Guitar Artistry of Tony McManus

[@Bcbweb]

Watching genius at work is truly incredible. Nobody plays like Tony McManus.

[@FingeredFatality]

This puts my mind at ease. The Imagery that comes form this music is unreal. Amazing.

[@Deebemc]

There are some doughballs around. This is a wonderful medley which sounds to my Celtic ear very, very evocative of my homeland. Perth-born me, and mighty proud of the talented musicians that have sprung from there. Great stuff, Tony. Mair power to your phenomenal fingertips

[@ImOnTheTube]

I seem to be coming back to this video many times. It just puts a smile on my face :)

[@scanditube]

Phenomenal playing. Tony your CD is one of my very favorites! Hey people, if you love the music, help support the musicians: Buy their CDs, download their tunes, take their workshops etc etc. It takes total dedication to play like this.

[@tdbsnr]

Tony just smacked my gob! I've been listening to loads of guitarists recently, but only just found this - acoustic guitar playing at its FINEST. Tony, this is superb.

[@hollowtones13]

his guitar is absolutely stunning.

[@RJcur]

That's lovely! In parts that piece reminds me of the Welsh national anthem...and makes me homesick. The playing is out of this world and I'm gonna look up some more of his vids, thankyou.

[@jaypond4368]

That was so freaking beautiful

[@scawa1952]

Not only is Tony a great guitarist, but he's a great teacher and person. I had the opportunity to take a class from him this summer at Swannanoa where he was teaching parts of this song. Truly an amazing experience. Way over my head, but I took back some things I could use.

[@neilzinn8145]

I went to a Celtic-themed fiddle show in Grand Rapids, I believe it was at a place called the ladies literary club or something similar. As I recall, Kevin Burke was there and a fiddler from Brittany and a Scottish fellow from Silly Wizard named Alastair. Tony was there playing guitar and I remember thinking, wow, that who is that guitar player? He is incredible! Equally good with fingers or flat-pick and he showed both abilities on that occasion.

[@angelicguitar]

you my friend are one of the things in this world that make me want more for myself and show me how emotional a song can be to the person

[@jaywly]

I have been playing guitar professionally for almost 50 years and have seen, played with, and heard many good ones. I think Tony is brilliant. In my experience, the people who shoot their mouths off and are hyper-critical of great performers never play nearly as well, so the only way they feel validated is to criticize. When he posts a video of himself playing on KZbin we can see how Batronhigh plays. As for myself, I choose to listen, learn, and simply the enjoy this lovely music.

[@Gminor7]

Thank you for sharing your stunning talent and beautiful interpretation . . .

[@nerdalert12345]

well didn't that just make my day that much better :)

[@murrmac]

these two tunes have always been my favourite TM pieces (except for "What a Wonderful World") hopefully this video excerpt is authorised, and won't get pulled, as happened to the "Men of Steel" videos which featured Tony at his amazing best. If you are reading this Tony, all the best, pity you couldn't make it to Perth for Gordon Duncan's memorial concert, it was superb ..

[@Deebemc]

Been away from KZbin for some months. I thought I'll get some guitar wizardry in.........oh dear and here is old Nerodollinger going about what is or isnt Celtic......AGAIN! Mr Mac is a hell of a guitarist and his stuff is sublime. AND there are very good practioners on KZbin which are a joy. And that that is what we should do....ENJOY!

[@gerrynelsonmusic]

murrmac, it was posted by Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop so it is authorised. Tony's an amazing flatpicker and fingerpicker and all-round good bloke!

[@Ruhrup]

This blows my mind awaaaaaay !!

[@barbarafuglein3918]

Bin begeistert!😊

[@fetthaarkontrolle]

I saw and hear him 1997 in Stuttgart/ Germany im "Laboratorium"...wonderful!

[@Conscious-7-7-7]

from our favorite guitar player tony mcanus

[@eblancart]

It was the same for me!! amazing night

[@thegusglynnband]

Beautiful

[@moronslave]

sound is so touching.. I've got a yamaha acoustic and I wonder if all acoustic got that harmonic spots.. so clear sounding. Thanks!

[@Genwaworldwide]

This just says it all !

[@pitiedsid1]

just discovered this guy woooooooooooow

[@chazzplaya]

Yup, I was there too. I loved his bagpipe tune.

[@Fraseshotjonson]

What a champ!

[@plimtaku]

I really like this piece. there are some interesting allusions to american traditional music to my ears too. Nice harmonics at the beginning, but was it the intention to have so much of the fundamental coming through? I like that approach, somehow more fitting.

[@murrmac]

I know you're at the wind-up, but he isn't playing in A mixolydian, he is playing in E mixolydian, and the flattened sevenths add tremendously to the effect imo

[@TheBananaviper]

In person watching this guy, all you can do is space out. Very good.

