Hi! The band aid thing at the beginning was just a joke. Playing these bends properly, with the right technique, shouldn't be painful. It's okay if it becomes painful for the fingertips, especially if you're new to this, but your finger itself should not feel pain of any kinds. In the end my finger did hurt a little, yes. Doing A LOT of 2/2.5 step bends whilst preparing for this video is not something you regularly do :)
My fingers started hurting as soon as you said David Gilmour bends right at the top, so the band aid joke was perfectly timed. Hahaha. I was dying after the second one popped in!
His style was so slow and psychedelic that people who don't play guitar don't realize he was a string murderer. One of the most recognizable styles of all time.
30 years of playing guitar and for some absolutely crazy reason I've only just started learning gilmour songs. It feels like day 1 hour zero. He's a guitar master
Hate it when people say "Gilmour's great" but then feel the need to add "but not very flashy" as though that takes away something from him. To me David is the most tasteful player ever, take his solo on Another Brick in the Wall, to me his choice of notes is flawless, it's personally my favourite solo by any guitarist ever. Good video 👍
Since I started to play, my admiration for Gilmour (always high) is now stratospheric. I've realised it's actually so much easier to play fast than it is to play... like that. I don't even *attempt* Gilmour licks. I can't afford the strings, for one thing.
I think the fact that he plays with perfection says everything about his playing. Anyone can trill but to bend and trill and be consistent is on another level.
The four notes (isn’t that weird that you probably know which ones I’m talking about?) in Shine on you crazy diamond is probably one of the most beautiful and powerful licks ever
totally agree.. I have been a bass player all my life. I am 50 now. just purchased an electric guitar to try and learn solos just for the heck of it. started off by learning HC.loved every minute of it and nailed it to the note with all the bends pull offs and slides.
basses atta I totally agree. There a lot of little nuances and dynamics in both solos, but Walsh’s bends especially, sometimes he’ll even mute the string in the middle of a bend or lots of pre-bends, I always wondered why it didn’t sound as good when I played, but I finally sat down with it to learn all the little stuff and it makes all the difference. That is one groovin solo section..
"We are going one step further, a 2 1/2 tone bend......" FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
I really enjoy your analysis of Gilmore's technique, especially because of your admirable diction and vocabulary. It's great to hear someone speak who KNOWS how to speak. I hope to find more of your vids. Thanx!
If you find you’re breaking strings or hearing “tings” on bends, adding lubrication to the strings’ contact points to the guitar will solve this. (Bridge saddles, nut and string trees)
Also playing in a room that's nice and warm and comfortable (between 75 and 78 degrees). Probably the biggest challenge to playing guitar that most people overlook is the room is too cold, and hence so are the strings.
Man, I've been playing guitar for 20 years. I consider myself to be pretty good. Not great by any means. But I just wanted to say that I've learned so much from you over the last few months (that's when I decided to actually learn theory and started looking online) I had already been doing most of this, just not knowing exactly what I was doing. It opened a whole new world actually knowing what I'm doing now. Anyway, thanks for all you do. I can't get enough.
What I sense is why people appreciate Gilmor's "Sound" is because it emulates right to the soul of our heart yearning for an inexpressible feeling of want for understanding our personal experience of the essence of life. "That sound" is an unfulfillable hunger reaching to attain that which we can not describe.
JackstandJohnny or bridge. Never broke a single b string in years of playing this solo, from the 9s I was using at the beginning to the 11s I'm using now
Try thinner strings. It may be counter-intuitive, but because they need less tension to reach the same tone, they'll both be easier to bend and less likely to be pushed past the breaking tension.
For my money, David Gilmour played some of the best crafted solos ever recorded. His guitar was such a clean wailing sound that had so much soul in the delivery. The solos were melodic and built up from simple to more complex. They had swells and cool down moments. The solos were just as expressive as the singing.
You get players like Malmsteen that can shred like 10 notes a second, yet Gilmour who, by his own admission, is a slow player has written solos far more emotive and iconic. Speed matters not if the emotion and space between notes isn’t factored in.
I just found that video, 2 years after you loaded it, but I thought I might still give a small contribution. One of Gilmour's secrets for his well known bending, in my humble opinion, is also in the strings he use. He has a personal gauge (made by GHS, but it can be done with every brand buying single strings) that is based on 010, but with smaller B and G strings (012 and 016) to allow a more confortable bending, and scaled up to 048 to give to the strat a bit more low end. I tried once and adopted since then, for me they are a very clever set on a strat. I hope this info can be useful, keep on doing your videos, they're always very interesting and, in this rough world, eventually "elegant".
It hurt much more when I tried it on hardtail LP Standard, but when I got Stratocaster 5-semitone bends became much easier. Of course it will take several months to make them accurate and clear, but well... Now I see why David plays mostly Strats.
it is harder on any guitar with a trem bridge. when you bend a string the bridge lifts and you have to bend even harder to get the note you want. It is also easier on a Les Paul which has a shorter scale length and therefore the strings are under less tension making bends easier. Strat has slightly longer strings which need to be under more tension to achieve the same pitch. Put light guage strings on a les paul and 3 full tone bends are easily achievable.
