Classical Gas

weebo

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 1:01:44 PM6/4/05

to

I have been trying to learn Classical Gas for a few weeks now. I was
wondering for those of you that can play it through, how long it took
you to learn. I have only been playing for two months, and most of my
time is spent practicing open chords, bar chords, and I just started
the C scale up the fret board. But I have decided to take on this one
piece for fun and spend about 15-20 minutes on most days learning it
slowly. At the pace I am on it will probably take me six months or more
to learn fully. Was wondering how long others took to learn it.
Barry

Steve Perry

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 1:16:49 PM6/4/05

to

In article <1117904504.3...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
weebo <ba...@brodwax.com> wrote:

Barry --

Depends on which arrangement you use, and how much skill you bring to
the task. Ernie Ball's version is maybe a little easier than Mason
Williams' original. I've seen fingerstyle and classical arrangements
that allow you to play the brass part in the middle, sort of, and they
are maybe a little tougher. I saw a classical player do a version where
he bounced back and forth among three keys from first position to the
sound hole, and he didn't bother to look at the fretboard while he did
it.

If you are a beginner doing it for fun and you don't get frustrated in
trying, however long it takes doesn't matter. There are guys here who
could probably listen to it once, pick it out in a few minutes, and
embellish it on the second or third pass so it sounds great, and spend
all of a couple hours getting there. Don't let that discourage you --
great musicians have skills the rest of us don't, and how you get there
is the same way you get to Carnagie Hall ...

--
Steve

Julie

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 2:26:28 PM6/4/05

to

"weebo" <ba...@brodwax.com> wrote in message
news:1117904504.3...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

It's the piece I'm learning to play at the moment with the help of a
teacher. I could already play the first bit (in first position ) but have so
far spent a week on the next bit where it go's up to 7th position. Having to
do it bar by bar as I find it impossible to sight read higher positions.
Infact I'm cheating by tabing it out ! Almost halfway through it but I
needed my teacher to tell me what position I should be in otherwise I'd be
in a mess. I'd previously been trying to play it in the wrong place on the
neck! At the rate I learn it may well take me 6 months too !

If you've only been playing a couple of months and can already play some of
it I think you're doing well ..............it doesn't matter how long it
takes you if you're enjoying learning it.

Julie

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 2:30:52 PM6/4/05

to

"weebo" <ba...@brodwax.com> wrote in message
news:1117904504.3...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Have you heard Tommy Emmanuel's version ? It's pretty impressive but will
make you want to give up the guitar completely!

Ken Cashion

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 2:56:31 PM6/4/05

to

I had the chord progression and right hand technique worked
out for the first part once upon a time but I realized that I could
work on it the rest of my life and it would still need improvement.
So naturally, with this realization, I quit.
I had forgotten about this tune until I heard it on the radio
recently and I remembered how pretty it is/was...the Williams,
version, I mean.

Ken

FirstAlternate

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 3:17:52 PM6/4/05

to

Was wondering how long others took to learn it.
> Barry
>

Not all that long, but I had been playing several years when I undertook to
learn it. I simply had to plug in skills and knowledge I already had in the
right places. With only two month's playing under your belt, I suspect
you'll have to do a lot of wheel inventing to get the job done. I strongly
suggest you seek the help of a teacher or a mentor, but I also strongly
suggest you don't let any nay-sayers, me or anyone else, dissuade you. Good
luck and have fun.

Ashby

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 4:02:50 PM6/4/05

to

"weebo" <ba...@brodwax.com> wrote in message
news:1117904504.3...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

I consider it a solid intermediate piece, unless you just want to play a
low-calorie version. It requires playing a barre chord at the same time the
pinkie is doing a slur (a pull-off from the 4th finger to the 3rd finger).
Also, the rhythm is tricky; the time signature changes every few measures.

Assuming you have good right-hand power, the piece will come to you quickly
once you learn to do barre chords and slurs without struggling. You might be
better off spending that 20 minutes a day to further develop your technique
and reading skills. It will certainly be less frustrating in the long run.
But if you're determined to learn the piece now, make sure you have a good
arrangement with detailed fingerings included on the score. Students who
work diligently under the guidance of a good teacher should be able to learn
Classical Gas toward the end of their first year, on average (imo). Be
patient and practice intelligently.

