The 1966 album every guitarist should learn, according to David Gilmour
Like with all new skills, the prospect of picking up a guitar for the first time is a daunting task. Especially when music history is full of legendary guitarists who make it look so easy, it can be tough to know where to even begin with such lofty aspirational figures to look up to. However, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour believes all future players should begin with one album.
Rather than chasing complexity from the outset, Gilmour’s suggestion reflects a more grounded philosophy about learning the instrument. He points beginners towards records that prioritise feel, phrasing and musical intuition over sheer technical showmanship, encouraging players to build their foundation through listening and imitation before attempting to innovate.
His advice is undoubtedly one to take seriously. As Pink Floyd’s guitarist, Gilmour has delivered some of the more iconic and formative guitar lines in musical history. From the moment he took up his post in the band, they rose to new heights of both fame and bold experimentation. With his playing at the helm, penning anthems like ‘Comfortably Numb’, ‘The Wall’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’, he pushed the group to the epic scale they’re best remembered for.
Gilmour is exactly the kind of player that generations of people picking up the guitar for the first time are looking towards. His abilities are a dream to aspire to and work towards over time, as thousands upon thousands have spent countless hours poring over chord charts and tabs, trying to learn his tracks.
But he wouldn’t recommend starting there. Instead, Gilmour points all new players towards an all too often forgotten album from 1966, where Eric Clapton joined the blues band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. “All of those guys were incredible,” he said of the group, which featured John Mayall, John McVie, Hughie Flint and Clapton. Clapton alone is obviously another guitarist that people look towards as a gold standard to reach, but within this group, Gilmour believes the troupe become a perfect teacher.
It’s a telling admission from a guitarist so often held up as a benchmark of excellence. Instead of directing newcomers straight towards his own intricate work, Gilmour highlights the importance of tracing the roots of modern guitar playing, where the essentials of tone and expression are far easier to grasp.
“I spent time trying to learn how to play their licks perfectly. I would suggest any young player should try to sit down and do that,” he said of the band’s debut record. “You will wind up knowing how to play their stuff quite well,” he continued.
But the true reason he recommends the record isn’t just that the combination of Clapton’s playing with the classic blues band setup is a great way to learn both foundations and style, which it is. It’s because the album seems to coax creativity out of any player. Gilmour found that, in time, merely playing along to the album morphs into playing with the band, leading to improvisations and adventuring.
“Eventually, you will find your own style from that. It forces its way out of the copying,” he said, suggesting that the record isn’t just a lesson in great playing but perhaps also in songwriting or jamming. For Gilmour, learning should always be about more than just the groundwork of technicality and know-how; guitar playing should always involve a level of fun, even right at the very start.