@@MajRatbag Even though the bridge lifts, the string tension required doesn’t change, just the distance (which does make it slightly harder, just not concerning physical force). As far as I can figure, the amount of force required to bend a particular string up a particular amount would be the same on any guitar, assuming equal scale lengths. LP’s have shorter scale lengths than Strats, so they should technically be a little bit easier to bend notes on than Strats, but there may be other factors at play that I haven’t considered
@@MajRatbag I've always felt bending with a trem was easier. Cuz when the bridge lifts as you bend, tension on the other strings loosens and the distance of the bend gets longer. It was always harder for me on a LP, with 11's.
I know this an old video but just wanted to say that I’m amazed at how you never seem to run out of great ideas for each new video. Hope 2020 is your best year ever 🤘🏼
Started playing for the first time in my life last August. Can't play well at all. But now I find that I can't go without playing. I get edgy if I don't have my guitar. Something about just picking out even a simple tune that evens me out and drives away frustration. Is that happiness? Don't know. But my guitar is the best thing in my life right now.
Out of all the great guitar gods - Hendrix, SRV, Clapton, you name it - nobody used bends as satisfyingly and as musically as David Gilmour. He really set the bar for bending strings. I would say that really nailing bends is one of the things that almost every guitarist should be practicing way more than they actually are. It’s such a massively impactful sound when it’s executed well and it can turn a bland lick into something amazing.
One of the best explanations and demonstrations of bending that I've ever seen. Freeze at 10.56 and see one of the dangers when starting to learn to bend. Paul avoids hurting himself, but if a string rides over your lead finger, it can hurt like hell if it slips and cuts into the hyponychium beneath the edge of a nail or the lunula where the nail joins the skin. When Peter Green returned and started playing again with the Splinter Group, I attended one of his first performances. He tried Green Manalishi but wasn't yet in full control and that happened to him.
Gilmour used to do this thing in some of his live shows that I always thought was interesting. I think he was bending a string, and then doing a hammer on up the string with his pinky while the string was still bent. I could never recreate the sound, but he does it during the live version of On the Turning Away.
I think you're referring to when he bends the string, then hits the note with his picking fingertip, to get the high note. He bends the A (10th fret) to B (12th fret) on the B string, then hits the G at the 15th fret, on the little E string with his picking finger. It's almost like he's tapping the G.
when he said “2 whole step” bend I was amazed. I didn’t know someone could go that far. But when he mentioned the “5 half step bend” I nearly lost it. Gilmour is a true legend
Truth! When I first started, my guitar instructor told me to put away or sell my electric guitar and go buy a good quality acoustic. He swore to me that it would make my fingers stronger. He was absolutely right! When I pick up am electric now, I feel like I could break the strings right off the thing!
Due to my electric being broken and my normal acoustic missing a string and me being to fucking lazy to sort them, I’ve been playing Floyd and SRV and Slash on my classical. I’m a massive bender now. 💪🏼
100% nailed it. I’d offer that David Gilmour has some of the very best vibrato tones I’ve ever heard. It’s as perfect as a vibrating string can be made to be. The only real criticism I’d ever level at Gilmour is that we’ve never been allowed to hear enough of his music. And that’s just sad. Truly one of the best guitar players & musicians I’ve ever heard. I know I’m sort of late to the party here… it’s years later. But I think you did an outstanding job laying this out & demonstrating everything.
Fantastic musician who played one of the best solo’s of all time (Comfortably Numb, second solo). His bending is phenomenal. Just improvised to a backing track of this song. I cannot stand in his shadow but it’s very much fun to do. Greetings from Holland
There are so many magical moments that have emerged from Dave's guitar, but to me the one that still brings a tear to my eye is that opening guitar solo for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" you started with. It's so incredibly emotional, especially when you know the full story of the man about whom the entire song was written.
Been playing along with your video for a while now and I'm already onto my third G-string of the day! She said it makes me look more feminine though, which is always good.
That intro to shine on is so recognizable that you can play those few notes without the rest of the track, with different tone, and you'd still instantly know what is it. It's crazy.
Its the tone that he gets from his effects, and knowing exactly how tightly to bend the string that makes his playing so good if you ask me. Its so delicate, but so sharp sounding at the same time.
I play the "another brick" bend differently. I bend up a whole step from c to d on the b string and then I slide up 2 frets while bending up another whole step simultanously. Then I add the last halfstep bend. Sounds dead on like the original. If I try it the way you demonstrated the note frets out because of the 7,25" radius of my strat.
He used a Gibson Les Paul to do "Another Brick in the Wall" solo. Easier to bend. Between Gilmour's "feel" and "bends" he's a tough one to emulate correctly.
What I love about this channel is that I've been playing 20+ and it really helps me with tiny little techniques that I immediately realize I'm not very good at. Gilmour is my favorite guitarist of all time because of his ability to take two notes, bends and harmonics to create a rediculous amount of color. This bending seems simple, but it not only takes some strength and a great deal of precision.
True story: I'm just getting into bending strings at the age of 61. Why? Well I was self taught starting at age 13. At @age 21 I started taking lessons from a well known jazz guitarist. To get things started I had him play a basic am7/d9 progression while I soloed over it. As soon as I bent a string on my Les Paul, he stopped and started laughing and said "I knew you were going to do that!". Heavy sigh... I went from thinking he would be impressed to, well, humble. In reality, he probably in that lesson proved I wouldn't cut it professionally. You have to have thick skin, especially on gigs where people are ignoring you while they're just trying to get laid on a Friday night while you're playing your ass off. I did realize while I would say I could play well, I also knew there was a huge step to great. It's one thing to be able to copy someone like David Gilmour for example, it's another thing to BE a player of that caliber. I've also come to realize that you don't necessarily have to be able to keep up with a SRV (great if you can!), but there are a lot of guitarists who sound great without displaying virtuosity every time they pick up a guitar. The right notes, chords or progressions or as my guitar teacher would say when he heard something he liked, "choice".