I remember watching Mason Williams on the Smothers Brothers show back in the
late 60's. He had a transparent plexiglass guitar, which was filled with
water, and there were goldfish swimming around in it while he played
Classical Gas. It was a very 60's thing, an aquarium guitar.

Ashby

Peter Jorgensen

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 7:01:49 PM6/4/05

to

Ashby wrote:
> I remember watching Mason Williams on the Smothers Brothers show back in the
> late 60's. He had a transparent plexiglass guitar, which was filled with
> water, and there were goldfish swimming around in it while he played
> Classical Gas. It was a very 60's thing, an aquarium guitar.

Hence his *fluid* playing style, right?

---
Peter Jorgensen
pejorg2000[at]yahoo.com

The World Wide Wade

unread,

Jun 4, 2005, 8:29:32 PM6/4/05

to

In article <oO-dnUUf-dH...@comcast.com>,
"Ashby" <asha...@comcast.net> wrote:

> "weebo" <ba...@brodwax.com> wrote in message
> news:1117904504.3...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > I have been trying to learn Classical Gas for a few weeks now. I was
> > wondering for those of you that can play it through, how long it took
> > you to learn. I have only been playing for two months, and most of my
> > time is spent practicing open chords, bar chords, and I just started
> > the C scale up the fret board. But I have decided to take on this one
> > piece for fun and spend about 15-20 minutes on most days learning it
> > slowly. At the pace I am on it will probably take me six months or more
> > to learn fully. Was wondering how long others took to learn it.
> > Barry
> >
>
> I consider it a solid intermediate piece, unless you just want to play a
> low-calorie version. It requires playing a barre chord at the same time the
> pinkie is doing a slur (a pull-off from the 4th finger to the 3rd finger).

I'm not sure about the pull-off there. Mason seems to be striking
the strings for those notes on the solo recording. I also believe
he slides his fourth finger from fret 8 to 7 at this point. One
thing that simplifies the piece for me here is to use partial
barres. I don't know why Mason doesn't do this. You can use a 2/3
barre on fret 5 and leave the fifth string open during the Am
phrase, then a 1/2 bar at fret 5 and leave the fourth string open
for the D phrase. It's simpler and I think it sounds better.

> Also, the rhythm is tricky; the time signature changes every few measures.
>
> Assuming you have good right-hand power, the piece will come to you quickly
> once you learn to do barre chords and slurs without struggling. You might be
> better off spending that 20 minutes a day to further develop your technique
> and reading skills. It will certainly be less frustrating in the long run.
> But if you're determined to learn the piece now, make sure you have a good
> arrangement with detailed fingerings included on the score.

I haven't seen a good arrangement available for purchase. Mason's
own published music is questionable and anyway that was for the
orchestral version, not the solo. I have yet to see good
published music for the solo. Do you know of any?

> Students who
> work diligently under the guidance of a good teacher should be able to learn
> Classical Gas toward the end of their first year, on average (imo).

Mmmm .. maybe. It might take longer to get the right feel for the
piece. I can imagine some classical players playing CG
"flawlessly" and yet not getting it right.

Mike brown

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 8:14:29 AM6/5/05

to

In article <1117926109.3...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, "Peter
Jorgensen" <pejor...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Sounds fishy to me.

MJRB

donna...@msn.com

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 9:32:03 AM6/5/05

to

I have a great version that I got as a student towards the end of my
first year of lessons - back in 1977! It is the best version I have
seen, and a few years back I tabbed it out for my students and offered
copies to anyone here on the group. I sent out about 30 copies. Back
when I first learned it I always skipped the horn section, but I have
figured out that it is doable without the Dflat in the bass if you play
a D form on the first fret barring strings one through three with your
first finger, getting the D flat on the second string with your second
finger and add the F on the fourth string with your third finger. You
lose the Dflat in the bass in the printed music. The next measure is a
G flat and can be done with the simple F form on the second fret - so
you still have a G flat in the bass, just an octave above the printed
music. Then you move the D form to the fourth fret for the E and catch
the low E for the bass note. Then you move the F form to the fifth
fret for the A and grab the fifth string for the low A in the bass. It
makes this section so doable, and seems to be pretty much at the same
skill level as the rest of the song. You could also use the same forms
on the fourth and fifth frets that you used on the first and second
frets and use the fourth string for the bass if that seems more
congruent. That section is no longer so baffling!

