Mason Williams Classical Gas by tvarga
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I've worked on Classical Gas on and off ever since Neil put up the lesson.
A few weeks ago, I decided to really work on it with a focus on getting rid of
a number of really bad habits of mine. (Mostly trying to alternate picking fingers on the same string).
I think I'm playing this song pretty well now and decided to upload an attempt at it.
As usual, I get nervous with the camera on so some sections are pretty sketchy and I even reverted to some of the bad habits. Oh well.
Anyway, I decided to only try 2 takes and this was the better of the them.
I really love these challenging lessens. They really push me to work hard and learn new skills. I'm looking forward to the next one ...
-Tom
Hi Tom,
My first reaction was WOW! that was amazing. You seemed very comfortable with it although I could see in your expressions occasionally that you were not quite happy with a few bits. I thought it was fantastic.
Great Job and very nice to see you again.
Hope all is well and your back is doing OK
Bob
My first reaction was WOW! that was amazing. You seemed very comfortable with it although I could see in your expressions occasionally that you were not quite happy with a few bits. I thought it was fantastic.
Great Job and very nice to see you again.
Hope all is well and your back is doing OK
Bob
Tom,
Wonderful work on this extremely challenging tune! I can tell that you know each part well and have probably played each part flawlessly numerous times over even though you had some very minor glitches here and there on this take (damn camera). Great work - hard work pays off and it shows here. Songs like this take so much time and effort to get comfortable. I also am struggling with old bad habits and learning to alternate fingers on a string (not nearly as well as you yet, it is such a foreign concept to me so far). Thanks for posting this fine effort!
Scott
P.S. Two takes huh - double wow! I can't do the simplest song in two takes LOL
Wonderful work on this extremely challenging tune! I can tell that you know each part well and have probably played each part flawlessly numerous times over even though you had some very minor glitches here and there on this take (damn camera). Great work - hard work pays off and it shows here. Songs like this take so much time and effort to get comfortable. I also am struggling with old bad habits and learning to alternate fingers on a string (not nearly as well as you yet, it is such a foreign concept to me so far). Thanks for posting this fine effort!
Scott
P.S. Two takes huh - double wow! I can't do the simplest song in two takes LOL
Tom,
Nice job! You seem to have it down pretty well. I've been working on this on and off for some time as well. It's long so the odds of getting through it without a glitch are pretty slim (at least for me! :laugh: ). I caved in and gave up on using the full barre in the "B" section, glad to see that you didn't! I thought you did very well. Way to go, keep up the great work!
Craig
Nice job! You seem to have it down pretty well. I've been working on this on and off for some time as well. It's long so the odds of getting through it without a glitch are pretty slim (at least for me! :laugh: ). I caved in and gave up on using the full barre in the "B" section, glad to see that you didn't! I thought you did very well. Way to go, keep up the great work!
Craig
Great work Tom, and gosh what a challenging song, so great of you to keep tackling them! 
And yeah, I know about the camera-jitters.... :S, I think we can all relate to that...
Thanks for sharing your work on this one Tom, well done!
Ness
And yeah, I know about the camera-jitters.... :S, I think we can all relate to that...
Thanks for sharing your work on this one Tom, well done!
Ness
Tom,
I think you are my new guitar hero. I love this song and you did it very well. Can you think of a more challenging piece to play?? Geez you don't go for the easy ones do you. Congratulations on the progress you've made so far. I'm curious. You've got that big drednaught there and I'm assuming you've got medium guage strings on that thing. I'd be really interested in seeing how you would do on these type of songs on a smaller bodied guitar with lights on it. I bet you could walk into a guitar shop and turn some heads with this song. Keep up the great work Tom. Thanks for sharing.
MarkM
I think you are my new guitar hero. I love this song and you did it very well. Can you think of a more challenging piece to play?? Geez you don't go for the easy ones do you. Congratulations on the progress you've made so far. I'm curious. You've got that big drednaught there and I'm assuming you've got medium guage strings on that thing. I'd be really interested in seeing how you would do on these type of songs on a smaller bodied guitar with lights on it. I bet you could walk into a guitar shop and turn some heads with this song. Keep up the great work Tom. Thanks for sharing.
MarkM
Very nicely played Tom even with camera jitters! I doubt I could play this without forgetting where I am nowadays. Plus my guitar/office/cave is not yet set up in new house so actual access to guitars would help too!
I am always impressed with your choice to try the harder songs and push yourself.
I am always impressed with your choice to try the harder songs and push yourself.
Tom, I think you did a great job on what I consider the Everest of TG lessons.
I know how hard bad habits can be to break, for me at least. It takes twice to effort to unlearn the bad and relearn the good.
Your focus is apparent on this even if you did slip back a bit in front of the camera (which I couldn’t detect).
I really admire your penchant for tackling the tough ones. Keep up the good work and it will be polished in no time.
Thanks for sharing.
♫ Ken ♫
I know how hard bad habits can be to break, for me at least. It takes twice to effort to unlearn the bad and relearn the good.
Your focus is apparent on this even if you did slip back a bit in front of the camera (which I couldn’t detect).
I really admire your penchant for tackling the tough ones. Keep up the good work and it will be polished in no time.
Thanks for sharing.
♫ Ken ♫
Tom,
It's great that you posted this one. I also have been working on this one for the past few weeks pretty hard so I know how you feel about bad habits.
Just getting through all the parts consecutively is a challenge in itself.
I would offer a few comments if I can. Play it slower. I know that is said over and over again on this site but it is so true, especially with this song I think. I also think that with your left hand dexterity were it is (very good), you could really get cleaner with the melody by playing not only slower but louder. As for your right hand and using the same finger on the same string.....I hate that too but I am trying like hell to learn to alternate the way Neil has told us, its hard.
I was curious to see how you handled the B section.... really nice job. It is one of those sections you hate at first then love it because its so damn hard.
I am always more inspired to continue my own work on songs when fellow TG friends post. Thanks Tom for pushing me to work harder.
Matt