[@LfunkeyA]

too awesome

[@daidaiiroki]

he's also a really cool guy. I got to meet him at Wild West Guitars in Riverside, CA

[@djgca1]

Wow. I'm lucky if I can get one clean harmonic while playing. This is beautiful. Back to practicing :)

[@Ozymandyus]

What Mcmonster said... basically you can play harmonics if you fret the string and then look for harmonics at the even intervals (halfway on the length from the fret to the bridge, you'll get harmonic.) You are basically muting the Long wave that produces the loudest sound, and getting the higher frequency waves that are 1/2 or 1/4 the wave length.

[@mrlaa1]

I have never seen anything like this!!

[@Benbutlermusic]

Absolute mastery, and such a great feel. Too bad the audio compression makes it sound a little distorted in the high end. Whoever is doing the encoding should select a higher quality, please!

[@christyhughes15]

i saw him live. he's a beast.

[@simplicity63]

Very nice .

[@nickrobinson7283]

A slight taste of Bluegrass there for a second. love this kind of stuff.

[@AuSableBrownie]

Years of practice and you could keep your arm. But he is a moving performer indeed my friend. Do you have his recordings?

[@muzikscud23]

The man's a genius

[@murrmac]

There is a superb hour- long archived performance from 2002 on WGBH, where Tony is interviewed by Brian O'Donovan, and talks about his music as well as playing some tremendous tunes. In particular, he plays a phenomenal version of the "Easy Club Reel" , a tune which he hasn't recorded to date on any of his CDs (but should do !!) Google "Tony McManus WGBH" it is the first link you come to that directs to the WGBH website. Click the link, then scroll down and click on " Tony Mcmanus".

[@Ozymandyus]

Yeah.. The '12th fret rule' that MM mentioned is an easy way to do this by the way, 12 frets down is always half of the length of the distance from the fret to the bridge. This way you get all the harmonics except the 1x frequency. So with low E (82.4hz) you get the higher octaves of open E (164.8hz and 329.6 which is the high e on a guitar) etc. If you go 5 frets you are only getting the 4x frequency notes, and muting the 1x frequency and 2x frequency. Fun stuff.

[@bcpipes]

It's also to align the index, middle and ring fingers properly for triplets. Triplets are the super-fast notes that come in threes.

[@Scotsovertheborder]

I can play like that, but I just don't want to :-) I'm really looking forward to seeing Tony McManus live at the begining of June.

[@evh1eddie1rocks]

were can i find tabs for this?????? i love this song i want to learn it very badly

[@danlyons45]

Wow. His right hand/fingers remind me of the legs of a 'Riverdance' dancer

[@johnmacward]

How does he do what he does? The brain connections that this requires! Running a complex bass line along with fast solo picking all on just TWO hands - boggles the mind.

[@healtheveryday6962]

+John Ward I know you comment was purely rhetorical but i wanted to comment anyways heh. Actually the more you practice a task the more the brain makes the connections necessary to complete that task with proficiency. Which is amazing, and why many musicians can play complex songs, cord changes and so on with relative ease without batting an eyelash. Not only that when you become proficient at something such as a master guitar player your brain actually (slows down time) in a sort of literal way because of the fact you already know whats coming. Making the Artist truly enjoy and revel in the music he/she is creating out of the instrument. Which is also why you often see many artist get lost in their music. Love this video btw. Cheers!

[@johnmacward]

Healtheveryday What a fantastic way of explaining it. I'm picking up the guitar again after this...!

[@dr.zoidberg8666]

+John Ward I'm nowhere near what Tony can do -- but I've been playing fingerstyle guitar for a while & can play some nice/fun songs, & strangely, I've had nearly the opposite experience when compared to what you explained... When you learn a song, or a scale, or what have you -- really learn it -- you keep it in a different part of your brain... You don't *think* about it consciously, when you play it... because if you try to keep up with thoughts, you're going to mess yourself up. It sounds very strange, but I have some songs which I play best if I just close my eyes & let my hands do the work. The thinking happens when you're learning the piece... once you've learned it, you have to shift gears & stop thinking.

[@Elbownian]

Already been said, but... practice, my brother, practice.

[@Xerxes4242]

Thank you BatRonHigh, I was feeling down and you gave me a good laugh! hahahaha! .....Wait, you were serious?

[@Xerxes4242]

@gtrrobster Tony's in his prime now and is just getting better - check out a concert if he's ever in the area!

[@EltonMcManus]

Great

[@ColdFormedSteel3D]

Beginners will never know how difficult and complex this song is holy crappp.

[@mcmanustony]

@BubbaC393 those aren't pinch harmonics. they are "false" harmonics.

