Classical Gas - Mason Williams

I put off learning this song for quite a few years as I knew it would be an undertaking. I started teaching it to a lesson a few years back but unfortunately he gave up on the it.

I had a request for it again in early April 2007, this time from a number of students so I finally tackled it head on and finished it in a few short weeks. Surprisingly enough it wasn't as difficult as I expected. To make this song easier to learn you have to practice it in smaller sections (phrases), of course it helps if you have already done some finger picking previously.

I thought it would be a good idea to video record a walk through on the song, so here it is! Below "Hand Written Tab" is the original transcript of the song I completed for my lessons. You may want to use this because the video makes reference to it all the time. The "Transcribed TAB" below is a tidied up version (looks pretty but it exactly the same).

I have seen this titled on the Internet as "Eric Clapton - Classical Gas" but I strongly doubt he ever recorded this version and I cannot verify that it is him playing it. It is more than likely that it is the original author playing it (Mason Williams), anyway it is a great version!

Member Login