Classical Gas - A musical phenomenon

Classical Gas is inevitably requested whenever a bunch of people and a nylon string acoustic guitar are in the same room. In fact it is not a great showpiece for finger style guitarists but it is an ideal vehicle to show off the sound of the classical guitar.

Classical Gas appeared in the world in 1968. A song by The Doors stopped it from becoming a number one hit but it stayed in the second spot for two weeks. Forty years later it is among the most easily recognized tunes of all time and, along with The Anonymous Romance and Leucona's Malaguena inextricably associated with the classical guitar. And nobody can say why. Classical Gas is way more than the sum of its parts. There are very few musical ideas in the tune. It is basically repetition of a theme consisting of a few notes. There are some parts that are unforgettable "surprises" making use of syncopation, scales, strums, and abrupt time signature changes. Somehow all the bits link together like pearls on a string and the final note adds a sublime resolution.

The composer, Mason Williams, states on his website, "I didn't really have any big plans for it, other than maybe to have a piece to play at parties when they passed the guitar around. I envisioned it as simply repertoire or "fuel" for the classical guitar, so I called it Classical Gasoline." Mason Williams was, in fact a comedy writer and stand-up comedian who had many other projects on the go besides writing a classical guitar instrumental.

It was Mason Williams' work on the Smothers Brothers' "Comedy Hour" which gave him the opportunity to have his composition heard by the public. The original score of the piece called Classical Gasoline shows only chords and a few notes. Mason Williams had a twenty-three year old composer named Mike Post finish out the piece. It won Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Performance for Mason Williams and Best Instrumental Arrangement for Mike Post whose latest in a career of triumphs is the theme(s) for the "Law And Order" series.

In an episode of The Simpsons called "Last Exit to Springfield" Homer leads the workers of the nuclear power plant in a strike to regain their dental plan. As they picket the plant, Lisa plays an appropriately dismal protest song. When she is finished, Lenny yells, "Play Classical Gas".

Classical Gas has been used as the theme music for several news programs, the background music for the Apollo 4 movie, and featured in many other movies and TV shows. Many people have mistaken Mason Williams' solo version of the tune for a cover by Eric Clapton.

It is a very easy piece to play, the challenge is to play it with passion and dynamics because it sounds, to non-guitarists, more complicated than it is. Maybe this is the reason it is among the most requested guitar pieces ever.

Thanks to Ricky Sharples at playaguitarforfree.com for research and support!

Learning how to play classical guitar does not mean you necessarily have to develop great technique. There are many popular and expressive pieces that don’t need formidable technical skills. Many composers such as Luis de Milan, Gaspar Sanz, Robert de Visee, Alonso Mudarra, Niccolo Paganini, Francisco Tarrega, Dionisio Aguado, Napoleon Coste, Anton Diabelli, Mauro Giuliani, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Johann Sebastian Bach have simple but musically expressive works in the classical guitar repertoire.

How To Play Classical Guitar