Classical Gas in one week... a guitar challenge!

[BushMogulMaster]

And no, Classical Gas has nothing to do with Mozart's farts.......


Just saw a video on YouTube of this Toby Turner character who learned Classical Gas by Mason Williams in 7 days in order to get out of doing homework. Well, I consider that a challenge. I intend to learn an even harder arrangement (Tommy Emmnanuel's) in 6 days. I think it's doable. I'm 2 1/2 days deep, and I'm almost halfway through it. I'll post a vid ASAP. The final cut after 6 days will be posted as a video response to this video:





And I'll bet I can do it without the cheap whiskey. :wink:


Any other takers????? Get your guitars out, and give it a shot. Immersing yourself in a time-sensitive project is a great way to improve your chops.

 

[Greg]

I suck at finger picking. In fact, considering I first picked up a guitar when I was 15, I pretty much suck overall... :lol:

Good luck with it.

 

[deadheadskier]

BMM

if classical is your thing, the chair for guitar performance at UVM was taught by Segovia. I'm not sure if he gives lessons or not

 

[Marc]

I think every amateur guitarist, or professional, or any instramentalist or vocalist, can benefit immensely from a background in classical training.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

It's sorta, um, classical rock actually. I play primarily fingerstyle and jazz guitar, but am classically trained on the organ, so I have a solid set of music fundamentals to work with. Now I just have to work with them.... :wink:

 

[Marc]

Organ is sucky in that it's hard... some music written for it is just outrageous. If you can play some of those Bach fugues... sometimes six part... good Lord, then you can laugh in the face of any manager that asks if you can multitask.

I have a hard enough time with his 3 part inventions and the well tempered clavier, never mind asking my feet to play notes too.

 

[bigbog]

well I can do the horn(trumpet) line....LOL..(if there were any trumpet lines, trombone I know...)

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Organ is sucky in that it's hard... some music written for it is just outrageous. If you can play some of those Bach fugues... sometimes six part... good Lord, then you can laugh in the face of any manager that asks if you can multitask.

I have a hard enough time with his 3 part inventions and the well tempered clavier, never mind asking my feet to play notes too.

That's why I love playing. It's as much a mental and physical exercise as it is musical.

I still have yet to master the BWV565 Fugue, but I've got the Toccata in the bag! I'm actually 3/4 finished with the fugue, but there are a couple of lines that are absolutely daunting, with conflicting and dynamic rhythms between the three staves. I'm also almost finished with the BWV551 Prelude. The fugue on that one is tough, and I haven't broached it yet. I'm getting there... I don't have an organ to practice on at home, so I rely on practice time in Stowe at Blessed Sacrament Church (I'm the Director of Music there).

And I don't want to hear one bloody dirty joke about "practicing on my organ......."

 

[SkiDork]

For anyone who's an organ afficianado (my dad was a Hammond organ dealer for 20 years) they're making the B3 again, but digital behind the scenes. Check out some demos here:

http://www.hammondorganco.com/B3video.htm

And the home website:

http://www.hammondorganco.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Well, I've been working on Classical Gas for the past hour. I think it's safe to say I'll have it learned in less than 7 hours, let alone 7 days! I've got about 4 hours in it so far. I need 2 more to learn the rest, and 1 to clean it up get it "performance" ready. I'll post it as soon as I'm finished. Probably not tonight... my fingers are killing me. I hadn't played much in the past couple months until this little project, so it's quite a wake-up call for the calluses!


Dork - I used to play a B3 in a Catholic church. That's a bad match! The B3 is a rockin organ for jazz, blues, rock, etc...... but it makes a horrible instrument for a traditional liturgical setting. I'm playing an Italian-made Ahlborn Galanti in Stowe now. Great instrument.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Here's the kind of routine I'd really love to be able to improvise (the master Tommy himself):

 

[Marc]

I just watched that YouTube vid (couldn't at work) and man... that kid must have had a lot of that whiskey to make him think his guitar was even remotely in tune. Ouch. Made my head hurt listening to that.

He should also probably get a metronome.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

I just watched that YouTube vid (couldn't at work) and man... that kid must have had a lot of that whiskey to make him think his guitar was even remotely in tune. Ouch. Made my head hurt listening to that.

He should also probably get a metronome.

Yeah, 10-4 on that. His A string was out of tune, and it sounds like his guitar has some intonation issues in general.

My first video to come soon!

 

[Greg]

I'm gonna go learn some Goo Goo Dolls.

:lol:

 

[SkiDork]

Dork - I used to play a B3 in a Catholic church. That's a bad match! The B3 is a rockin organ for jazz, blues, rock, etc...... but it makes a horrible instrument for a traditional liturgical setting. I'm playing an Italian-made Ahlborn Galanti in Stowe now. Great instrument.

Yeah - it's much better for Baptist/revival type services.

 

[deadheadskier]

Here's the kind of routine I'd really love to be able to improvise (the master Tommy himself):

While amazing in skill level.......meh, completely lacking in soul. humorous, but no soul. not exactly what I'd call improvisation either.......more like regurgitating the sunday comics

I'll take Jorma over that dude any day

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Oooooo... did you do your research first? TE's got tons more soul that Jorma. Don't get me wrong, I love Jorma. I'm working on Water Song right now as well. But I've heard plenty of both of them, and no one beats Tommy IMO. I saw him live in Boston - unmatched. Here, check a few of these out:






















Lots more where that came from! The guy is incredible!

 

[SkiDork]

I never heard of Emmanuel before but looking at a bunch of his stuff on youtube last night I was in awe. He's got mad skillz.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

He's a household name in Australia, and becoming even more popular globally every day. Stunning musician.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Alright... after three days, I have the whole song learned. It still needs a lot of cleaning up and there are a few problem spots, but I've still got three days until my self-imposed deadline, so I think I'm fine. Below is a low-res video, single-channel audio recording of what I have so far. Before being too critical, bear the following in mind:

1. I haven't played more than a handful of times in the past month until NOW, so my fingers are killing me...... two of them are pretty close to tearing open!
2. 13 pages of music, 3 days
3. I learned the last section of the song 10 minutes before I attempted to record it
4. I have 3 days left to clean up this mess

So taking all of those lame excuses into account, what do you think?