 takes. My old mind wanders and the next thing I know ... I forget where I am and things go haywire.
Mark, it's funny you mention my big honking guitar. I drop in to Guitar Center every so often and play a bunch of guitars all the while wishing I could get one of them I think I'm eventually going to go with a Taylor like yours. I thought it had such a nice sound when we were playing together. The problem is that 2 school tuitions don't leave much for fun new toys.
Many of you mentioned how hard it is to undo bad habits. That sure is true. I've been trying for years to get the feeling for alternate finger same string picking down. Every time I tried, I ended up giving up. Somehow, I think I finally got it. I just had to play the same few bars over and over and over until my darn fingers got it.
I'm glad to hear that others are trying to learn Classical Gas. Neil's lesson on it is really great. If you take to heart every single suggestion he makes and then play it over and over and over again, you'll get it down. I'm guessing that I've played it at least 500 times in the past few weeks. Initially, my left hand's fingers hurt like heck. Then, my left hand would be completely exhausted after only 2 or 3 play-throughs. However, I've been amazed at how quickly I was able to improve my finger conditioning so that I can now play it over and over without getting tired. Surely, practice is the key!
-Tom
Tom I find you very inspirational. You always tackle the tough stuff and do it so very well. Sure, minor glitches but that means nothing in the overall context of what you have accomplished to date. I am certain your hard work is going to be rewarded with a review from Neil and I look forward to what he has to say. Great, great job.