David Gilmour Guitar Methods

Dave Gilmour was the replacement for Syd Barrett in 1968, Gilmour made his mark on Floyd from day one, but non more noticeable than one echoes. The following success made Gilmour a legend with his beautiful guitar licks.

Gilmour's main stage guitar is a USA '57 Vintage Reissue Strat fitted with EMG-SA pickups. He has also installed the EMG-EXG expander & SPC midrange presence controls. Apart from the electrics, the only other custom feature is a shortened tremolo arm so that he can keep it in his picking hand more comfortably while playing. But back in '1970s he Used a strat that was mostly likely from 1969 era, as the guitar didn't have the Bullet truss rod. The Fender 1969 Stratocaster that he used, has been used on all recordings up to Momentary lapse of reason when he changed to his USA '57 re-issue strat. Other guitars used live are an Esquire Telecaster in dropped D tuning for Run Like Hell, The following are the pedals Gilmour uses. Most of the pedals are unavailble now, however most can be found on eBay. Other Pedals are Specially made for Gilmour, so you may have to look for other brands that come close to that. Gilmour famously said though you can get close to his sound by using a simple range of boss pedals. Gilmour uses hi-watt amps into Marshall cabs and custom hi-watts cabs.

A - Boss CS-2 Compression/Sustainer. 
B - Pro Co. Rat II Distortion. 
C - Cornish Big Muff. 
D - Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer. 
E - Cornish Soft Sustain. 
F - Sovtek Big Muff II. 
G - Chandler Tube Driver #2. 
H - MXR Dynacomp Compressor. 
I - Ibanez CP-9 Compressor. 
J - Boss Metalizer. 
K - Chandler Tube Driver #1. 
L - Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer. HIGH
M - Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer. BASS
N - Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer. MID

Lick 1.
This lick is simmiliar to Wish You Were Here, however its in a diffrent key:

e |-5/7-----7\5-------------------------------------|
B |-5/7-----7\5-----5/7--7\5--------5/7--7\5--------|
G |-------------------4/6--6\4---2---4/6--6\4---2-2-|
D |-------------------------------------------------|
A |-------------------------------------------------|
E |-------------------------------------------------|

Lick 2.
This is a typical Gilmour lick, this can be seen from Dark Side Of The Moon straight to The Division Bell:

e |--------------5------------------|
B |-----------5----7p5--------------|
G |--7b(9)--------------7p5---------|
D |------------------------------7--|
A |---------------------------------|
E |---------------------------------|

Lick 3
It is from the Experimental Days, think atom heart mother and echoes:

e |-----------------------------------------------|
B |--14-13----------14-13-------------------------|
G |---------13--------------13--------------------|
D |------------13--------------13--11-10----------|
A |-------------------------------------------11--|
E |-----------------------------------------------|

Lick 4.
This is another typical Gilmour blues lick:

e |--------------7---9p7-------------|
B |-----------7-------------9p7------|
G |--9b(11)---------------------9-7--|
D |----------------------------------|
A |----------------------------------|
E |----------------------------------|

Lick 5.
This lick can be seen through out The Wall:

e|--------------7----------------------------|
B|-----------7-----9p7---7------7-----7/9-7--|
G|--9b(11)-------------9-7------7-----7/9-7--|
D|----------------------------9-9---9-9------|
A|-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|

Lick 6.
This Lick can be seen on Echoes, using a D shape chord:

e|-----14---------------16------------16/14--|
B|--------15---------------17----------------|
G|--14-------14--14/16-------16---16/14------|
D|-------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|

Lick 7.
This lick is a simmiliar to In The Flesh, and a normal blues run:

e|--------12--------12--------12------------------------------|
B|--------12--------12--------12------------------------------|
G|14b(16)---14b(16)---14b(16)----14p12------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------14p12---------------14~|
A|-------------------------------------------14-13-12---------|
E|----------------------------------------------------15-14---|

Lick 8.
This is seen in In The Flesh from The Wall, the lick is also seen in Learning To Fly:

e|--------0----------0----------------------------------------|
b|----------3-----------3-------------------------------------|
g|-2b(4)-------2b(4)--------2B(4)-2-0-------------------------|
d|--------------------------------------2-0-------------------|
a|-------------------------------------------2-1-0---------2~-|
E|---------------------------------------------------3-2------|

