He’s worked hard all his life to get where he is today. It’s not easy for a solo acoustic instrumentalist to make a living and that’s why he’s had to do so many shows over the years. I honestly think he deserved more recognition because in my opinion he’s the most technically and musically gifted person I’ve ever seen play the guitar. I hope he’s content with his success and I hope he realises how many peoples lives he’s touched and Influenced. Thank you tommy you’re a legend
Tommy Emmanuel is one of the few great artists that explain things exactly the way they are. There's no diva talk, no bullshit, everything he says makes 100% sense to anyone who ever tried to learn how to play the guitar. Besides being an incredible guitar player, he's also an amazing teacher and human being
He sure is a great teacher. His plain-speaking, real-world playing direction, from thump-picking to leaving out occasional notes for the listener's ear, mind, and experience fill in. Love this guy...we should all be such good mentors and role models.
I play the guitar myself, to watch Tommy play absolutely astounds me, it borders on the miraculous. He is a true guitar great, technically, I can't think of anyone who's more proficient. A truly awesome guitar player.
Makes it look so easy. Tommy has always been very generous with his knowledge and skills. His music is available on the internet as we as instructional videos of his songs on UA-cam. Love that about him, shares his knowledge.
Great questions. The first time I saw the young Tommy Emmanuel was when he was playing with the Southern Star Band in Brisbane (1980?), and his playing was electrifying. So much so that the power failed during his solo. Some musicians would get upset, but Tommy laughed it off and soon recovered. His commitment to excellence is inspiring. Thanks for posting.
I had the pleasure of seeing Tommy play the Sydney Entertainment Centre in about 1996 or '97. The on stage power went out about 5 minutes into his set, although the P.A system still worked. He handed off his guitar to a Tech guy, (who were frantically running around in the dark), and proceeded to entertain us by slapping the sides of his face, and making shapes with his mouth. The tech guy finally handed him his guitar back, and I'm sure he hit the exact next note after his guitar went out! Amazing talent, and a standing ovation! Can you believe he was the support act?? Headline was Michael Bolton (brilliant too).
I was born in 1959 have played since I was 9 years old that’s 53 year’s of playing everybody thinks I’m a great guitar player and I am very good at it and I still don’t make a pimple on Tommy Emmanuels ass playing guitar you are the best I have ever seen bar none. You have and are truly a gift from God. I take my hat 🎩 off to you Tommy. 🎸 👍❗️😎
Just like everyone else here in the comments section I love Tommy. Ive seen him live and wish I could make my guitar sound as good as sweat dripping off his fingers...he doesnt wrote songs though he writes musical compositions without lyrics. He's a master instrumentalist.
Genius. Not lying this is how I practice and my philosophy on practice before i even heard this. It is very gratifying hearing tommy emmanual confirm this. #suzukimethod
"Practice the mechanics then once downloaded focus on the feeling." You obviously understand brain mechanics Tommy. As a teacher, I use the analogy of a muscle, when trying to convey the need for my students to make an effort in learning. Work it and it will get stronger and more efficient, and also vice versa :)
He's on tour in the US soon; going to catch him Apr 19, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa---can't wait, traveling over a thousand miles to see him with friends.
Hi Tommy Emmanuel..Hope all is well..I like this interview and your frank answers.. Quite informative and u seem to be suggestive to some musicians who could be so politely behaved with and also share ideas as to how you developed the knowledge in guitar playing and music including the song composing approaches cantabile*..Awesome.. GOD BLESS.. Warm cheers..👍😊👏🎶🎸🙏
I would like to know how he learned all of those complex chord progressions-I assume he does not read music. You Tube makes learning guitar a lot easier, I wish I had it when I was growing up and I had a lot of passion for learning. I learned quite a bit-but I see Tommy play stuff and I have almost no idea what he is doing-in standard tuning. His technique is incredible.
Easy: work. More work. Then get serious and really get to work. Then; make the commitment, forsake most other things and work even harder. The one thing all the greats have in common is the commitment.
