WHY Is This Solo SO GOOD? David Gilmour Comfortably Numb LIVE Tab
Вставка
- Опубліковано 24 лют 2023
- Guided Practice Routines BOOK bit.ly/LeviGuidedPractice
Pianote Trial: lp.musora.com/levi-clay?oid=1...
Sweetwater: Sweetwater: imp.i114863.net/15Mdk9
Books: bit.ly/LeviClay
Albums: bit.ly/LCAlbums
It has a vocal quality. You remember it, you can sing it, no unnecessary complexity. Sounds like it was written to be part of the song, not improvised. Glorious.
I literally transcribed it. I couldn’t have spent more time with this solo. I genuinely remember “it’s B minor pentatonic”
@@LeviClay I remember a few lines in it (mostly the opening 2-3 notes), but that's about it - and I have had to search my memory a it for those. I've listened to it A LOT through the years and I actually really like the solo, but I actually don't think the lines are overly memorable to me in terms of vocal-likeness in themselves (but then again, you might remember our conversation about aphantasia and inauralia, which might explain some of my feelings on this, but likely not yours). I've always thought "Gilmour = Minor pentatonic + 9th". It's something I use a lot too though, so I do find myself inspired by his phrasing and melodic choices as a player over all, but I can't really remember much more than "B minor pentatonic + 9th", but I like the feeling and expression that is has in relation to the song and the album. I do like the sound of it, the atmosphere etc. but there are solos I think are more "vocal like memorable" to me, but I think overall it's a matter of tying it to feelings, atmosphere, mood, dynamics, expression etc. and how I remember those things.
@@LeviClay then it is a great advert for the pentatonic minor scale, and how far you can get with just 5 notes.
@@bazilbrushrocks It’s 5 notes when us near mortals play it. Gilmour manipulates almost every note.
Gilmour’s solo speaks to me when I’m happy, angry, sad and everything in between. It’s loaded with emotions and inspirational…it’s perfect!
It has direction, space, atmosphere and invokes feeling. As well as it fits the song like glove, and that without it, the song wouldn’t be complete.
Love it!
Edit: whoops, hit post before I finished writing…
I think Gilmour just has an unquantifiable “it factor” in his playing that makes what would otherwise be unremarkable pentatonic soloing special.
If I had to target some more specifics, I’d say he has a beautiful sense of arc/trajectory in his solos and they develop in a compelling way. It helps that they happen to be in the middle or end of classic songs as well.
His playing is just so damn tasty. Never goes full shred (can he? Lol) but he does build his solos like few others in the rock idiom. & he does so without sounding like he's rehashing the same ideas
hes said before he cannot play fast, which is why he is the goat, he doesnt get lost in a barrage of notes, he feels every one
@@AMgangwolf You do know he wasn’t being serious, right? 😅
He can definitely play fast if he wanted to. It’s not that hard, especially for someone as skilled as he is. 🤘🏻😝🎸
Definitely can feel what he is playing. I've listened to Comfortably Numb countless times. Maybe time to learn the solo.
It's the perfect solo. Every single note is placed perfectly and they strike your emotions. It doesn't need shredding. That would kill the song. The high notes soar, and the low notes feel like a hammer hits you. His use of bends and triplets make it so bad ass. It's pefect.
I think it sounds beautiful and fits the song. I think David has something we call feel. I'm sure he's practiced hours and hours and hours as a kid but I do believe some people have an innate ability on the guitar that elevates them above others. I also think he learned early on to be himself on the guitar and not be afraid to do that. I think a lot of players either consciously or subconsciously tell themselves they have to do it like other people and not bring out their own individuality into their playing. I also think the solo fits the song which is very important. I know it's in concert and he's doing an extended solo for that but it still all seems to fit.
It's melodically clear -- every scale run lands on an important chord tone, every Chuck Berry-style triplet bend outlines the chord it sits within, and overall it is the rare guitar solo that can be sung -- it doesn't hurt that Gilmour's tone sounds very vocal and here he's making it cry, his bends landing spot-on. The pauses between phrases, like a singer or a sax player taking a breath, make the melody more digestible.
Seeing it plucked from the end of the song and accompanied by tablature, one couldn't ask for a clearer illustration of how guitarists sometimes think of solos differently than other listeners. Viewed this way, it's easy to think "none of this is hard, there are many players from this same era who can play twice as fast, there's no sweep-picking or tapping, it's all pentatonic runs -- what's the big deal?" But most listeners are going to hear this solo as the climax of a song that very effectively portrays an overwhelming drug experience and the despair of feeling trapped in that, and this solo is the cry of anguish giving voice to those feelings with a directness the preceding song has only hinted at. It has all built to this moment, and the guitar's role is to get that emotion across.