Lick 9.
Is also seen in In The Flesh, it's a typical rock lick:

e|-12~--------------------------------------|
b|-----12~--15b(17)--15b(17)r15-12-15b(17)--|
g|------------------------------------------|
d|------------------------------------------|
a|------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------|

Lick 10.
This lick is a run up the neck, used by gilmour on High Hopes:

e|-----------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------|
D|-2----2/4-4----4/5-5----5/-9--9--7-|
A|-----------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|

lick 11.
This lick is in the style of Floyd from Post Waters:

e|--13p10----10-----------------------|
B|------------------13------13b15r13--|
G|------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------|

Lick 12.
This lick is taken from The Wall, it's very dark and a good emotional mood setter:

e|-----15-17-17p15-17-17b(19)---------------|
B|--17------------------------17-17-15--17--|
G|------------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------|

Lick 13.
Shows how unison bend can add impact and emotion, this was take from Pigs:

e|-12---12---12----12---12-------14----14---14----14---14--|
B|-15b-15b--15b--15b-15b-----16b---16b-16b--16b--16b-------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------|

Lick 14.
Was used in Mother from The Wall:

e|--10p9-10p9----------------------|
B|---------------10----------------|
G|--------------------9-7-6--------|
D|------------------------------7--|
A|---------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------|

Lick 15.
This lick is take from the solo of Have A Cigar:

e|---------------------------------------------------------------|
B|------------12-----17P12-15P12---------------------------------|
G|-14B(16)---------------------------14B(16)-----14-----12B(14)--|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------|

Comments

[Agent_00Funk]

that was an ok lesson

[Rectifier002]

finally, someone just gives us the licks to use. all the scales in the world are worthless if you dont know any licks. you can tell me all day that david used this scale or that mode, but it won't mean anything to anyone whos not a college music major. now all you need is a link in the lesson taking us to a place where we can here you playing these licks. nice job.

[Hypnot1st]

Ok lesson, but show more applying. And how to form one, along with using yourself as an example.

[sixstringz]

Cool, Good to see someone paying homage to Gilmore. In my opinion he's right up there with Page, and Hendrix. I like his style better than either.

[Arnni]

I write this methods ages ago, but when they decided to reform i thought it be a good idea to post it . glad some of you enjoy it

[JacksonShred09]

Ummmm I think the lick from "mother" is wrong, like it's in a different key or something, because thats definatly not how I play that part of the solo when I play "mother".

[alexcjalali]

you should really call this "david gilmour methods", just assorted licks david gilmour has played at some point on the guitar.

really has nothing to do with his method, style, technique or scale usage.

[Arnni]

yer the Lick from mother is in a diffrent key on here, It shows how you can move it to change its sound!

it was basicly just a few licks that you able to get the bets of david gilmour style and licks

[Pinkfloydguy]

you are an idiot...that was just copied and pasted from www.gilmourish.com
shame on you for pilfering a David Gilmour related website!

[Arnni]

ACtually your wrong. I Haven't ever seen that site before but ill be looking at it now because it is very good. The equiptment list i got from Mike;s gear website and The Guitar Information I got was from Various magazines.
The Rest of The work is what i think displays so easy licks to help you understand how gilmour plays

[slashdude666]

money is an amazing pink floyd song

[newcomer]

[b]JacksonShred09[
/b] wrote:

Ummmm I think the lick from "mother" is wrong, like it's in a different key or something, because thats definatly not how I play that part of the solo when I play "mother".

Definetely. it's a whole step too high to begin with, then it's like you just made that lick up from there. And i like Gilmour, he's great without being fast (all the time), it seems everyone's hell bent on shredding these days.

[dimebag7]

yeah gilmour is sweet, but weres the slash metion arctile !?

[jesm1]

in your article, there little bit on wrong,....but anyway good try and david gilmour is one of my best guitarist!