Oh forgive me I have stolen a lot of your licks and techniques love your style you can see the hard work and time you spend on the guitar the pay is in the perfection you display while you are playing the guitar 🎸
+roman14032 - *'Better' might be the wrong word, but if you are looking for some people that blow your hair back in ways that easily rival Tommy, here are some names:* *Ted Greene : **_Easily the most gifted guitarplayer when it comes to understanding music theory, chording in particular, Tommy himself acknowledges this_* *Jon Gomm : **_One of the most unorthodox guitarplayers ive ever seen, wrote a song called 'Passionflower' - imho one of the most beautiful songs ive ever heard - that is so difficult to play you need 2 banjo tuning pegs to do it_* *Andy McGee : **_A little more traditional when it comes to percussive playing, but exceptionally gifted_* *Guthrie Govan : **_Another extremely knowledgeable and intelligent player, probably one of the most gifted soloist that I have ever seen, if you think SRV could lay down the licks, Guthrie will make you rethink what playing solo's really is_*
Jack Waters i absolutley agree with you, there is no " the best guitar player".I think everybody has his own technique.If its jeff beck, who s absoloudley perfect with the whammy bar, or bbking, who just has the music in his blood, John mayer who playes very good and has a phantastic voice , or anybody other.
I read somewhere that he had seen the movie Bridge of Spies and wrote this song about a woman whose husband is trapped on the other side when the Berlin Wall goes up.
You do have to be careful saying things like "the best"(at what exactly?) though he is clearly "World Class" at just about every aspect of music/guitar such as, writing/composing/arranging & improvising as well as Playing(in virtually ANY genre even) at the Apex of Human Ability. I would however bet my left hand that if you could take like 100+ of the worlds greatest guitar players(either self-proclaimed or voted in & otherwise) from ANY/ALL genres, they would UNANIMOUSLY agree that Tommy is the better "solo acoustic entertainer" or perhaps even "acoustic guitar player" or maybe just "solo instrumentalist" etc.(depending on precisely what the categories were).
Yes. You have it "exactly" so. How can one compare a perfect apple to a perfect orange. Can't be done in any logical way. We can only be thankful that all of the luscious fruits are available for the expansion of our palates. That said, T.E. is certainly among the most entertaining of guitarists. Saw his 2016 Christmas show in Tucson and during the intermission and after the show, every face was beaming with joy. Only other guitarist I've seen that even came close to doing that was a younger Leo Kottke more than forty years ago. I believe there must be about a thousand+ "best guitarists" in the world out there. We sure are lucky!
I Never got to see Leo Kottke live....But I had a CD of HIS(30ish yrs ago) that I liked very much, it blew me away. Although I was never able to learn how to play Any(or very very little) of it. In hind sight I now realize that was largely because you'd have to just guess at the tuning(at a time when I barely even knew alternates existed). We are really blessed nowadays with an abundance of Videos, of both performances & tutorials & 100% Digital(adjustable playback speed of both audio & video with independant tempo & pitch)etc. This Gen sure has No Excuses. There are a whole lot of kids that are already playing much better than me with my nearly 40yrs experience, thanks to the the sharing of information via the net/ez to find tabs/youtube/next-level Artists like TE/& people posting quality instructional content etc. We are Lucky, the next Gen probably even more so.
I agreed with the list of artists he gave until he said Justin Timberlake … Really ?? Maybe I don’t know all his work but is he really a great songwriter ?
" I have this idea so what am I going to do with it now. Have to tell a story" then he did tell a story with guitar melody which is like you know.. So he can tell a story without words just guitar melodies and I want to do that...
He’s worked hard all his life to get where he is today. It’s not easy for a solo acoustic instrumentalist to make a living and that’s why he’s had to do so many shows over the years. I honestly think he deserved more recognition because in my opinion he’s the most technically and musically gifted person I’ve ever seen play the guitar. I hope he’s content with his success and I hope he realises how many peoples lives he’s touched and Influenced. Thank you tommy you’re a legend
Tommy Emmanuel is one of the few great artists that explain things exactly the way they are. There's no diva talk, no bullshit, everything he says makes 100% sense to anyone who ever tried to learn how to play the guitar. Besides being an incredible guitar player, he's also an amazing teacher and human being
He sure is a great teacher. His plain-speaking, real-world playing direction, from thump-picking to leaving out occasional notes for the listener's ear, mind, and experience fill in. Love this guy...we should all be such good mentors and role models.
100% agreed with this words. He told us once; its all Brain-Training I understand what it does.
Well said!
Exactly what I thought during this interview
That comment is exactly like Tommy....brilliant!