[@IvikHostrup]

Those triplets... God damn!

[@k4lpcm]

agreed my friend... agreed.

[@swan627]

There appears to be a direct line between his soul and his fingertips...

[@kingstumble]

I'm currently learning this tune in DADGAD.Not half as complex as this version but difficult enough for me!

[@Xerxes4242]

It's on his "Men of Steel" album, not quite the same way he plays it solo though.

[@1funkyangel]

Supermelodic !

[@cruntpoop]

A second ate of playing the guitar. What a difference when he plays traditionally.

[@seccondclasscitezin]

who could thumbsdown this

[@yaisum]

Its Melville, possibly a TM custom, made by a chap in Australia. Not exactly common. Or cheap, I would think, but if Tony chooses them they must be pretty special

[@xandekocsi]

it's so sad to think that this kind of talent is so underrated

[@weejoesoap]

mazin :D

[@Penatr8]

Sunday? Maybe Saturday night in brissy? Was a good night!

[@acguhe]

It's an Australian guitar: Melville. Amazing aren't they!

[@talister106]

Ah for the want of a pint o`pipe and the good cheer of music ! Carrey on me lad.

[@Dougal-Mcguire]

@donnysmeegs nowt???? u from carlisle or therabouts m8?

[@AllanHable]

i dont think practice has anything to do with it, this guys gifted.

[@NegiTom]

HOLY THUMB-NAIL BATMAN!

[@evh1eddie1rocks]

can u tell me what the tunning it is is it standard?

[@BubbaC393]

not that bad cept for the pinch harmonics what tunings is this in?

[@Benbutlermusic]

Ok, but if you compare it to my videos you might think differently. I believe I managed a pretty high audio quality on my posts. But really, it's about the playing right? I just bought his record on iTunes.

[@JamJamOnWheels]

I'd quite like to learn this, but just know it'll be as hard as 10 bears.

[@Thorendoodle]

I'm guessing that's not standard tuning. Does anyone know what tuning he's in?

[@EleanorWard]

I see and I'm practicing that very idea right now. Who says the Comments aren't educational!

[@CptLando]

Video starts...*mind explodes*

[@ollarik]

Does anybody know what guitar Tony plays here?

[@Deebemc]

They also turned up in Spain, Brittany, Cornwall, Wales,amongst other places. A bit pessimistic, Nero old bean

[@OliverDanielSJ]

Beautiful isn't it?

[@Deebemc]

my final word here is that (thanks to Davy Graham)a lot of bagpipe music is beautifully replicated on the guitar. Have a listen to Andy Renwick's Ferret, both versions, Tony's and that of it's late great author Gordon Duncan. Thank you, KZbin. Oh yes.

[@Xerxes4242]

@chrileboy ........I actually burst out laughing at that comment. Thank you!

[@reevedavey]

mind blowing; you don't learn to play like that, it's in you from the start...

[@lawnboyph]

Go for the foot!

[@Daniel_Daigle]

@EamonJgod However, it is easy when you truly love your instrument. The uncountable hours of practice are all part of the fun. :P

[@murrmac]

there is no distortion whatsoever on my system, maybe it's your speakers that need to be higher quality ...

[@StephenWakeGuitar]

sounds a bit jazzy too!

[@AmbientBeat99]

Beautiful playing style Many good Australian luthiers: Brian De Gruchy Jim Mills Andrew Knight, etc. Still hard to beat a C.F Martin

[@Xerxes4242]

This is the first I've heard someone claim Tony has no life. I would love to lead the lifestyle he does. I'm sure I'm not the only one either!

[@stephen25uk]

What does he do if he breaks a nail?

[@samzeppelin]

glue on a fake nail, is very common

[@Ferda1964]

he grows a new one , if you drink enough Guinness nails grow like mushrooms

[@fastidioussloth6013]

Drink too much Guinness & you'll never play with this coordination & pace

[@Dougal-Mcguire]

it says - turn the sadness to happiness :) anyone else get it?

[@Dougal-Mcguire]

@EamonJgod how true. u play aswell then i asume?

[@freakyfunkdownunder]

yeah it would all string instruments have harmonics they are a mathamatical thing there is one at half the legth then at a 1/3 then at 1/4

[@Deebemc]

Remains of Celtic crosses in and around Newburgh(OK just outside Perth) Abernethy (the name is Celtic for goodness sake) and Dunkeld.....odd burial stone on the Cupar Road. Not worried if there are Lines of not. Wouldnt consider Dundee for anything........

[@sevon77771]

if i miss 20% of my notes, can you also make a video of me playing?🤣

[@MartOracle]

next to Leo Kottke Tony McManus is my great guitarhero

[@roydonkin]

the guitar was built by Chris Melville

[@vin.himself]

August Didn't-Rush