The range of pitches : Gilmour uses semitone, tone, tone and a half and two-tone bends to create a huge amount of variety in his soloing. He also is no stranger to the more bluesy quarter bends as well. Digging in: Gripping the pick tightly, showing very little pick tip and raking through the string is a combination Gilmour definitely has mastered. These techniques mean that the sound can be aggressive, you get some cool extra harmonics when you hit those bends, and it adds some serious style. Vocal quality: Gilmour uses the notes in between the semitones, to add a vocal quality. The slow descend from the bent note to the regular note really adds character and a kind of epic feel.
Superb explanation. When you go in the intricate details of Gilmour crafts his solos you realise why he has a unique tone and expressive technique. The guitar, amp, pedals play background roles - all in the fingers and technique. And if you look at the giant fingers of Gilmour you realise why it’s difficult to bend the strings and produce solos like Gilmour. Love unique players - most of them know very little or no musical theory. Gilmour is my b a long list of musicians that don’t read sheet music or base their music in theory. Seen David Gilmour many times live and he was a huge part of the post Barrett Pink Floyd sound. Throw in the genius of Waters, the keyboard skills and vocals of Wright and the rhythmic artistry of Mason and you end up with a Super Musical group that changed the way music was recorded and performed. Magic on a stick
I’ve listened to his technique for years THE ONLY QUESTION . WHAT IS HIS PROCESS ? Just amazing simple slow notes that say so much a magician of notes .
I think I'll skip the two/two 1/2 whole tone bends and just cheat with a slide up a whole tone and bend from there. Too painful! As usual Paul, you are one of the best intermediate guitar teachers out here and definitely fills a niche better than anyone else. Thank you for an awesome video!
fprintf if you practice them a little at a time, you'd be surprised. I thought these were impossible, now I can pull the 2.5 bend on another brick in the wall with relative ease. I'm using 11s by the way
That’s up to you. You know the kind of musician you want to be, and learning the bends exactly the way Gilmour did may not be necessary. You are valid to do so.
"And always be sure to have an extra set of strings lying around, just in case" is the most important thing you said for anyone who is really going to try this at home. Boundless wisdom, right there. I shall take it to heart. On a somewhat related note, you wouldn't happen to know the most efficient way to splint a finger, by any chance...🙏
The track In Any Tongue from Rattle That Lock has the most incredible string bend and tone at the start of the solo, it makes my hair stand on end, when he hits the note.
About four years ago, David told me he uses GHS Boomers 8.5 - long time endorser of GHS, he said these strings bend with minimal effort on his arthritic fingers.
Simple Gilmour solos are the most difficult solos ever to play. Because they look like technically simple, but they don't. He can shake you from the very inside just with one picked note: the rest is pure genius and heart. And by the way you're a terrific guitar player and teacher. Love to follow you!❤️ Cheers from Italy!👍🏼
... coming to a feeling that you invented the guitar... you know where the sounds are without even thinking... ... can't help watching without comprehending... you just sound masterful and make it hypnotic
Edwin Samuel I've nailed it..great to be able to do that. 2 & 2 + 1/2 and back and up a tone, that sort of thing. Half-quarter and pre-bends are also awesomeness
Pro tip on the whole tone bends...just aim for the dot or whatever inlay you have two strings above/below the note you're bending, either in front of or behind your hand...it's a great visual que you're in the right note range. Even works if you bend down, which is still bending the note up but from a low string you have to bend down to go up a whole tone, either way, aiming for the middle of your fret marker inlay gets you there if you're a visual player like me. Just aim for the middle of the inlay. You can see Paul doing this in the very first example...he bends up to the middle of the dot two strings above. Works pretty much over the whole fretboard.
I find his playing easy to do . HOWEVER , to hit the note on a bend every time the way Gilmore can , I mean exactly every time , is not easy . It does require tons of practice to do something that I suppose comes quite naturally to him .
Watched a ton of your videos. What i really appreciate about your skill set is that you play EVERYTHING! I’ve learned a ton of acoustic ballads from your channel and now this. So cool. Thanks and Happy New Years from flyover country 🇺🇸!
So at 7:45 your your fingers slide under the G string (no pun intended haha) - would you say it's normal, or would you try to avoid it (happens to me once in a while, I play Gilmour bends a lot)
My fingers slide under the d string. Which is why I have a hard time benfing upwards. And I don't use my ring finger often for bends. I have a weird way of playing but it works
Should have been titled "Bend it like Gilmour" :) Question, kind of a newbie here, how does Gilmour achieve that level of sustain at 9:50? Is it a specific combination of pedals or just a really good guitar?
Actually, on the recording, Gilmour plays a Les Paul straight to the console. No amp. Probably the main reason, why the sound is so incredibly hard to nail.
Hi! The band aid thing at the beginning was just a joke. Playing these bends properly, with the right technique, shouldn't be painful. It's okay if it becomes painful for the fingertips, especially if you're new to this, but your finger itself should not feel pain of any kinds.