Tommy please live forever
I wish he could too
I play the guitar myself, to watch Tommy play absolutely astounds me, it borders on the miraculous. He is a true guitar great, technically, I can't think of anyone who's more proficient. A truly awesome guitar player.
"You start out learning the skills, you practice it until the skills become music" - he said it all!
The great thing about Tommy is his honesty, :) Love you Tommy.
He is like an extreme audiophile among musicians. So much care put into the detail, technique, sound of every chord and every note. Perfection
Tommy is so generous with his knowledge and experience and his love of passing it along to young and inspiring guitarists.
Makes it look so easy. Tommy has always been very generous with his knowledge and skills. His music is available on the internet as we as instructional videos of his songs on UA-cam. Love that about him, shares his knowledge.
a modest genius
bravo Tommy
Great questions. The first time I saw the young Tommy Emmanuel was when he was playing with the Southern Star Band in Brisbane (1980?), and his playing was electrifying. So much so that the power failed during his solo. Some musicians would get upset, but Tommy laughed it off and soon recovered. His commitment to excellence is inspiring. Thanks for posting.
Tommy is amazing. He can stand up there with just his guitar and pack a house every night. His wonderful disposition comes across too.
Your guitar music and dedication to the skill of mastering the playing of the guitar is an inspiration. Thank you.
A very good and inspiered Interview. Good words and good thinkings..
Great interview . What a nice human being Tommy is..!!
I love the way he plays Cannonball Rag. What a workout.
Awesome interview. Thanks for posting. What a great man Tommy is.
4 years old he started. True master it takes a lifetime to catch up to that i think
The best EVER! I had the pleasure of going to his show, tears all the time, so much emotion, color and sound on this guitar ! Very, very good!
Love Tommy. Have been fortunate enough to have seen him live on two occasions.
Amazing questions and brilliant answers from a living legend.
What a great interview! Tommy is inspirational! Thank you 🙏
one of the few times where 'the best' something is actually true
Its really opening my heart just listening to him
I am so fortunate to have found out about Tommy Emmanuel, truly a one of a kind talent.
Important truths everyone should take note of. Thanks Tommy!
I had the pleasure of seeing Tommy play the Sydney Entertainment Centre in about 1996 or '97. The on stage power went out about 5 minutes into his set, although the P.A system still worked. He handed off his guitar to a Tech guy, (who were frantically running around in the dark), and proceeded to entertain us by slapping the sides of his face, and making shapes with his mouth. The tech guy finally handed him his guitar back, and I'm sure he hit the exact next note after his guitar went out! Amazing talent, and a standing ovation! Can you believe he was the support act?? Headline was Michael Bolton (brilliant too).
WOW - this is full of great information and lots I have not heard him talk much about in the past. Thanks for posting this!
So gifted. So authentic. Very humble. Amazing❤
What a sweet person. I hope God will give him enough time to say everything for us in a musical and personal way as well!!
I was born in 1959 have played since I was 9 years old that’s 53 year’s of playing everybody thinks I’m a great guitar player and I am very good at it and I still don’t make a pimple on Tommy Emmanuels ass playing guitar you are the best I have ever seen bar none. You have and are truly a gift from God. I take my hat 🎩 off to you Tommy. 🎸 👍❗️😎
You're a magical man Tommy...you've made soooo many people happy!!
Great interview, what a legacy!
you're right ....great interview..................great guy...........wb
What a top notch bloke. Humble, classy, and damn good at making sounds on that hunk of furniture.
The honest genius I am 62 years old and he is still my inspiration
Tommy deserves to live for ever.
Brett Hunter RIP May 2018.(
Global Outreach that’s Phil, his brother
Brother Phil, An equally loved and respected guitarist here in Australia and his sudden departure in 2018 mourned by many. 😔
Omg drivetime at 11:00 one of my top 3 Tommy songs along with Mombasa and I've always thought of you
I hope you have his 'Only' album. All those songs are on it.
Seen you many times in Alabama, everytime as a matter of fact, and its always magic and inspirational!!
Just like everyone else here in the comments section I love Tommy. Ive seen him live and wish I could make my guitar sound as good as sweat dripping off his fingers...he doesnt wrote songs though he writes musical compositions without lyrics. He's a master instrumentalist.
