David Gilmour - Style

David Gilmour is known for being able to do an enormous amount with very little. His slow, melodic and emotional way of playing has inspired guitarists from different genres.

In 'Comfortably Numb', a track from the 1979 concept album 'The Wall', David Gilmour shows off his higher speeds in one of the most iconic guitar solos in music history.

Exercise

For this lick, from the solo of 'Comfortably Numb', we use the blues scale. The blues scale is actually a major or minor pentatonic scale with one note added: the blue note (also sometimes called tritone). This note occurs twice in the position we play, at the eighth fret on the A string and the tenth fret on the G string. This gives you a lot more options to make longer licks!

Lick

In this lick, David Gilmour uses the blue note on the eighth fret on the A string and applies recurring patterns to lengthen his lick.

What should I pay attention to when playing this lick?

1. The lick takes place on all strings and all positions. So make sure you know the position well;

2. Pay attention to the correct execution of the legato techniques such as hammer-ons and pull-offs. Try to push the string in well during the hammer-ons and make sure you relaunch the string by pulling it slightly along before releasing it during the pull-offs;

3. Learn the lick at a steady pace and per three notes. Add a group of notes each time. In this way you will understand the lick faster.

If you have any questions or remarks, ask them at the bottom of this blog or in our forum!

Good luck!

Jeroen for Guitartabs.nl