Within the context of this song, it provides catharsis. Think of it as an aria for guitar.
That was the cleanest explanation, thx a lot
I've never really understood why people get so wound up about this particular issue. You're seemingly either in the camp that 'blargh 3 notes is too many and too many notes has no feel and I hate it' or vice versa. There doesn't seem to be a shared appreciation for both approaches for many guitarists. IMO there's more than plenty to go around.
I think I owe that to a upbringing on classical music. I didn't really sink my teeth into rock/guitar driven stuff until I was 14. Before then, my music exposure/interest was 100% only classical. Which is often hopping between fast, slow, happy, sad, loud, quiet, often in the same song. So, the separation and competition of those mindsets/emotional input has always perplexed me. Why not enjoy both? They're both valid forms of expression. They're ultimately just different methods for expressing a story.
This does it for me, just as much as listening to a virtuoso absolutely shred my face off. If you don't like something because it doesn't connect to you, or you're actively made uncomfortable by it, that's one thing + I 100% respect it. But I don't and will never get the one or the other approach. It just seems a shame to me to miss out on so much, based on wilfully closing it out.
Ps apologies for the essay. Reading do be much difficulty.. But I feel many feelings about this. 😂😜🙏✌️
@@SeagoGuitarist I totally agree with you. I just think some people are not happy, unless they have something to whine on about, or criticise.
I think most people that rant against more technically capable players come from a point of envy. Because I honestly never heard anyone complain about soulful, melodic playing. That some people get riled up the opposite way seems more of a reaction to the first groups complaints, which aren't even accurate and lack any kind of musical understanding and nuance. Because lets be honest from all the well known shredders the description of "it's only fast playing and has no feel" maybe fits 2 or 3 people in my opinion (and I for someone else they might still have "feel")
I couldn’t agree more, extremely well put and articulated. I also started out with classical music (piano) and didn’t pick up the guitar until 14. Wonder if that has something to do with it.
Not sure if this will make sense, but this to me, is just one of many solos of Gilmore that I love. I feel a majority, if not all of his solos, it’s like every note played, is exactly where it’s supposed to be. They make sense and I can explain it lol.
I think it's a very good solo, but I'm not sure why many people LOVE it more than many of his other solos. I have a feeling it's because it's close to the original studio recording, is full of target notes and includes a couple of double whole step bends. I personally love the solos in "Dogs," "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Money" much more.
Wonderful, Levi... absolutely amazing work.
For me it's the familiarity of the sounds, these sounds inspired me and made me want to play guitar. To be able to compose music like Dave Gilmore and Mark Knoffler has always been a dream of mine.
He’s simply the goat, all time tone and feel god
i's like the So What of Rock, the spacing, simplicity, feeling, and the perfect use of bend that only an electric guitar can provide, the fit with the mood and lyrics of the song, and the historical period, cannot be repeated. It's emotional, an analysis of the melody and harmony cannot convey these qualities.
Great job bro!
Love your channel
Gilmour is my favorite player. This isn’t my favorite of his solos, but it is great. His tastefulness and musicality are second to none. He doesn’t feel the need to melt faces with flash or speed.
Bu it melts your face still.
Why does it sound so good? Because Gilmour is one of the greatest and most expressive musicians. Vai, Howe, Govan, Mancuso, Gilbert and many others have incredible skills, they are very very good playing the guitar. Gilmour isn't as good to play the guitar as they are, but he makes better music than all of them put together. That's why it sounds so good!
I like what you said. He makes great music.
I'm just impressed he slings his guitar low tbf
It is pleasing to the ears , as well as goes on so long. And of course in is David Gilmour....
That solo is an anthem to so many of us that grew up listening to it on the FM radio!! Im 58 years old and I still turn this up and play air guitar to it, the highs, the lows, there is only one David Gilmour!!
I was listening to this solo overdubbed onto another track, it had a timeless, singing quality that pulls you in. It’s surprising how close the follows the original though, I would definitely be looking for some new moves after all those years but I guess he’s got to keep the customer satisfied!
I believe an important part of its appeal is that it seems playable so both guitarists and non-guitarists can imagine themselves playing it. The ultimate air guitar solo if you will!
I think his take on the Pulse DVD is the greatest solo ever. He throws in that cool whammy bar dive up and down part that sounds like scorchin
I agree
I can't put it in words, but four bars in and tears are already burning my eyes, his soloing is so unbelievable tasty, it goes beyond anything thtt can be explained. Great Choice Levi!