Gotta Love this Talented Super Humble Gentleman !
Fantastic interview! I learned so much about how he became the great artist he is.
Fantastic guitarist and a fantastic sole what a great person 🇮🇪🎸
Wow!!!! Love it!!!!
I have a lot of respect to Tommy Emmanuel ❤
Tommy is legendary guitar player..probably the Jimi Hendrix of acoustic guitar..definitely the GOAT..
Genius. Not lying this is how I practice and my philosophy on practice before i even heard this. It is very gratifying hearing tommy emmanual confirm this. #suzukimethod
Tommy my idle ,amazing you’re guitar technic
If I have a time i’ll try to learn from you
Great questions & great answers 👍
Thank you for the great interview!
I watch more Tommy than i play
"Practice the mechanics then once downloaded focus on the feeling." You obviously understand brain mechanics Tommy. As a teacher, I use the analogy of a muscle, when trying to convey the need for my students to make an effort in learning. Work it and it will get stronger and more efficient, and also vice versa :)
When all is said and done this is probably the best guitar player in the World.
What an amazing man. 😎👌
hands up all guitarists who wish they could be as good as Tommy when he was six years old
Bardzo ciekawy wywiad i niezwykły artysta, gitarzysta, kompozytor!
50 years old. ANd I just found out about this Man. Wow superman. Nola
He's on tour in the US soon; going to catch him Apr 19, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa---can't wait, traveling over a thousand miles to see him with friends.
Don't feel bad, Mark, I just turned 69; and I just discovered Tommy about 3 weeks ago. Now he's about all I listen to.
Wow, so good. Thanks,
magnifique
yes tuning is the most inportant.
"i'm interested in moving the world basically.." Wow !
Tommy and Knophler yaaaas.
Cudeńko.
He's so sympathic
Man just playing ONE ofhis songs must be a blast
superb content
fuckin' love this guy :)
Hi Tommy Emmanuel..Hope all is well..I like this interview and your frank answers.. Quite informative and u seem to be suggestive to some musicians who could be so politely behaved with and also share ideas as to how you developed the knowledge in guitar playing and music including the song composing approaches cantabile*..Awesome.. GOD BLESS.. Warm cheers..👍😊👏🎶🎸🙏
Beauty... Name of firts theme :05 and name of that one 11:04 please somebody help
Song at 0:03 is Saltwater by Julian Lennon.
And song at 11:05 is Drivetime by Tommy.
🐐
Sure he put in the work, but he also has a natural talent. Thanks Tommy for sharing.
I would like to know how he learned all of those complex chord progressions-I assume he does not read music. You Tube makes learning guitar a lot easier, I wish I had it when I was growing up and I had a lot of passion for learning. I learned quite a bit-but I see Tommy play stuff and I have almost no idea what he is doing-in standard tuning. His technique is incredible.
Easy: work. More work. Then get serious and really get to work. Then; make the commitment, forsake most other things and work even harder. The one thing all the greats have in common is the commitment.
My forearms ache just watching him play cannonball rag.
I'll hang out in this comment section, Tommy, Chet and my grandfather made me want to pursue this skill
Having a game of guess the question hehe
Where can I see a recording of the concert?
Somebody mixed the question sheets up!
2 Mins 58secs in! Is Tommy wearing a Hearing aid in his left ear?? im sure i can see the plastic tube??
?beautiful! name of the song from 00:00 - 00:30 please
PRISONBREAK427555 Saltwater, an old gospelish styled song.
Saltwater
I wonder what that first Bond chord is at 11:31 - anyone?
B+5 or augmented...
Oh forgive me I have stolen a lot of your licks and techniques love your style you can see the hard work and time you spend on the guitar the pay is in the perfection you display while you are playing the guitar 🎸
IF THERE IS A BETTER GUITARIST IN THE WORLD ID REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHO THE HELL HE IS
+roman14032 - *'Better' might be the wrong word, but if you are looking for some people that blow your hair back in ways that easily rival Tommy, here are some names:*
*Ted Greene : **_Easily the most gifted guitarplayer when it comes to understanding music theory, chording in particular, Tommy himself acknowledges this_*
*Jon Gomm : **_One of the most unorthodox guitarplayers ive ever seen, wrote a song called 'Passionflower' - imho one of the most beautiful songs ive ever heard - that is so difficult to play you need 2 banjo tuning pegs to do it_*
*Andy McGee : **_A little more traditional when it comes to percussive playing, but exceptionally gifted_*
*Guthrie Govan : **_Another extremely knowledgeable and intelligent player, probably one of the most gifted soloist that I have ever seen, if you think SRV could lay down the licks, Guthrie will make you rethink what playing solo's really is_*
He remains ... in shadow ...