You know the little guitar interlude between the brass section and when
the song starts over again? Those four measures, when I learned them
and they became automatic, were what hooked me on the guitar for life -

BTW, I showed this to my son and he came back from college with the
Eric Clapton version - it has a nice little grace note thing happening
on the Am - does anyone know what album this is on?

Thanks, and if you want a copy of the tab, let me know -

Donna

donna...@msn.com

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 9:38:59 AM6/5/05

to

PS - If you are ambitious you can get the D flat in the bass with your
pinky on the fifth string - it is just a pretty quick chord change and
so rather challenging.
Donna

Ken Cashion

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 9:50:03 AM6/5/05

to

On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 22:14:29 +1000, rock...@senet.com.au (Mike brown)
wrote:

And maybe dubbed?
Plastic is a silly thing to make a guitar out of -- I mean
Plexi or Lucite.
However, Styrene, now THERE is a fine tone plastic and all
guitars will be made out of it some day.

Ken

nylon rob

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 10:02:19 AM6/5/05

to

Candidly ... years.

To play it well that is.

It's a song that requires a fairly well developed thumb technique and
inependent melodic us of I, M, A to pull off. well.

I think the concept of learning difficult songs (relatively) to move
ahead skill levels in is over rated.

If you're developing technique with some scale and chord exercises, why
not select other songsyou like that are more accessible. Beatles?
Simon and Garfunkel? Green Day? Entry level classical songs?

Playing a simple song very well with nice tone and fluid delivery is,
IMO, vastly preferred to a strained and frustrating execution of a
difficult song, both for you and your audience (and the best part is,
your audience normally doesn't know it's a simple song, if it's well
played, they'll think you're marvelous.)

Just my two cents,
best,
rob anderson

weebo

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 10:02:24 AM6/5/05

to

Thanks to all who have replied. It's the Mason Williams version. I
actually decided to learn guitar after hearing Classical Gas on the
radio a while back. I set that piece as a 1-2 years down the road goal.
I really didn't expect to be learning it right away, but after finding
this lesson for it:
http://www.wholenote.com/default.asp?src=l&l=2973&p=1 , I had to give
it a go. What I like about this lesson is the midi & the ability to
listen to it with a very slow tempo. Also, having it broken into
sections makes it far less frustrating. What I don't like is you are on
your own for chord formations, it is tab, and I find it very slow going
reading tab even though tab is very easy to learn. Does that makes any
sense? I also bought the Mason Williams acoustic guitar only mp3 to
listen to & help me out.
Julie - it sounds like you are learning from sheet music. I would think
that once you do learn how to site read music, it would probably make
almost any piece easier to learn. I have not gotten into reading music
yet, but maybe down the road I should give it a go. I'll bet you get
through this way before me!
I have not gotten to the upper fret portion of the piece yet, however,
I can actually form and play root 5 & root 6 major & minor barre chords
with most notes ringing, although it is slow going and very painful
right now. Being a type A person, I have put a lot of time into
learning since starting, sometimes 3-4 hours per day & I never miss a
day. However, I was worried that I was taking this song on too fast.
Since I received only encouragement here, I will keep at it.
Thanks to all!
Barry

weebo

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 10:16:26 AM6/5/05

to

Rob, I agree. And although I did not point it out, I am learning many
other songs. Beatles, S & G, Cat Stevens, Neil Young, etc. I have about
100 songs with chord progressions loaded into my trusty PDA using a
program called Songbook. I don't play them all, but I have gotten
pretty good at about 10-12 of them. Good enough to play for family &
friends without losing them. However, I would only play what I have
learned for CG for my wife - she thinks everything I play is good :-)
Barry

weebo

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 10:23:06 AM6/5/05

to

Donna - I would love a copy. Here is my email address:
ba...@brodwax.com
Thanks so much!
Barry

Ty Ford

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 11:06:16 AM6/5/05

to

On Sat, 4 Jun 2005 13:01:44 -0400, weebo wrote
(in article <1117904504.3...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>):

A wonderful exercise. I bought the sheet music years ago. Not being a reader
made it even more interesting.