In the end my finger did hurt a little, yes. Doing A LOT of 2/2.5 step bends whilst preparing for this video is not something you regularly do :)
I spent the whole video waiting for the bend that would cut your fingers but I got baited ahhhhhhhhhhhh
My fingers started hurting as soon as you said David Gilmour bends right at the top, so the band aid joke was perfectly timed. Hahaha. I was dying after the second one popped in!
Hilarious :'D
Nice how you went from one band aid to two during the lick.
LOL I was wondering what you did. Glad I looked down. Always a nice job!
my fingertips are uncomfortably numb
Anonymous does that mean that even though your finger tips are numb they still hurt?
You fucking made my day, I feel you
Ha, good one!
😂
now, that is a good joke!
"When I was a child I practiced bending... / My fingers swelled just like two balloons..."
:)
Lol 😂
Guitar string companies love David Gilmour.
Now I've got that feeling once again, I can't explain.
Speaks to me.
His style was so slow and psychedelic that people who don't play guitar don't realize he was a string murderer. One of the most recognizable styles of all time.
He's not dead yet.
Doing these bends regularly will shorten the life of your G, B strings for sure but nailing the pitch is very satisfying.
He will live FOREVER, you know that!
Rather bend than fly around the fretboard like an idiot with no sense of feeling. He is the ultimate melodic guitarist. Legend.
@@thisisnotherejohn1916 The right amount of silence and pause will do justice even if you are flying.
30 years of playing guitar and for some absolutely crazy reason I've only just started learning gilmour songs. It feels like day 1 hour zero. He's a guitar master
Learned a lot from this. My guitar makes pretty good firewood.
😂
...Hey, is this Jimi Hendrix? He burned his guitars on stage also...
*....Hey, is this Jimi Hendrix? He burned his guitars on stage also...*
@@stephenfiore9960 ha ha
😆
Hate it when people say "Gilmour's great" but then feel the need to add "but not very flashy" as though that takes away something from him. To me David is the most tasteful player ever, take his solo on Another Brick in the Wall, to me his choice of notes is flawless, it's personally my favourite solo by any guitarist ever. Good video 👍
Since I started to play, my admiration for Gilmour (always high) is now stratospheric. I've realised it's actually so much easier to play fast than it is to play... like that. I don't even *attempt* Gilmour licks. I can't afford the strings, for one thing.
@@nickgreen4731 absolutely. I mean I love a bit of shred but find after a few tracks I need something with more substance 👍
I think the fact that he plays with perfection says everything about his playing. Anyone can trill but to bend and trill and be consistent is on another level.
@@GodzillaGoesGaga Definitely
I spent hundreds of hours learning how to play that solo. I can honestly play it over and over and never play anything else...
This is part of why I love Gilmour. He says a lot with few "words."
@
"Breathe, breathe in the air
Don't be afraid to care"
He likes to let those solos breath like a fine wine.
Yes!!! Indeed...
The four notes (isn’t that weird that you probably know which ones I’m talking about?) in Shine on you crazy diamond is probably one of the most beautiful and powerful licks ever
Breathtaking , my favorite PF
Syd’s theme
When I do a really big Gilmour bend I look away and close my eyes.
Ha! Mandatory safety googles!
As you should
Rich Evans?
The most satisfying moment
Lol
"On the Turning Away" has one of my favorite solos ever.
David Gilmour is one of my favorite guitarists of all time, his sound is so clean.
Great video!!!
I think the bending on "Dogs" licks and solos are from another planet, peak David Gilmour
especially the "you've got to be crazy Wembley" and "dogs Oakland"
The 1.5 step bend on the 17th fret of the high e during one of the solos still boggles my mind
"DOGS" is a masterpice!!!!
Gilmour does indeed go to another level in that solo..
The Hotel California solo is pretty good bend-practice as well
totally agree.. I have been a bass player all my life. I am 50 now. just purchased an electric guitar to try and learn solos just for the heck of it. started off by learning HC.loved every minute of it and nailed it to the note with all the bends pull offs and slides.
Bon Rodrigues the secret to walshes part is being patient with releasing the bends. ive often seen people just rush it
basses atta I totally agree. There a lot of little nuances and dynamics in both solos, but Walsh’s bends especially, sometimes he’ll even mute the string in the middle of a bend or lots of pre-bends, I always wondered why it didn’t sound as good when I played, but I finally sat down with it to learn all the little stuff and it makes all the difference. That is one groovin solo section..
Yes, and one of the greatest constructed guitar solos of all time.
@@bassesatta9235 Thank you for this tip, I’m going to try it out later today
"We are going one step further, a 2 1/2 tone bend......"
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Awww, SNAP!
bleeding finger move
Its actually half step further 😉
R.I.P strings. That's why 9s and 8s gauge are our best friends, bois
I really enjoy your analysis of Gilmore's technique, especially because of your admirable diction and vocabulary. It's great to hear someone speak who KNOWS how to speak. I hope to find more of your vids. Thanx!
Gilmour.
@@satchfan2010 hahahahaha! OMG. rekt
The mothers of invention though. Amazing!
@@krutonite6161 Gillmoar?
@@edwardz.rosenthal9946 gilemorr?
If you find you’re breaking strings or hearing “tings” on bends, adding lubrication to the strings’ contact points to the guitar will solve this. (Bridge saddles, nut and string trees)
Also playing in a room that's nice and warm and comfortable (between 75 and 78 degrees). Probably the biggest challenge to playing guitar that most people overlook is the room is too cold, and hence so are the strings.