[j.tilley]

Gilmore was a wizard for sure. Must see live in pompeii 1971

[Just001]

I enjoyed the licks man , at least someone is putting out an effort for Gilmore licks. I wish i could find more free in depth lesson on the net though, with some audio /video aid. That would be sweet. Anyways good effort man.

[get-born]

decent lesson, it just ran over his gear and some licks, but he should add some techniques and stuff..

[authoritarian]

If I wanted licks I could just take them out of tab anyway. Licks don't actually help you play like someone alone. Some advice on technique and style would be good. Set-up is excellent tho.

[SethMegadefan]

LOTS... OF... EXAMPLES...
I liked how, instead of just offering a couple examples, you gave so many different techniques and so many different licks to try out. These are the kinds of lessons I like... nice job.

[The_lizard_king]

Gilmour was amazing in P*U*L*S*E. I haven't seen delicate sounds of thunder yet.

[harmoniclydian]

That was bullshit! Its supposed to be his guitar methods and its just a few of his licks thrown together

[sixstringpoet07]

it was an ok lesson...but i agree that there should have been an explanation of technique for each lick--how to apply it...otherwise it becomes a meaningless exercise in licks, which can be helpful to creative guitarist who realizes how to use them, but mainsteam guitarists will probably need a bit of explanation with each lick...pretty good job though.

[Nilcerise]

j.tilley wrote:

Gilmore was a wizard for sure. Must see live in pompeii 1971

yea it was like he basically started the wizardry if you have seen pompeii

[Nilcerise]

slashdude666 wrote:

money is an amazing pink floyd song

bewwwww, who can honestly say no one doesnt know that

[RHDIII]

a million stars

Checked.

[Missino]

Nilcerise wrote:

slashdude666 wrote:

money is an amazing pink floyd song


bewwwww, who can honestly say no one doesnt know that

Money wasn't anywhere near the best Floyd song...If you want typical 'Beautiful' from Pink Floyd then listen to 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', 'Hey You', 'High Hopes', and the whole album 'Dark Side Of The Moon' which was their most spectacular album by far...

[Missino]

authoritarian wrote:

If I wanted licks I could just take them out of tab anyway. Licks don't actually help you play like someone alone. Some advice on technique and style would be good. Set-up is excellent tho.

Hey, mate. Don't try to play like David Gilmour, no-one can possibly do that. But by practicing some of his licks you can simply broaden your own style...Which is the most important part about playing the guitar.

[hippieboy444]

Dude, Missino is right ( for once) I loved this lesson because it helped me develop my own style of playing.

[hippieboy444]

Missino wrote:
Money wasn't anywhere near the best Floyd song...If you want typical 'Beautiful' from Pink Floyd then listen to 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', 'Hey You', 'High Hopes', and the whole album 'Dark Side Of The Moon' which was their most spectacular album by far...

Dude, the best song by Floyd was Echoes. Meddle is by far the best!

[redbeard]

hi guys my first posting.
i think the best thing to do is learn the solos from comfortably numb, money and brick in the wall pt.2
a lot of gilmour's playing is built on styles and techniques he has built on and added to over the years. Missino is right these licks are very transistional through rock and blues. The way he plays is the defining factor, don't copy it, find your own!

[floydzeppelin77]

Should have mentioned more on his personality which explains the way he plays guitar. His personality, much different to the haughtiness of Hendrix's and to the hyperactive Page and Townshend, was introverted and that allowed him to experiment with many things by not being the focus of the group. I think he is even better than Hendrix and many other guitar players because the melody he produced in his songs is without comparison. His soloing was ethereal, so clean at a time when Keith Richards, Page and Townshend where playing with the heaviest distortion up to the moment. That is what set Pink Floyd apart from other bands like Velvet Underground and made them inmensely famous. You clearly see this in Live at Pompei where he is seen as shy and almost hidden. In my opinion the best album by them was the Wall; however, the best song by far is Echoes. Echoes vividly and accurately brings all the magnifecence of Pink Floyd into one song.

[Xyon]

Just to let you know from a sound engineering point of view....