Regards,

Ty Ford

-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

hymse...@hotmail.com

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 11:32:53 AM6/5/05

to

see han hear Tommy Emmanuel's version here...includes a great LESSON
on the fly...

http://webcast.msc.uky.edu/woodsongs-245.wmv

Inyo

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 1:16:02 PM6/5/05

to

donna...@msn.com wrote:

> I have a great version that I got as a student towards the end of my
> first year of lessons - back in 1977! It is the best version I have
> seen, and a few years back I tabbed it out for my students and offered
> copies to anyone here on the group.

Some snippage of some very interesting remarks here...

> BTW, I showed this to my son and he came back from college with the
> Eric Clapton version - it has a nice little grace note thing happening
> on the Am - does anyone know what album this is on?

> Donna

Regarding Clapton's version of "Classical Gas," I visited a very
detailed Clapton discography over at
http://www.eric-clapton.co.uk/ecla/discography.html . If you scroll on
down the page to his more recent releases, you'll find that a "version"
of "Classical Gas" appears on the sound track for the film, "The Story
Of Us," originally released on November 23, 1999. In the track listing
below, though, one will note that in parentheses "Classical Gas" is
attributed to Mason Williams. The mystery only deepens, apparently.

Track Listing For "The Story Of Us:"

Music From The Motion Picture "The Story Of Us" (November 23, 1999)
Main Title & (I) Get Lost · A Spoon Is Just A Spoon · The Girl In The
Pith Helmet · Fighting · Empty Nest · Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now
(performed by Ruby Braff & His New England Songhounds) · Touching Feet
Under The Covers · Everything I Love Is In This Bed · Dry Cleaning &
(I) Get Lost · The Sheik Of Araby (performed by Teddy Wilson) ·
Family Bed · Busy Baby Montage · Wonderful Tonight (live edit) ·
Silent Drive To Camp · Camp Montage · Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree
(performed by The Andrews Sisters) · Epiphany At The Bistro · I Hate
The Kirbys · Love In Venice · Ben Takes The Apartment · Writing
Montage · Pictures On A Wall · Classical Gas (performed by Mason
Williams) · Let's Go To Chow Fun

"The Acoustic Guitar Solitaire Of Inyo"
http://members.aol.com/Waucoba6/music/inyocybercd.html

Nick Roche

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 3:23:36 PM6/5/05

to

On 5 Jun 2005 06:32:03 -0700, donna...@msn.com wrote:

->BTW, I showed this to my son and he came back from college with the

->Eric Clapton version - it has a nice little grace note thing
->happening on the Am - does anyone know what album this is on?

Here is a selection of tabs including the EC version:

http://www.mysongbook.com/?msbp=eng%2Ctab%2Ctab_list&keyword=classical+gas&imageField.x=2&imageField.y=12

and here is Tommy Emmanuel's version (and so far no one has named him
as a guitar hero?):

http://www.powertabs.net/pta.php?page=tab_download,18390,21,678568991

Quite challenging!

Nick Roche

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/7/nickrochemusic.htm

http://freespace.virgin.net/n.roche/

Ashby

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 3:29:42 PM6/5/05

to

"The World Wide Wade" <wadera...@comcast.remove13.net> wrote in message
news:waderameyxiii-544...@comcast.dca.giganews.com...

> I'm not sure about the pull-off there. Mason seems to be striking
> the strings for those notes on the solo recording. I also believe
> he slides his fourth finger from fret 8 to 7 at this point.

I think you're right. Tommy Emmanuel also plays it that way. I mentioned the
slur because that's the way it's scored in the version I like to play.