Man, I've been playing guitar for 20 years. I consider myself to be pretty good. Not great by any means. But I just wanted to say that I've learned so much from you over the last few months (that's when I decided to actually learn theory and started looking online) I had already been doing most of this, just not knowing exactly what I was doing. It opened a whole new world actually knowing what I'm doing now. Anyway, thanks for all you do. I can't get enough.
Learn some blues bends too. Gilmour hits the actual notes...blues/jazz players don't....
Isn't youtube great in that regard? Imagine if we had this when we first started out.
What I sense is why people appreciate Gilmor's "Sound" is because it emulates right to the soul of our heart yearning for an inexpressible feeling of want for understanding our personal experience of the essence of life. "That sound" is an unfulfillable hunger reaching to attain that which we can not describe.
Gilmour's so genius in the control of the bends like the legendary EDV with the Taping.
Thousands of strings broken after this video.
You're using the wrong strings boy.
Thousands of guitar out of tune
And thousands of babies conceived because people just gave up and had a good fuck instead. 🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🙋🙋🙌🐸🐸👪
@@rafaelorsi4423 what strings should I use?
@@shanaqbaimuru use the gauge you like!
That Another Brick in the Wall bend broke my B string many, many times...
Dedzal What guitar do you play? If youre breaking strings it might be a prpblem with your nut.
JackstandJohnny or bridge. Never broke a single b string in years of playing this solo, from the 9s I was using at the beginning to the 11s I'm using now
i break my strings when they are old. But if they are not to old, it's normal.
Try thinner strings. It may be counter-intuitive, but because they need less tension to reach the same tone, they'll both be easier to bend and less likely to be pushed past the breaking tension.
8's work well for me.
For my money, David Gilmour played some of the best crafted solos ever recorded. His guitar was such a clean wailing sound that had so much soul in the delivery. The solos were melodic and built up from simple to more complex. They had swells and cool down moments. The solos were just as expressive as the singing.
You get players like Malmsteen that can shred like 10 notes a second, yet Gilmour who, by his own admission, is a slow player has written solos far more emotive and iconic. Speed matters not if the emotion and space between notes isn’t factored in.
I learnt a new word..
"Gilmourish"
Anurag Singh it’s a great website too if you’re looking to learn some more of David’s style and gear
it sounds tolkien-esque
Gilmourdian?
This cheese is so gilmorish. Must be a cheese string.
Ill see myself out.
I just found that video, 2 years after you loaded it, but I thought I might still give a small contribution.
One of Gilmour's secrets for his well known bending, in my humble opinion, is also in the strings he use.
He has a personal gauge (made by GHS, but it can be done with every brand buying single strings) that is based on 010, but with smaller B and G strings (012 and 016) to allow a more confortable bending, and scaled up to 048 to give to the strat a bit more low end. I tried once and adopted since then, for me they are a very clever set on a strat.
I hope this info can be useful, keep on doing your videos, they're always very interesting and, in this rough world, eventually "elegant".
Shit, I LOVE David Gilmour!!!! Get chills every time I hear his guitar work, even all these years later.
It hurt much more when I tried it on hardtail LP Standard, but when I got Stratocaster 5-semitone bends became much easier. Of course it will take several months to make them accurate and clear, but well... Now I see why David plays mostly Strats.
Gilmour’s crazy bends on “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2” were done with an LP Jr. Dude is just crazy talented.
Technically it should be easier on a Les Paul though, right? Shorter scale length is easier to play
it is harder on any guitar with a trem bridge. when you bend a string the bridge lifts and you have to bend even harder to get the note you want. It is also easier on a Les Paul which has a shorter scale length and therefore the strings are under less tension making bends easier. Strat has slightly longer strings which need to be under more tension to achieve the same pitch. Put light guage strings on a les paul and 3 full tone bends are easily achievable.
@@MajRatbag Even though the bridge lifts, the string tension required doesn’t change, just the distance (which does make it slightly harder, just not concerning physical force). As far as I can figure, the amount of force required to bend a particular string up a particular amount would be the same on any guitar, assuming equal scale lengths.
LP’s have shorter scale lengths than Strats, so they should technically be a little bit easier to bend notes on than Strats, but there may be other factors at play that I haven’t considered
@@MajRatbag I've always felt bending with a trem was easier. Cuz when the bridge lifts as you bend, tension on the other strings loosens and the distance of the bend gets longer. It was always harder for me on a LP, with 11's.
Gilmour style bends are some of the most amazing sounds I've ever heard :) so simple. so beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
David Gilmour and Brian May are my two favorite benders in the industry. Just the right vibrato speed and depth. So good!
I know this an old video but just wanted to say that I’m amazed at how you never seem to run out of great ideas for each new video. Hope 2020 is your best year ever 🤘🏼
John O'Mary 2020 not goin so well is it?
Half way through September. Here's to hoping 2021 is the best year ever.
@@fraterfraxinus6293 nah not gonna happen ;)
I am completely happy when I can play a David Gilmour riff, COMPLETELY HAPPY! Great video!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you comfortably content?
as someone who used to think that theyd be happy when they could play a certain song i assure you that quest never ends
Started playing for the first time in my life last August. Can't play well at all. But now I find that I can't go without playing. I get edgy if I don't have my guitar. Something about just picking out even a simple tune that evens me out and drives away frustration. Is that happiness? Don't know. But my guitar is the best thing in my life right now.