Why I love it? I'm not capable to break it down in musical terms. But what I'm capable to tell that this solo comforts me. Or messes my mind, It has the power to change my mood. Also it brings up many memories from my unconscious mind. A great solo by a great guitarist!
It is just tasty, melodic and drips feeling nearly every note .
For me, it is his story telling.
His solos are telling part of the story, every bit as important as the rest of the album. Which is, in itself, a masterclass in musical story telling.
Inner coolness and contained rage and expression - like when doing this air guitar - kinda frames it
While I have yet to read anyone suggest how the composition can be improved upon and how well it serves the song, it's not what makes the piece stand out.
Any reasonably advanced guitarist can duplicate the notes being played, but how Gilmour plays them is what's special about the work.
The micro-vibrato as he frets those notes labels them as emotively his. The rates of his bends are unique, while being so precise without sounding mechanical. There's no box - he makes use of the whole fretboard. While the tremolo bar isn't idle, it's certainly not being abused. And the tone is his and perfectly fits the piece.
A simpler coorelation can be experienced hearing and playing Hendrix's 'Voodoo Chile'. The composition is not complex, even achievable to many beginners. However, how Jimi plays those notes is what makes it so special among the all-time great guitar solos, like how David does with 'Comfortably Numb's.
As optimal as the composition is, it being prime example of what's meant by the adage "most tone comes from the fingers" is what makes it often considered the greatest guitar solo of all time.
Because its just one of those songs and solos that goes deep in your soul I was young but hung out with older ppl when this came out and it's to me one of the best pink Floyd songs besides marooned it's the best
Gilmore have great guitar sound, wonderful feel and it seems that he starts with the original version solo but leave it and then improvise right? I think that one of the things should be mentioned as well is his way of using the whole range of the guitar. I really like the use of the E bass string 👍👍👍
I think the cliche "Less is more" has been overused, alongside many other "its the notes you leave out..." opinions that inevitably arise whenever this solo is mentioned
Obviously its extremely well played, and the almost vocal quality of Gilmour's bending and phrasing make it accessible and understandable to most non-guitarists ears.
It starts slow and low, and builds to the fast credenza, ably assisted by the band, which is a feature often missed by the guitar aficionados
What's also a key feature is that Gilmour is making sure he hits chord tones as he plays each phrase -not in an obvious sweep picking or sequential way - which gives it a feeling of progression. You know something has happened as he's played it or anticipated it.
Also, never once is it just a stream of licks played as fast as possible, regardless of key or groove. Obviously he lets himself have a few flash licks at the end, but by then its justified!
Listen to the Comf Numb version of the Delicate Sound of Thunder live album. His phrasing, expressions, etc. This is what guitars are meant for 😅 Gilmour is great, but really really great. There are hardly any other guitarists that can bring so much melody en emotion in a guitarsolo: he doesn’t need all kind of fancy scales, which makes him even better…
The guy just burns, slow and then fast, maybe not technical, but he still knows when to fire up his licks....
Levi, you seem to be an expert in Guitar Pro. Can you tell me, how to use "Hold Bend" option? It's always grey and I cannot use it. I saw some people asking about this but no one replied them.
Create a regular bend as you normally would (short cut B), i.e. a whole step from G to A. Create a second note following that and tie it to the first using either "tie note" from the menu or short-cut L. This second note which is tied can be used as "hold bend", and following that you can for instance tie a third note and release the bend on this using "release" - or even use "prebend/release" to make it a note that you've bend up to first (first note), then held (second note, tied), and then picked before releasing the bend (third note). Let me know if this helps.
@@Cloudburzt yes, thank you very much!
This is my favorite song of all time! Even as a lifelong RUSH fan, with all their amazing tunes, this is still my favorite song and solo.
Good shit man.... hey, when are we getting some John Petrucci or Jason Richardson?
It sounds like music! Gilmore makes the gitar sing. You can tap your foot to the playing. It is a master class on gitar playing
Tone & feel
Beautiful t shirt
better than the solo... that's for sure
Pulse version is IN-CRE-DI-BLE
Levi, In my humble opinion, this solo is good for 3 reasons. 1. Tone 2. Melodic Chord Tone Targeting Phrasing. 3. Emotional Build Up/Climax of the solo. Although I am genuinely curious why you don't seem to like this solo? Are there any David Gilmore solos you do like? Also what are, some of your favorite solos? For anyone that wants more information about Chord Tone Targeting Phrasing, that can be applied to any Genre, check out the book Chord Tone Soloing by Barrett Tagliarino. Thanks.
"Melodic chord tone targeting phrasing" That's a bold claim to make. The transcription is there, detail it. Because what I'm seeing is B minor pentatonic with an added 9, nothing like the chord tone soloing you'd see from someone playing over changes.