This is always subjective, however I like to look at it like this. Tommy can easily play their styles, can they play Tommy's style.
Jack Waters i absolutley agree with you, there is no " the best guitar player".I think everybody has his own technique.If its jeff beck, who s absoloudley perfect with the whammy bar, or bbking, who just has the music in his blood, John mayer who playes very good and has a phantastic voice , or anybody other.
same buddy
Does anybody know what song he plays around 6:41? I’m dying to know. Thank you in advance.
Do you know what he plays in 14:09?
Eva Waits by Tommy.
@@AkashKumar47 It's never too late.
Driven, self-made working man who understands the spiritual level.
What was the first song he played?
Saltwater by Julian Lennon.
Does anyone know the name of the song at 14:08 ??
3 Eyed Jimmy it's never too late from the album it's never too late
What's the song at 6:31 ?
The song is Ava Waits.
Susan Campanini Thanks! Found some versions here on YT. Really a beautiful song.
I read somewhere that he had seen the movie Bridge of Spies and wrote this song about a woman whose husband is trapped on the other side when the Berlin Wall goes up.
In how many years you learned guitar?
Tommy and phil emmanuel
Stressing me out watching that guitar headstock swinging around that piano. Shift your chair Tommy! SHIFT YOUR CHAIR!
who would every down vote Tommy? wtf.
What's the james bond song of his?
Ruby's Eyes
justin timberlake on the same category ? ._.
“Clean your guitar! I don”t play other people’s guitars so I don’t have to run out and get a tetanus shot.” LOL
:)
You do have to be careful saying things like "the best"(at what exactly?) though he is clearly "World Class" at just about every aspect of music/guitar such as, writing/composing/arranging & improvising as well as Playing(in virtually ANY genre even) at the Apex of Human Ability. I would however bet my left hand that if you could take like 100+ of the worlds greatest guitar players(either self-proclaimed or voted in & otherwise) from ANY/ALL genres, they would UNANIMOUSLY agree that Tommy is the better "solo acoustic entertainer" or perhaps even "acoustic guitar player" or maybe just "solo instrumentalist" etc.(depending on precisely what the categories were).
Yes. You have it "exactly" so. How can one compare a perfect apple to a perfect orange. Can't be done in any logical way. We can only be thankful that all of the luscious fruits are available for the expansion of our palates. That said, T.E. is certainly among the most entertaining of guitarists. Saw his 2016 Christmas show in Tucson and during the intermission and after the show, every face was beaming with joy. Only other guitarist I've seen that even came close to doing that was a younger Leo Kottke more than forty years ago. I believe there must be about a thousand+ "best guitarists" in the world out there. We sure are lucky!
I Never got to see Leo Kottke live....But I had a CD of HIS(30ish yrs ago) that I liked very much, it blew me away. Although I was never able to learn how to play Any(or very very little) of it. In hind sight I now realize that was largely because you'd have to just guess at the tuning(at a time when I barely even knew alternates existed). We are really blessed nowadays with an abundance of Videos, of both performances & tutorials & 100% Digital(adjustable playback speed of both audio & video with independant tempo & pitch)etc. This Gen sure has No Excuses. There are a whole lot of kids that are already playing much better than me with my nearly 40yrs experience, thanks to the the sharing of information via the net/ez to find tabs/youtube/next-level Artists like TE/& people posting quality instructional content etc. We are Lucky, the next Gen probably even more so.
Surely the Justin Timberlake reference was tongue in cheek Tommo.???
I agreed with the list of artists he gave until he said Justin Timberlake … Really ?? Maybe I don’t know all his work but is he really a great songwriter ?
" I have this idea so what am I going to do with it now. Have to tell a story" then he did tell a story with guitar melody which is like you know.. So he can tell a story without words just guitar melodies and I want to do that...
That is an annoying sounding metronome! 🤣
Tommy’s a great teacher, legend!