7:56 tu di du weee yuuu
instant gilmour, everyone can hear that
probably the only discussion in the entire universe that would
actually make sense ;)
It took me exactly 7:56 to scroll down to see this comment. Weirdly enough
My favourite part of the video
One of my favourite guitar players, not the fastest player but he has a unique sound, lovely tone and phrasing
Out of all the great guitar gods - Hendrix, SRV, Clapton, you name it - nobody used bends as satisfyingly and as musically as David Gilmour. He really set the bar for bending strings.
I would say that really nailing bends is one of the things that almost every guitarist should be practicing way more than they actually are. It’s such a massively impactful sound when it’s executed well and it can turn a bland lick into something amazing.
One of the best explanations and demonstrations of bending that I've ever seen.
Freeze at 10.56 and see one of the dangers when starting to learn to bend. Paul avoids hurting himself, but if a string rides over your lead finger, it can hurt like hell if it slips and cuts into the hyponychium beneath the edge of a nail or the lunula where the nail joins the skin. When Peter Green returned and started playing again with the Splinter Group, I attended one of his first performances. He tried Green Manalishi but wasn't yet in full control and that happened to him.
Gilmour used to do this thing in some of his live shows that I always thought was interesting. I think he was bending a string, and then doing a hammer on up the string with his pinky while the string was still bent. I could never recreate the sound, but he does it during the live version of On the Turning Away.
I think you're referring to when he bends the string, then hits the note with his picking fingertip, to get the high note. He bends the A (10th fret) to B (12th fret) on the B string, then hits the G at the 15th fret, on the little E string with his picking finger. It's almost like he's tapping the G.
when he said “2 whole step” bend I was amazed. I didn’t know someone could go that far. But when he mentioned the “5 half step bend” I nearly lost it. Gilmour is a true legend
10:37 guitar didnt seem happy
The band-aids in the opening sequence cracked me up. How can there be 477 thumbs down on this video? I dont understand people.
Been playing guitar for 10 years now and listening Floyd for 11, never knew this secret of bending. Thanks Paul, you’re always enlightening.
Why am I watching this? I don't know even know how to play guitar
But after watching this video you want to learn
Andreas Panas I definitely want to but I suck at it. Tried a few times and it was a disaster every time.
Keep trying it will worth the effort
Mr. HackZ the best guitar player in the world sucked when they first tried it. But they practiced and got better. That’s how it works.
I have been play chords for 5+ years I started to learn riff and scale and solo at the sixth year and i still suck
To all y'all complaining about bending pain: focus on your acoustic for a year or so and see what happens! You'll be a bending boss!
GroovesAndLands I learnt bends on an acoustic and periodically return to it when I feel my fingers getting wussy. Good practise.
Truth! When I first started, my guitar instructor told me to put away or sell my electric guitar and go buy a good quality acoustic. He swore to me that it would make my fingers stronger. He was absolutely right! When I pick up am electric now, I feel like I could break the strings right off the thing!
Now when I pick up an electric I have to concentrate really hard or else I’m accidentally bending all the notes when I’m playing chords.
i moan to myself about not using my axe and looper,ok the looper i should but the acoustic turns little piggies into wolves
Due to my electric being broken and my normal acoustic missing a string and me being to fucking lazy to sort them, I’ve been playing Floyd and SRV and Slash on my classical.
I’m a massive bender now. 💪🏼
In a word, i would say bending adds a "haunting" sound to the piece. outstanding video!
100% nailed it. I’d offer that David Gilmour has some of the very best vibrato tones I’ve ever heard. It’s as perfect as a vibrating string can be made to be. The only real criticism I’d ever level at Gilmour is that we’ve never been allowed to hear enough of his music. And that’s just sad. Truly one of the best guitar players & musicians I’ve ever heard.
I know I’m sort of late to the party here… it’s years later. But I think you did an outstanding job laying this out & demonstrating everything.
What gets me with these bigger bends is in some older songs he seems to start the notes pre-bent, but in tune, which is hard to nail
Yes! He absolutely does, he's a master at it. Shine On You Crazy Diamond is full of those pre-bend releases.
I love how much control you have Paul you make it look effortless*-*
Fantastic musician who played one of the best solo’s of all time (Comfortably Numb, second solo). His bending is phenomenal. Just improvised to a backing track of this song. I cannot stand in his shadow but it’s very much fun to do. Greetings from Holland
Playing anything Gilmour on 10s is how you turn your calluses to concrete
Actually, it shreds my calluses apart. Nasty stuff.
Gilmour is THE example of superseding tons of flashy notes with one, gigantic soulful bend/note(s)/vibrato.
There are so many magical moments that have emerged from Dave's guitar, but to me the one that still brings a tear to my eye is that opening guitar solo for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" you started with.
It's so incredibly emotional, especially when you know the full story of the man about whom the entire song was written.
Been playing along with your video for a while now and I'm already onto my third G-string of the day! She said it makes me look more feminine though, which is always good.
I take it you're someone's dad.
@@mackhomie6 I mean, have your ever met someone called Declan who was under 45
@@l.pietrobon3925 I didn't even realize Declan was an actual name
That intro to shine on is so recognizable that you can play those few notes without the rest of the track, with different tone, and you'd still instantly know what is it. It's crazy.
I’ve been hoping for a Gilmour video from you for a long time and it certainly did not disappoint! Thanks Paul!
