As
regular readers of this blog (both of them) may recall, back inNovember I posed the question, Have AC/DC Ever Made A Bad Song? And
if memory serves, we concluded that, no, they hadn't.. so I'm here to
pose a follow up question – Has Dave Gilmour Ever Played A Bad
Note? Certainly, I found that while recording “Heartbreak ForDummies”, the best warmup I could do before recording a solo was to
spend 10 minutes or so transcribing some of his epic Pink Floyd
solos..
Now,
before we continue, a spoiler – no, I won't be covering the
“Comfortably Numb” first solo. It is undeniably sublime, and an
absolute favourite of mine, but I'm planning to give it it's own
lesson on a new experimental series for the YouTube Channel.. so
another reason (as if one was needed) to go and subscribe!
First,
as is customary, a lttle personal history – although given the
tangled web of intrigue that surrounds Pink Floyd the band could
easily fill a book, I'm not going to be touching on that either.
We'll go up to him joining the Floyd and then on with the licks, I
invite the reader to do their own research if interested!
Our
story begins in Cambridge on March 6 1946 in the immediate aftermath
of World War Two and all the attendant privations prevalent across
Britatin at that time. Like many British guitar heroes of that time,
he quickly became entranced by the glamour of American rock &
roll and in 1954 bought his first record, “Rock Around The Clock”
by Bill Haley and The Comets. Further inspired by Elvis and the
Everly Brothers, he acquired a Pete Seeger book & record kit,
borrowed a guitar from a neighbour and never looked back!
Starting
secondary school aged 11, Gilmour would meet Syd Barrett and Roger
Waters – Pink Floyd's other luminaries – and as their academic
careers progressed, Barrett and Gilmour regularly practiced guitar
together. Aged 18, in 1962, Gilmour joined his first regularly
working band Jokers Wild who built a sizeable local following around
Cambridge. They recorded an EP which Gilmour described as “a
vanity project. I booked Regend Sound in Denmark Street. We all
headed off to London in our van, did five songs, all having
absolutely no idea what we were doing. The songs were all covers from
our live set Dont Ask Me Why, Thats How Strong My Love, Beautiful
Delilah, Why Do Fools Fall In Love, You Don’t Know What I Know. We
had 50 five-track albums (RSLP 007) and 50 two-track singles (RSR
0031) made. We had a bit of a following around Cambridge and sold
them to friends. Ive still got the original stereo mastertape
somewhere in my stores.
“ (ref -
https://www.pinkfloydz.com/interviews/david-gilmour-record-collector-interview-may-2003/ )
After
Jokers Wild went the way of many early bands, Gilmour headed to
Europe, describing his time there - “I
initially went to Marbella, Spain, for three months in the summer of
66. Then I came back and went to a club in St. Etienne in France. I
moved to Paris and did three months residence in a club called the
Bilberquay and then spent a period just gigging all over France.
“. During this period, Gilmour hooked back up with two former
members of Jokers Wild, performing under the name Flowers, but the
group had a hard time – club owners frequently refused to pay them
and they had their equipment stolen. Despite this, Gilmour was still
able to contribute vocals to two tracks recorded for the film “Two
Weeks In September” starring Brigitte Bardot – but this didn't
help with the band's impoverished status, to the point where they had
to push their tour bus off the ferry when they returned to the UK,
having completely run out of fuel!
Pink
Floyd, meanwhile, featuring Gilmour's previous schoolmates Roger
Waters & Syd Barrett along with drummer Nick Mason, were becoming
progressively more successful, releasing their debut album “The
Piper At The Gates Of Dawn” in 1967 – however, success was taking
a toll on Barrett's mental health (a sadly too common occurrence),
and as Barrett became increasingly erratic, Gilmour was brought in to
replace him. Gilmour recalls the moment as “we were on the way to
the gig and someone said, shall we go pick up said? And someone else
just said “oh, let's not” “.
And
with that, let's start playing some guitar! Before we look at
Gilmour's tastiest licks, it's worth noting his signature technique –
his absolutely exquisite string bending. He counts his influences as
“Pete
Seeger, Lead Belly, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Joni
Mitchell, John Fahey, Roy Buchanan, and Hank Marvin of the Shadows”
as well as “all the blues guys” which I'm told includes Albert
King (thanks George Groove for that nugget!)
And
with potted history thus complete, let's turn our attention to his
playing – and we'll begin by looking at Gilmour's signature
technique, his absolutely exquisite string bending control. In this
first exercise (which we can consider a primer for the licks to
follow), I'm demonstrating a variety of bends – first playing the
target note and then bending up to pitch, similar to what I
demonstrated in the recent FAQ video. For those of you with a
floating tremolo, don't be afraid to pull back on the bar to get a
bit of additional lift, Gilmour has been known to do this himself so
it's not cheating!
OK,
so fingers warmed up and hopefully no broken strings – on to the
licks!
We'll
start with an absolute classic – the opening lick from “Another
Brick In The Wall” using the D minor pentatonic. Note the use of
doublestops – another Gilmour signature move to help fill up sonic
space – and the super wide bend on the 13th
fret B.
The
second lick is drawn from the end solo on – of course -
“Comfortably Numb”, but this one comes from the “Live In
Pompeii” version – although it is present in “Another Brick In
The Wall” but in D minor pentatonic as opposed to B minor which
we're in here. You can draw a line back to the Magic Three Notes here
– even Dave Gilmour bases his style on them!
Staying
with “Comfortably Numb” in it's “Live In Pompeii” iteration,
here's a high register lick based around position 4 of B minor
pentatonic before morphing into a diatonic run down the B natural
minor scale and featuring a rare instance of Gilmour using three note
per string scale fingerings. Note the sneaky bit of chromaticism on
the position shift – Bb over any of the chords in this progression
(Bm / A / G Em / Bm) ought to be an absolute HOWLER but Dave makes it
work through what I can only assume is sheer force of will!
The final example is taken from the climax to the “Money” guitar solo, again featuring the B minor pentatonic scale but here Gilmour is in position 1 right up at the dusty end of the fretboard, starting at the 19th fret. There's nothing particularly technical here but really try and make a statement with each note, and ensure that your bends are in tune and the vibrato is smooth and even.
PS - don't forget to keep an eye on the YouTube channel for the demo video...
That concludes this peek at the style of one of the world's greatest guitarists, but I'm left with a question – there is nothing here that a guitarist of intermediate technical ability can't play and indeed Gilmour rarely plays anything quick, rarely goes outside the minor pentatonic... what is it that makes him so great? I can only surmise that it's the care and quality he puts into every note, the perfect grasp of when to play and when not, how to let each phrase breathe... I think that without a doubt, ANY aspiring lead player needs to sit and study Gilmour's solos to grasp just how you can make an immensely powerful impact from a relatively straightforward technical base. Certainly, I've absolutely loved this time studying his playing and have learned a huge amount about that most elusive and intangible of qualities – feel.
Of
course, all this goes out the window next month as we tackle Steel
Panther's Shred God Extraordinaire, Satchel! See you then, and Happy
New Year to you all!
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