The band that taught David Gilmour how to play guitar
Pink Floyd band leader David Gilmour is one of the finest guitarists of his generation. He is undoubtedly a technical guitarist and musician, yet he fuses this cerebral understanding of the art with genuine emotion. This has created some of the most potent six-string performances ever heard. Whether it be ‘Echoes’, ‘Wish You Were Here’ or ‘Comfortably Numb’, Gilmour has made his mark, and it continues to be widely influential, despite Pink Floyd’s most crucial era arriving long ago in the 1970s.
“I copied – don’t be afraid to copy – and eventually something that I suppose that I would call my own appeared,” is perhaps the most well-known David Gilmour quote regarding his distinctive guitar-playing style.
As Gilmour’s work on the guitar is so compelling and extensive, there’s no surprise that he counts various axemen as his heroes. Of them all, he names the late Jeff Beck as his favourite to pick up the instrument. Gilmour said in 2022: “I have lots of favourite guitar players. Probably the person who I have admired the longest and the most consistent is Jeff Beck, in the guitar playing stakes. A lovely guy”.
Other notable figures he has mentioned include the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Hank Marvin. However, when speaking to Relix in 2015, Gilmour shared another piece of exciting information. He revealed the name of the band that taught him to really play the guitar. From learning their work, he explained that his “own style” emerged “out of the copying”.
The group in question is eminent London dynasty John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, who can claim to have had Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Peter Green in its ranks at different points alongside their revered leader. Elsewhere, the likes of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Jack Bruce have also played in the band.
Speaking with Relix, Gilmour noted that the Bluesbreakers’ albums with Eric Clapton and Peter Green were the ones that had the most profound impact on his work: “All of those guys were incredible. 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. 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.”
Later, during a conversation with Uncut, Gilmour again noted how he copied from Clapton: “When you start out, you copy. Trying to be too original when you’re too young is possibly not the best thing. But I learned copying Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix. All sorts of people.”