Watching such a great guitar player like Paul struggle with this gave me a whole new respect for Gilmour.
Its the tone that he gets from his effects, and knowing exactly how tightly to bend the string that makes his playing so good if you ask me. Its so delicate, but so sharp sounding at the same time.
the sound of his fixed bridge saying "I can't take this anymore, I give up" is the best. Springs screaming for help.
David Gilmour is 💖
VB MUTT
*Shrecc
Yessssss
Jonny Greenwood is ❤️ too
He is an arrogant prick! But I do like his music though 🙌🙌🙋🏃🏃🏃🐸
This was like watching a documentary - i feel so intrigued about the electric guitar now awesome vid
Gilmour is my favorite of all time hands down. Smartest player and by far has the best tone in my opinion. Awesome video!
I've been playing for 15 years, and I still find your videos interesting, you're very, very good, thank you for your passion, man.
Yes! My favourite youtube tutor covering my favourite guitar player! Love it. Goed bezig gast!
I play the "another brick" bend differently. I bend up a whole step from c to d on the b string and then I slide up 2 frets while bending up another whole step simultanously. Then I add the last halfstep bend. Sounds dead on like the original. If I try it the way you demonstrated the note frets out because of the 7,25" radius of my strat.
That's what I have to do on my strat as well
@SQUIRE LOVA saw the australian pink floyd bend it up whith the whammy bar ... lazy but efficient
that would be 7 half steps.
He used a Gibson Les Paul to do "Another Brick in the Wall" solo. Easier to bend. Between Gilmour's "feel" and "bends" he's a tough one to emulate correctly.
5:05 "It's lovely."
What I love about this channel is that I've been playing 20+ and it really helps me with tiny little techniques that I immediately realize I'm not very good at.
Gilmour is my favorite guitarist of all time because of his ability to take two notes, bends and harmonics to create a rediculous amount of color. This bending seems simple, but it not only takes some strength and a great deal of precision.
that shine on intro solo makes me think of somebody talking while crying, weeping or sthg. idk, i just get that feeling every time.
True story: I'm just getting into bending strings at the age of 61. Why? Well I was self taught starting at age 13. At @age 21 I started taking lessons from a well known jazz guitarist. To get things started I had him play a basic am7/d9 progression while I soloed over it. As soon as I bent a string on my Les Paul, he stopped and started laughing and said "I knew you were going to do that!". Heavy sigh... I went from thinking he would be impressed to, well, humble. In reality, he probably in that lesson proved I wouldn't cut it professionally. You have to have thick skin, especially on gigs where people are ignoring you while they're just trying to get laid on a Friday night while you're playing your ass off. I did realize while I would say I could play well, I also knew there was a huge step to great. It's one thing to be able to copy someone like David Gilmour for example, it's another thing to BE a player of that caliber. I've also come to realize that you don't necessarily have to be able to keep up with a SRV (great if you can!), but there are a lot of guitarists who sound great without displaying virtuosity every time they pick up a guitar. The right notes, chords or progressions or as my guitar teacher would say when he heard something he liked, "choice".
Thank you, great tutorial. My all-time favorite lead of Gilmour is Time. Iconic lead! Allot of people miss the starting gun :)
Only time I had bloody fingers was when I started learning SRV and insisted on using his setup and strings as I was told. Brutal.
Always a wonderful demonstration, Paul....
The range of pitches
:
Gilmour uses semitone, tone, tone and a half and two-tone bends to create a huge amount of variety in his soloing. He also is no stranger to the more bluesy quarter bends as well.
Digging in:
Gripping the pick tightly, showing very little pick tip and raking through the string is a combination Gilmour definitely has mastered. These techniques mean that the sound can be aggressive, you get some cool extra harmonics when you hit those bends, and it adds some serious style.
Vocal quality:
Gilmour uses the notes in between the semitones, to add a vocal quality. The slow descend from the bent note to the regular note really adds character and a kind of epic feel.
i could listen to those 3 tone floyd bends all day
Me: *Tries to do 2 whole step bends on the high E string
Also Me: *Googles, "How to remove a guitar string from finger"
Hope you aren't trying this on an acoustic.
@@mountaindweller4439 it's a joke!
Superb explanation.
When you go in the intricate details of Gilmour crafts his solos you realise why he has a unique tone and expressive technique. The guitar, amp, pedals play background roles - all in the fingers and technique. And if you look at the giant fingers of Gilmour you realise why it’s difficult to bend the strings and produce solos like Gilmour.
Love unique players - most of them know very little or no musical theory. Gilmour is my b a long list of musicians that don’t read sheet music or base their music in theory.
Seen David Gilmour many times live and he was a huge part of the post Barrett Pink Floyd sound. Throw in the genius of Waters, the keyboard skills and vocals of Wright and the rhythmic artistry of Mason and you end up with a Super Musical group that changed the way music was recorded and performed.
Magic on a stick
Gilmour's such a boss.
I’ve listened to his technique for years THE ONLY QUESTION .
WHAT IS HIS PROCESS ?
Just amazing simple slow notes that say so much a magician of notes .
I think I'll skip the two/two 1/2 whole tone bends and just cheat with a slide up a whole tone and bend from there. Too painful! As usual Paul, you are one of the best intermediate guitar teachers out here and definitely fills a niche better than anyone else. Thank you for an awesome video!
fprintf if you practice them a little at a time, you'd be surprised. I thought these were impossible, now I can pull the 2.5 bend on another brick in the wall with relative ease. I'm using 11s by the way
Pussy
While I see your point, I think practicing getting the note off a bend is more valuable than replicating the song, it tunes your ear.