@LeviClay The first 5 bars are a good example. On the B minor he phrases to the 5 of B minor, on the A Major he phrases to the 5 of A Major, on the E minor he phrases to the minor 7 of E minor and on the B minor he phrases to the 1 of B minor. The point is, that even though all of these notes are Diatonic to the B minor Pentatonic Scale, on some of the Phrases he's thinking of Phrasing toward notes that are the Diatonic 1, 3, 5, or 7 of the Chord. Although he certainly doesn't do this with every Phrase. It's not Arpeggio Phrasing. It's certainly not Arpeggio Change Running like Coltrane on Giant Steps. But it is Chord Tone Targeting Phrasing on certain Phrases.
Can you transcribe some Pat Martino?
Every note is where it should be.
It seems like he never plays it the same way twice. The overall themes are there, but it's just a little bit different each time. Or at least, each time I've heard it.
I think he is one of the few electric guitarists that can express vurability in his lead playing. certainly in the rock genre. Hendrix was amazing, but hendrix was about swagger. Gilmour is about vurability. So he speaks to people who are looking for that quality in a guitar solo.
He just has something in his fingers, right notes at the right time i dunno..it`s still a cerebral experience to listen to :-)
I would say David Gilmour is one of my big influences but I never got this solo. Its not noodling.. but its no Money or Time. Those solos have something to say
Enjoy the solo because it’s nice. Used to be one of my favourites, but after a while it lost a bit of its appeal, started to sound a bit like a series of pentatonic phrases. Nice ones that fit the chord progression and feel of the song, but nothing groundbreaking or massively special.
I’m aware how dumb that sounds, and to be fair, that probably describes 90% of rock solos. I do feel there’s a difference between a solo and a collection of phrases though, even if I lack the vocabulary to explain myself well here.
Edit: Doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy this solo or others that sound like a bunch of loosely connected pentatonic phrases…
It’s not really that much better than most good solos it’s just more what people like…droning, moody, melodic, atmospheric.
Because he plays with feeling. In this case it’s the feeling you have when there’s something on the telly you really can’t stand but you can’t be arsed changing the channel.
There was a time in music history not long ago when electric guitar solos ment something to the character of the song. Not like today where most skills are focused on playing 18,56 notes per second with quadruple tapping.
You hear daily about this shredder and that shredder, probably forcing a lot of cool future guitar players who has melodic skills to just stop playing because they don't have skills to shredd on sterile robot level.
Of course there are exceptions like Guthrie, the late Shawn Lane among others, but mostly it's just static sterile shredding. Technically advanced, yes, but moves no emotions within. I miss to hear some good melodic solos like Gilmour did and of course that guys like Lukather, Huff, Pierce, the late Gary Moore, Eddie Van Halen, among others.😎😎😁😁
I miss meaningful solos.
This could be exactly my text, and the guitarist you mention included! 🎉
When does your “today” start? Playing a lot of notes in popular music hit its peak in the 80s, but has been around forever. Les Paul shredded. All the bluegrass and country players did, too. And jazz has been about shredding since it began.
Please name these sterile robot shredders. It's an argument that I hear a lot, but every last contemporary player I can think of that can shred and is successful/popular has a ton of feel. Yeah, there are those who do just play a bunch of fast notes, with terrible vibrato and no phrasing. But nobody has heard of them because they don't make it cause that's not enough and never has been.
the backing band is doing a lot of it
While this is an awesome solo i prefer the first solo in the song. That has much more emotion for me.
The fact that this solo was so often abused as a case for musical anti-intellectualism and against technically competent playing kind of ruined it for me... all that "Gilmour says more with one note" bullshit... but it's obviously still great.
bingo! There's nothing wrong with the solo at all, I can't criticise it in any way.... but to hold it up as some marvel? I don't get it. He's being heralded for things that his zealots would dismiss other people for.
@@LeviClay besides, the solo is essentially composed (as far as I'm aware). Nothing wrong with that, but something to keep in mind mind as there are players who pull such things off on the spot
@@LeviClay nah i thinks its more about how this solo to a non guitarist sounds musical, whereas you can force musical theory onto a solo but to the average listener they aint gonna care. this solo is just a guy giving a good old jam to a conclusion of a song what's not to like? not everything is about who can force the most compontent licks and who play the best modes. He played 6 notes, so what? It sounded good it worked. it's not a competition
:) Yes, see what you did there. Boring, not so inspired version, for sure. Maybe there are some better versions of "the best solo in the world". :D
The circlejerk around David Gilmour is absolutely ridiculous. It's fine to like him, it's fine to enjoy it, but to put down other guitarists/genres just to continue to tout the supremacy of "just feeling it, man" is crazy. I have never felt anything for Pink Floyd personally (feel free to enjoy them all you want, I've just never enjoyed them all that much myself) but a lot of people act like it's an objective fact that this kind of guitar solo is superior. Most of the people I've met, jammed with, or talked to in real life who have this claim generally play at a skill level near to this, or mostly play classic rock, and typically have not ventured very far outside of that. Not speaking for everyone, but what I've seen.