It's fine if people want to play a slide instead of a pull-off. That's a
matter of interpretation. For me the entire song is a long crescendo that
builds and builds and then climaxes with the A minor chord in the 5th
position. I prefer a pull-off there going from the 8th fret C to the 7th
fret B because I get a more dramatic sound that way. I like the nice "snap"
sound the pull-off gives me. IMO, that's the most difficult part of the
song, whichever way you play it. Moving into the higher registers from the
louder lower ones while still maintaining a volume increase is a challenge.
In one version of the song (maybe the original?) the violin section kicks in
at that point to reinforce the high notes and supply more power. It's hard
to do in a guitar solo.

> One
> thing that simplifies the piece for me here is to use partial
> barres. I don't know why Mason doesn't do this. You can use a 2/3
> barre on fret 5 and leave the fifth string open during the Am
> phrase, then a 1/2 bar at fret 5 and leave the fourth string open
> for the D phrase. It's simpler and I think it sounds better.
>

Again, a matter of personal interpretation. I prefer the 5th fret bass notes
because they have a softer quality to them, imo. Playing full barres at that
point helps me trick listeners into thinking the high notes are louder and
more dramatic than they really are. But it's definitely harder to play the
full barres.

> I haven't seen a good arrangement available for purchase. Mason's
> own published music is questionable and anyway that was for the
> orchestral version, not the solo. I have yet to see good
> published music for the solo. Do you know of any?
>

Yes, the best one I've seen is the Mario Abril arrangement for guitar solo
(Irving Music, 1972). He's got all the rhythm changes and detailed left-hand
fingerings. It's in the original key of A minor. Unfortunately, it's been
out of print for decades. If you're interested, I'll make a scan and email
it to you. It's music notation only, no tab.

I find the Jake Lizzio arrangement that Weebo mentioned to be
dissappointing. He leaves out too many notes, particularly the inner voices
in the 5th position A minor chords.

I wrote:

> > Students who
> > work diligently under the guidance of a good teacher should be able to
learn
> > Classical Gas toward the end of their first year, on average (imo).
>

The World Wide Wade wrote:

> Mmmm .. maybe. It might take longer to get the right feel for the
> piece. I can imagine some classical players playing CG
> "flawlessly" and yet not getting it right.
>

I know I never did. I've tried to memorize the piece off and on since it
came out and never really succeeded. Every time I play the song it's
different. Half the time I end up making stuff up. I love what Tommy
Emmanuel does with it. He modulates into "Walk Don't Run" right in the
middle. What a great idea.

BTW, Tommy gets my vote for the Willy Nelson Beat-Up Guitar award. What he
does to that guitar would make a flamenco player blush.

Ashby

Jeff Carter

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 3:58:40 PM6/5/05

to

Ashby wrote:
> Yes, the best one I've seen is the Mario Abril arrangement for guitar solo
> (Irving Music, 1972). He's got all the rhythm changes and detailed left-hand
> fingerings. It's in the original key of A minor. Unfortunately, it's been
> out of print for decades. If you're interested, I'll make a scan and email
> it to you. It's music notation only, no tab.
>

Ashby,
Would you be so kind as to email me a copy, too? I'd be glad to trade,
if I have anything you're intersted in...

TIA!

--Jeff
(jeffretrac at aol dot com)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
my soundclick:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/jeffcarter_music.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The World Wide Wade

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 4:58:55 PM6/5/05

to

In article
<1117991762.1...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
"Inyo" <in...@altavista.com> wrote:

> Regarding Clapton's version of "Classical Gas," I visited a very
> detailed Clapton discography over at
> http://www.eric-clapton.co.uk/ecla/discography.html . If you scroll on
> down the page to his more recent releases, you'll find that a "version"
> of "Classical Gas" appears on the sound track for the film, "The Story
> Of Us," originally released on November 23, 1999. In the track listing
> below, though, one will note that in parentheses "Classical Gas" is
> attributed to Mason Williams. The mystery only deepens, apparently.

I'm pretty sure there is no "Clapton version". I think Clapton
was musical director for that movie and the version of CG in the
movie is Mason Williams's solo recording.

tomb...@jhu.edu

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 5:41:34 PM6/5/05

to

It's not that hard, but it's far beyond a beginner's level. Wait until
you have a year or two of fingerpicking under your belt, and it will be
a lot faster and easier to learn.