He doesnt just come up with the licks/solos.... he rambles on over and over again recording multiple solo tracks and the picks out the best bits and re-learns them.....

now from a guitarist point of view i have found that the majority of his work is based around the B Dorian mode.... if that helps anybody

[floydfanben]

hello everyone,
this page is a great help
i haven't been playing too long, i can't solo worth a crap. if anyone has any suggestions where to stat it would be greatly appreciated.
also in my opinion no other floyd album flows together as nicely as dark side, their greatest ever,
thanks

[ZeRaTuL HeLiOs]

hippieboy444 wrote:


Missino wrote:
Money wasn't anywhere near the best Floyd song...If you want typical 'Beautiful' from Pink Floyd then listen to 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', 'Hey You', 'High Hopes', and the whole album 'Dark Side Of The Moon' which was their most spectacular album by far...


Dude, the best song by Floyd was Echoes. Meddle is by far the best!

Its dissapointing that neither of you mentioned Time off of Dark Side of The Moon.

[floydfanben]

Missino wrote:
Money wasn't anywhere near the best Floyd song...If you want typical 'Beautiful' from Pink Floyd then listen to 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', 'Hey You', 'High Hopes', and the whole album 'Dark Side Of The Moon' which was their most spectacular album by far...

for the record, money is on darkside, kind of contardictory

[I_Dont_Know]

authoritarian wrote:

If I wanted licks I could just take them out of tab anyway. Licks don't actually help you play like someone alone. Some advice on technique and style would be good. Set-up is excellent tho.

... yeah they do they show you the preferred timing and note transitions... scales just show what notes you can use..? doesn't show you their style

[73roadrunner]

Gilmour owns and records at least now with a 1954 Fender Strat, and its also the first Strat ever made.... i think he used it in alot of Pink Floyd recordings also

[irishRW]

Some nice useful licks, some files of you playin would have been useful though

73roadrunner wrote:

Gilmour owns and records at least now with a 1954 Fender Strat, and its also the first Strat ever made.... i think he used it in alot of Pink Floyd recordings also

Uh, no. That strat you speak of has the serial number 000001 BUT! it was not the first strat ever made. You fool.

Anyway, Roger Waters owns Gilmour's soul. Post-Waters Floyd is hardly worth listening to. ALL of Dave's best work was pre-breakup. ALL!!!!!

Admittedly, he is a wizard with a unique style, and he's probably my favourite guitarist ever. But, I find it hard to respect someone who will play his mortal enemy's songs live to packed stadiums in order to gleam millions of pounds.

There is life after Floyd though, I suggest you all get "Amused to Death" by Roger Waters. Jeff Beck plays on it and if you like Gilmour, you'll love the Beck!

[pimnation]

sixstringz :
Cool, Good to see someone paying homage to Gilmore. In my opinion he's right up there with Page, and Hendrix. I like his style better than either.

Touche, touche.

[ctcushing]

Anyway, Roger Waters owns Gilmour's soul. Post-Waters Floyd is hardly worth listening to. ALL of Dave's best work was pre-breakup. ALL!!!!!

Admittedly, he is a wizard with a unique style, and he's probably my favourite guitarist ever. But, I find it hard to respect someone who will play his mortal enemy's songs live to packed stadiums in order to gleam millions of pounds.

Gilmour and Waters complimented one another. Water's dark and brooding lyrical ability and song writing skills playing against Gilmour's smooth melodical aesthetic and guitar skills. Even their voices were complementary. In my mind it's much like the Beatles. Together they were more than the sum of their parts.

I agree that Pink Floyd is nothing without Roger, but Roger also milks the old Floyd tunes for all they're worth when he plays live, too. And the vast majority of the crowd sure wasn't paying $100 a ticket to hear "Amused to Death."