For this exact solo and performance specifically....I felt nothing, except for slight uncomfortability at all of the out-of-tune bends and out-of-time noises.
just let people enjoy things man, its just a beautiful conclusion to a song. I think people enjoy this solo so much in particular is the way its structured with a real feel of a beginning and an end. Music isnt a competition!! It doesn't matter if people can play better or at the same level at this.
@@gamer-tk7pb Oh, I completely agree, it’s not a competition, and people are absolutely allowed to like what they like. I just run into A LOT of people who try to shit on more technical guitarists by claiming they have no feel and “David Gilmour says more in 1 note than these guys say in 100” which is just completely subjective bullshit. It’s still making music into a toxic competition, just in the other direction.
@@Cosmolydian ye for sure i completely agree it can go both ways.
This version is a mess which gets worse the more I listen to it.
Because it’s just the right note at just the right time. Something the Yngwies of the world don’t do as well.
Lucky the “right note” is one of the 6 he knows!
@@LeviClay claiming that David Gilmour knows only 6 notes is quite the bold claim.
When you confine yourself to the pentatonic adding this 9th at the right time is a major (not as in major scale, as in important or impactful) melodic point.
Yes Gilmour in this solo utilizes mostly 6/7/8 notes (he also plays the sharp 4/flat 5 and the 6 - so actually a minor scale plus the blues scale) but he times them well and emphasizes feel over note abundancy or shredding so he creates tensions with timing and dynamics and not with out of key notes.
Btw a piece of music can be interesting using only one note as well, take your time to listen to ligeti's musica ricercata - ua-cam.com/video/nIs3jechQ_E/v-deo.html&ab_channel=ThomasLigre
It's fine not to like something, even a great Gilmour solo, but saying Gilmour knows only 6 notes, well that's just not it.
@@eyaleekmusic2362 I didn’t claim that did I? I’m taking about this solo. Was I incorrect?
@@LeviClay Well if I'm nitpicking its 8 notes and not 6 but that's not the point. The point is well discussed and detailed in the rest of my comment
I like the solo (even though I don't see why calling it the best of all time or whatever) but this live rendition is absolutely horrible.
Lazy. Hackneyed and cliched. Poor timing and intonation. If this was any other genre he wouldn’t get a gig. Imagine turning up to a classical, jazz or flamenco gig and saying “I don’t need to play a million notes. I just play with feel”. You’d be begging for spare change to get the bus home.
I think this solo is fairly bland. A bunch of pentatonic licks. Targets the root and fifth a lot (more by accident I reckon considering the phrases before the "target note"). The band/orchestration does a lot of the heavy lifting for how expressive the section of the song sounds. It's not his solo if you ask me, it's mostly the atmospheric orchestration. Play that solo in isolation and you got a guy annoying guitar center employees trying out expensive vintage/boutique amps with mediocre playing at way too much volume... but hey who am I to judge. I didn't make millions with my playing.
so?
@@theiphone4179 So what? Levi asked for opinions so I'm giving mine.
@@DaveElwoodCutter whats your improvements?
@@theiphone4179 Properly outline and emphasize the chord changes, target more 3rds or colorful chord tones and extensions, maybe even add an outside note here and there to build tension that is then resolved to a strong chord tone. Maybe a few more intervallic or arpeggiated ides to break up the more generic pentatonic blues rock licks.
@@DaveElwoodCutter nice changes
i don't even love this solo, but pretty bad attitude displayed in your comments, tbh.
Once our math teacher was teaching gauss divergence theorem, all of a sudden he blurted "Don't let all of this distract you from the fact that fat Peter Griffin applies oil on his bubbly body, wears chains around his neck and wrist and plays saxophone in the night in a barn beside a fire while twerking his hips." Fast forward 6 years later, I still haven't figured out what he meant by that. Let me know if you know the answer to this.
cool story bro
@@LeviClay disappointing stuff. unsubbed.
@@LeviClay ugh, that'll be an unsubscibe from me too.
@@Bosworth123 dude… it’s not an airport, no need to announce your departures
Overrated af.