That’s up to you. You know the kind of musician you want to be, and learning the bends exactly the way Gilmour did may not be necessary. You are valid to do so.
fprintf a vaild approach used by many pros
"And always be sure to have an extra set of strings lying around, just in case" is the most important thing you said for anyone who is really going to try this at home.
Boundless wisdom, right there. I shall take it to heart.
On a somewhat related note, you wouldn't happen to know the most efficient way to splint a finger, by any chance...🙏
The track In Any Tongue from Rattle That Lock has the most incredible string bend and tone at the start of the solo, it makes my hair stand on end, when he hits the note.
About four years ago, David told me he uses GHS Boomers 8.5 - long time endorser of GHS, he said these strings bend with minimal effort on his arthritic fingers.
Ok boomer.
@@blakenelson585 bruh 🤣
@@blakenelson585 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
what did he use back when he recorded in the 70s?
@@jorgehuezo4306 doesn't matter. "Life is what it is, not what it was." Conner Oberst
7:44 That moment when your finger nail gets polished by the third string. I've been there my brother!
Holy shit I did the Gilmour bend I bent from C to F from the another brick in the wall solo
How many fingers do you have left?
hyenaswine four, my ring finger turned blue and I had to chop it.
Edwin Samuel was it worth it? (yes)
davefan16 indeed it was
David Faustino actually he does in the second solo from the song he bends from 13 to 15 then back to 13 then to 17 then 18 which is an F.
07:47 that "ouch shake" on hand, it probably hurts! Nice video man, thanks!!! Very well done!
Simple Gilmour solos are the most difficult solos ever to play. Because they look like technically simple, but they don't. He can shake you from the very inside just with one picked note: the rest is pure genius and heart. And by the way you're a terrific guitar player and teacher. Love to follow you!❤️
Cheers from Italy!👍🏼
"Sounds pretty friggin awesome", should be all it says in your 'About' section.
When i buy strings
I buy extra dozen of B strings
You know I love
Another Brick in the wall solo
I hope you are from nepal, are you?
7:56 is the best moment of this video
Tu di tu deeeeoh!
... coming to a feeling that you invented the guitar... you know where the sounds are without even thinking...
... can't help watching without comprehending... you just sound masterful and make it hypnotic
It's certainly not "easier than you think," but Mr. Davids certainly makes it seem so. Excellent video as always.
I can honestly feel my B string snap just by imagining it.
Gilmour is not just a legend, he’s a rock god.
He is among the pantheon of guitarists that can make a grown man cry.
The most challenging bend was in the another brick in the wall
It is. I've learned it not long ago and the 2,5 bend it's fucking difficult, but when you do it right, oh man.
For sure. Killer solo tho
It's freaking awesome!! The bends give a emotionally color to the music
Edwin Samuel I've nailed it..great to be able to do that. 2 & 2 + 1/2 and back and up a tone, that sort of thing.
Half-quarter and pre-bends are also awesomeness
No Dukes of Hazzard in the chat room…
I've never seen his magic dissected so perfectly. Thank you.
Pro tip on the whole tone bends...just aim for the dot or whatever inlay you have two strings above/below the note you're bending, either in front of or behind your hand...it's a great visual que you're in the right note range. Even works if you bend down, which is still bending the note up but from a low string you have to bend down to go up a whole tone, either way, aiming for the middle of your fret marker inlay gets you there if you're a visual player like me.
Just aim for the middle of the inlay. You can see Paul doing this in the very first example...he bends up to the middle of the dot two strings above. Works pretty much over the whole fretboard.
hey thanks, sounded great when i finally got it right. you forgot to mention "do it ten thousand times."
I find his playing easy to do . HOWEVER , to hit the note on a bend every time the way Gilmore can , I mean exactly every time , is not easy . It does require tons of practice to do something that I suppose comes quite naturally to him .
He was in his 20s and 30s when he recorded the best stuff.
Hye Paul, i like the sound of your strat !! Great
The bandages on middle and ring finger in the beginning are pure nostalgia material. Gilmour solos have always been busting my fingers at first
Watched a ton of your videos. What i really appreciate about your skill set is that you play EVERYTHING! I’ve learned a ton of acoustic ballads from your channel and now this. So cool. Thanks and Happy New Years from flyover country 🇺🇸!
So at 7:45 your your fingers slide under the G string (no pun intended haha)
- would you say it's normal, or would you try to avoid it (happens to me once in a while, I play Gilmour bends a lot)
Definitely avoid it. If it's a recurring issue, your action might be set too high.
My fingers slide under the d string. Which is why I have a hard time benfing upwards. And I don't use my ring finger often for bends. I have a weird way of playing but it works
Should have been titled "Bend it like Gilmour" :)
Question, kind of a newbie here, how does Gilmour achieve that level of sustain at 9:50? Is it a specific combination of pedals or just a really good guitar?
Lots of compression helps. And technique in combination with a good guitar and a loud amp behind you.
Thanks! Love this channel, it really pushes me into playing more ;) Awesome work!
A big muff helps too
Actually, on the recording, Gilmour plays a Les Paul straight to the console. No amp. Probably the main reason, why the sound is so incredibly hard to nail.
Source?