Also, re previous posts, there is no Eric Clapton version. Clapton's
name is on a soundtrack album, but Mason Williams plays it on that
album, not Clapton.

Inyo

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 6:31:44 PM6/5/05

to

hymse...@hotmail.com wrote:

> see han hear Tommy Emmanuel's version here...includes a great LESSON
> on the fly...
>
> http://webcast.msc.uky.edu/woodsongs-245.wmv

Thanks much for the link. Another performer who plays a really great
rendition of "Classical Gas" is Glen Campbell. Somewhere around the
house I have a mp3 of a live version he recorded (not sure where, or
when, for that matter)--it's all flat-picked with scintillating
intensity; sounds like a paired-down group, with perhaps a synthesizer,
a drummer and maybe a bass-sideman. On the recording Campbell
improvises several spectacular patterns, all the while maintaining the
lyrical luster of the original by Mason Williams. Too, I saw him play
"Classical Gas" live on a PBS pledge-time show a few years ago (2001 or
02?): a magical performance, indeed.

nylon rob

unread,

Jun 5, 2005, 9:35:15 PM6/5/05

to

Cool. I understand the obsession.

I found Pumping Nylon (available in TAB) to be a helpful moving ahead
on fingerstyle book.

best,
rob

David Hajicek

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 2:04:01 AM6/6/05

to

These files have a .gp3 extension. What is needed to open and use these
files? Standard text programs don't work.

Thanks.

Dave Hajicek

"Nick Roche" <ni...@nroche.net> wrote in message
news:90k6a15tdfksg4bdv...@4ax.com...

Mike brown

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 4:16:11 AM6/6/05

to

In article <1117979697.0...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, "nylon
rob" <rj...@wideopenwest.com> wrote:

Ah, but if you try the hard stuff in private, your public stuff gets better.

Well mine does.

And eventually perhaps you will be able to bring it out of the closet.

MJRB

Nick Roche

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 7:33:32 AM6/6/05

to

On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 01:04:01 -0500, "David Hajicek"
<haj...@skypoint.com> wrote:

->These files have a .gp3 extension. What is needed to open and use
->these files? Standard text programs don't work.

The links take you to Tab which runs with editor programs that IMHO
are far superior to the text types.

The .gp3 extensions are Guitarpro files. You can download Guitarpro
at:
http://www.guitar-pro.com/eng/Home.php
There is a demo version but the full program is not free.

The second link (where you can find the Mason Williams version of
Classical Gas as well) takes you to Powertab Archive. You can download
Powertab at:
http://www.power-tab.net/
and it is free.

I use both these programs and another one called Tab|Edit:
http://www.tabledit.com/
(this one gives you the viewer free but I think you have to pay for
the authoring version).

Joe Carpenter

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 7:56:49 AM6/6/05

to

"Nick Roche" <ni...@nroche.net> wrote in message
news:90k6a15tdfksg4bdv...@4ax.com

> and here is Tommy Emmanuel's version (and so far no one has named him
> as a guitar hero?):

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 9:55:46 AM6/6/05

to

This is off track from the original question, but side thoughts on the
issue:

I think we all do that ... work on harder stuff a bit beyond our reach,
that is.

But take the simplest fingerstyle guitar songs in the world ...
Blackbird, Dust in the Wind, The Boxer (you could say the same for
flatpicking I'm sure) .... listen to a hacker perform it note for note,
and then listen to a really good guitar player perform it.

You will easily tell the difference between them.

IMO, playing well is mostly not about technical difficulty level and I
have sincere doubts that sweating and fumbling through advanced songs
that you can't play very well is the best path to improvement.

Nothing wrong with working at harder songs, but a lot of players I've
met see it as their main skill development process, and I think they'd
be better served to work on the basics of tone and technique.

best,
rob

Ty Ford

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 11:33:46 AM6/6/05

to

On Sun, 5 Jun 2005 17:41:34 -0400, tomb...@jhu.edu wrote
(in article <1118007694.5...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>):

Thanks for the clarification Tom. I was wondering how that might have sounded
with EC doing it.