[ilikepie]

cool

[Runnerstyle]

I'm glad to see a lesson on Glimour since he is one of my most favorite guitar players. His solos are always so memorable and seem to amplify the emotions of the song. I think his ability to bend and vibrate notes is incredible. I don't think tabs show him any justice. I'm definitely more interested on the technical skills of his bending . It seems that most of the notes he plays either begin with a pre bend or finish on a bend. I?ve herd the guy bend up a 1.5 step, never loosing the intensity of the tone. If anyone has tips...I'd love to here. Peace

[Les__Paul__630*]

eh pink floyd rocks, but this lesson kinda sucked

[josh1311]

lol glimore is pretty awesome he always sounded nice because of his high reverb and nice, not to highly overdriven distortion if u use an older ver. of a strat and a decent amp u can get the right sound and yeah hes bent up to a 1.5th in the first solo to comfortably numb

[pinkzeppelin21]

this is cool great work

[R0ck3rd4z]

davids guitar solos are almost always built around the minor pentatonic scale, there are a few exceptions of course

[Jonbagga]

hes so good because he was a full music scholar, thats why his songs are so well structured

[Lemon Juice!!!]

This is good for the worthless people who just want to play a lick that everyone else is also now playing.

Really all you had to do was correctly tab out the first solo to Comfortably Numb and then the second solo. The first one is Gilmour's music theory-esk one and the second one is him ripping the guitar a new one using the blues scale (or pentatonic for the idiotic guitarist.)

Should have put links to recordings.

[♣LakeBodom♣]

I like the fact that someone has the balls to do a David Gilmour article however I would have like to have seen more theory behind the music (Just my opinion). Other than that, I give you a thumbs up.

[Zoso92]

Nice, very useful licks from the genius himself

[severith]

I want techniques and scales that Gilmour uses. I already know all his solos, anybody can play his songs.
I'm trying to write my own solos, but i can't get them to sound anywhere near as amazing as Gilmours

[externex]

dude, it's called "the gift" you either have it or you don't and you obviously don't have it, so give it up, you're no David Gilmour, be yourself and f... off. David Gilmour was kissed by God and sent to this planet to teach us how God feels when He gets the blues.

[Richey]

externex wrote:

dude, it's called "the gift" you either have it or you don't and you obviously don't have it, so give it up, you're no David Gilmour, be yourself and f... off. David Gilmour was kissed by God and sent to this planet to teach us how God feels when He gets the blues.

why should he f*** off?
2.1 billion ppl pray to god, 1.3 billion to allah and others to other gods.
i think it's good that people see this, because they get influenced in a positive way. covering licks and songs isn't self-expression.
you always express your impressions somehow...
so go fu** yourself and shovel a hole for yourself because you seemingly deny to play anything that sounds like something of your role models.

[weorge]

richey your thick, allah is another name for god,get over yourself. dave gilmour is the best guitarist ever becuase of his own hard work, not because of god because unlike god gilmour actually exists. and has no one heard of wish you were here? its the best song ever.

[Shread_6009]

riff 10 sounds more like a part in "welcome to the machine" should have had brain damge and maybe smoney on it. still good lesson

[Shread_6009]

and ritchie, only 10% of the world are christian, that includes non-practicing christians, so only about 600 million people pray to god. plus, an even bigger percentage, like 30 \% are godless.

[onprcntr]

What the hell, there are some high horses that need to be abandoned up in here. I agree with Severith. I also want to know scales he uses I can play the solos too. If you can't put yourself in their mindset you won't have the feeling it just sounds like you are just copying them (badly)

[Drex088]

Awesome lesson really cool

[Conca]

what are you guys on this lesson doesnt teach you to play like gilmour it teaches you gilmour licks! :P

[IRISH_PUNK13]

ITS ALL RIGHT BUT I THINK THAT YOU COULD HAVE ORGANIZED IT BETTER INSTEAD OF DOING THE TABS FOR A PART OF 1 SONG THAN SHOWIN A COUPLE MORE TABS THAN GOIN BACK 2 2 SHOW ANOTHER PART OF IT AGAIN

[ultrasonic]

I was surprised gthere was no mention of the solo from comfortably numb

[DyemyShoeGreen]

pink floyd is my favorite band, and david gilmour kicks ass, so i think this would be pretty cool. i didnt acually use it yet, but i look foward to it

[Funky Dory]

sixstringz wrote:

Cool, Good to see someone paying homage to Gilmore. In my opinion he's right up there with Page, and Hendrix. I like his style better than either.

Fully agree.

Good lesson... a link to some examples being played would be awesome.