The four “incredible” musicians David Gilmour thinks every guitarist should copy
In 1968, David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd as Syd Barrett’s understudy, later filling in as a full-time replacement for the troubled musician. Besides being a close friend of Barrett’s, Pink Floyd selected Gilmour for his astonishing ability to copy other guitarists’ styles. Early on, he could replicate Barrett’s approach before impressing his own identity on the band’s output.
Gilmour’s foundational guitar education came courtesy of a Pete Seeger guitar tutoring book. After getting to grips with the basics, he began to feel his way through the intermediate grades, abandoning conventional methods. After all, some of the greatest guitarists of all time, including Jimi Hendrix, neglected the conformities of musical notation in favour of the well-trained ear.
As proponents of the psychedelic wave, Pink Floyd flanked the likes of Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, whom they admired as elders in the London psychedelic rock scene. In a recent interview with Far Out, Nick Mason discussed Mitch Mitchell of the Experience as his overall favourite drummer. Likewise, Gilmour had the deepest respect for Hendrix and learned a lot from the American guitarist.
Speaking on BBC Radio 2 in a past interview, Gilmour remembered the first time he saw Hendrix on stage. “I went to a club in south Kensington in 1966, and this kid got on stage with Brian Auger and the Trinity and [held] the guitar the other way around and started playing,” he recalled. “Myself and the whole place was with their jaws hanging open.”
Gilmour wasn’t the type to play with his teeth or set his prized Stratocaster on fire, but he became a disciple of Hendrix nonetheless. Above all else, he learned new innovative ways of constructing solas and some distortion treatments apt for psychedelia.
Everywhere Gilmour turned in the 1960s, he saw something new that he could incorporate into his skillset. It appears that his ability to embody fellow guitarists came from his method of self-education. Without a rulebook to hand, he would see something he liked, copy it to perfection, and then add his own embellishments.
From his early years with Pete Seeger’s folk chords, Gilmour traversed to the electric blues, modelling riffs on BB King’s style. He later grew to appreciate the work of Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Peter Green. “All of those guys were incredible, and I spent time trying to learn how to play their licks perfectly,” Gilmour told Relix of these four early heroes in 2015.
The Pink Floyd guitarist then advised all beginners to do as he did, suggesting that self-teaching is the most rewarding and tenable method, especially when you’re playing music you adore. “I would suggest any young player should try to sit down and do that,” he added. “You will wind up knowing how to play their stuff quite well, but eventually, you will find your own style from that. It forces its way out of the copying.”