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 2:29:07 PM6/6/05

to

<donna...@msn.com> wrote in message
news:1118062638....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

Sure, Donna. I'll get it to you tonight. I think Abril's arrangement is true
to the original, except that it doesn't have the other instruments. Abril is
a guitarist himself, so his score is pretty coherent. His fingering
suggestions are useful, imo.

Ashby

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 2:28:21 PM6/6/05

to

"Jeff Carter" <jeffr...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1118001520.4...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

I'll be over at the scanner this evening, and I'll run off a copy and email
it to you. I wouldn't mind having something that you don't hear every day,
maybe a piece you got from Barrueco? Or just something you're working on
that you have in a digital form and is convenient. I like everything you
play on your website.

Ashby

unread,

Jun 6, 2005, 2:34:45 PM6/6/05

to

"nylon rob" <rj...@wideopenwest.com> wrote in message
news:1118066146.4...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
<snip>>

> IMO, playing well is mostly not about technical difficulty level and I
> have sincere doubts that sweating and fumbling through advanced songs
> that you can't play very well is the best path to improvement.
>

The main problem I have with people playing songs that are beyond their
level is that they can develop bad habits which will be hard to break later.

> Nothing wrong with working at harder songs, but a lot of players I've
> met see it as their main skill development process, and I think they'd
> be better served to work on the basics of tone and technique.
>

From a conceptual standpoint, Classical Gas is a straightforward
composition. It's not the Chaconne. But it requires good technique in both
hands. The left hand must do slurs and barres. The right hand fingers have
to bring out the inner voices in places where there are 3 and 4-part
harmonies. These skills take time to develop. Most players work up to them
gradually. Trying to do too much too soon can be counterproductive, imo.

unread,

Jun 10, 2005, 6:33:49 PM6/10/05

to

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 13:31:34 GMT, nos...@fuvm.org (Bill Benzel) brewed
up the following, and served it to the group:

>Ashby <asha...@comcast.net> wrote:
>:
>: I remember watching Mason Williams on the Smothers Brothers show back in the
>: late 60's. He had a transparent plexiglass guitar, which was filled with
>: water, and there were goldfish swimming around in it while he played
>: Classical Gas. It was a very 60's thing, an aquarium guitar.
>:
>
>Mason was a Pisces and at the time he was probable working for SCALE.

Do I even need to start?

(I smell a rat! So do I, I think he has my SCRIPT!)

Bill (sorry.) Chandler
-----
VITA BREVIS
CARPE GUITARUM
--Kinscherff Guitars

the above e-mail address remains totally fictional.
the real one is bc9424@spamTHIS!.concentric.net (if you remove spamTHIS!.)
...please check out my music at http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Bill_Chandler/ some time...
...TX-2 Pictures at http://www.concentric.net/~Bc9424/index.html
...TX-4 Pictures at http://bc9424.cnc.net/tx_4_web/tx4_main.htm
...TX-5 Pictures coming Real Soon Now.
Bill Chandler
...bc...

John Sorell

unread,

Jun 10, 2005, 6:59:16 PM6/10/05

to

Bill Chandler <dr...@yourown.risk.com> wrote in
news:a95ka1dltfr4cvoks...@4ax.com:

> On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 13:31:34 GMT, nos...@fuvm.org (Bill Benzel) brewed
> up the following, and served it to the group:
>
>>Ashby <asha...@comcast.net> wrote:
>>:
>>: I remember watching Mason Williams on the Smothers Brothers show
>>: back in the late 60's. He had a transparent plexiglass guitar, which
>>: was filled with water, and there were goldfish swimming around in it
>>: while he played Classical Gas. It was a very 60's thing, an aquarium
>>: guitar.
>>:
>>
>>Mason was a Pisces and at the time he was probable working for SCALE.
>
> Do I even need to start?
>
> (I smell a rat! So do I, I think he has my SCRIPT!)
>
> Bill (sorry.) Chandler
> -----

That guitar sounded like shit during high tide.

John