Some musicians are in favor of fingerpicking while others opt for simple strumming.
Regardless of your style or even if you’re not a musician, you won’t be able to resist the charming sound of Tommy Emmanuel’s rendition of the instrumental hit “Classical Gas.”
The unbelievably energetic, and yet impressively clean sound is baffling.
After you’re done admiring his performance, you’ll just want to hear more!
Born William Thomas Emmanuel, Tommy is an Australian guitarist, songwriter and singer.
He’s known for his complex fingerstyle technique and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2010. He’s also known for using percussive effects on the guitar! Emmanuel has been a session player in many bands, but his most notable projects have come as a result of his solo work. As impressive as it is, this Aussie was a working professional musician by the age of six.
He often said that Chet Atkins’s musical style greatly inspired him as a musician.
In 1999, Chet Atkins himself commented that Emmanuel is “a fearless fingerpicking guitar player.” Among his most important performances is certainly the live show in Sydney at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in 2000.
Tommy eventually received American citizenship and openly discussed that topic during a July 2019 concert.
Just to give an impression of how great his decades-old career is, this is a man who has released 27 studio albums, four live albums and 19 singles!
Do you remember the “Classical Gas” hit originally composed by Mason Williams?
“Classical Gas” is an instrumental musical piece originally released on the 1968 album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record.
The tune was envisioned to be “fuel” for the classical guitar repertoire, and it definitely served its purpose—the propulsion it gave to Emmanuel is almost incredible! This 2011 rendition will leave you speechless. It’s no wonder it was viewed more than 20 million times on YouTube!
Such quality performances are destined for great success.
The song received three Grammy Awards and many artists have since covered the track. Even Mason Williams has rereleased the track numerous times.
Such clean guitar playing usually happens when a guitarist knows every square millimeter of their guitar neck.
The control of his fingers and the cleanness of his sound is impressive, brilliant and almost impossible.
Tommy nails every single note, and the whole thing sounds like three guitars at once, all playing their parts precisely at the correct volume. We were flabbergasted with his level of dedication.
The fellow is focused, his whole being is completely into the song, and this is the level of superb you achieve after years and years of practicing.
It’s also not the first time Tommy decided to play “Classical Gas.”
You can also find the other versions on YouTube!
His smile at the end is a spontaneous display of pure satisfaction.
We don’t have to warn you to watch the show all the way through—we’re confident you’ll do it anyway because once you begin, you won’t be able to stop watching!
It’s captivating, entertaining and it drags you in. At the very end, Tommy finishes the song, takes a deep breath and smiles happily.
It’s an impressive smile that shows you just how fantastic someone feels after accomplishing something.
Follow his example and go on and be the best at what you do! Then you’ll smile every day the way Tommy smiles in the video and it will be the best feeling ever.
Check out the full performance in the link below:
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