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Great Guitar Solos: David Gilmour, Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Posted about 4 years ago
When asked to choose an outstanding David Gilmour solo, many people would choose the one on Comfortably Numb. If memory serves, it even ranked near, or at, the top of a couple of different polls about the greatest guitar solos of all time.For me, I'll take his intro to Shine On as a better example of the soloist's art.If a solo is a conversation between the soloist and the rest of the band, then an important part of the art of conversation is knowing when not to speak (or to speak softly, as it were). In this solo, Gilmour demonstrates this art with particular skill and aplomb. He knows when not to play as well as when to play.His use of silence is particularly effective when combined with the way he hints at the melody to come without actually stating it. By the time the vocals kick in, it's as if you've already heard the song.
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Comments (3)

  1. ZZTodd
    ZZTodd says i'll agree with you on most of your points. his use of silence is amazing. wright was good at it on the keys as well (and waters used to stress putting in space to emphasize the notes). i think comfortably numb is more popular just because it's more epic (and besides that its a single)
    Permalink posted 02/12/2008
  2. rwellsinbc
    rwellsinbc says I agree with you completely, and feel that Wish You Were Here ranks as PF's best album. Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts I and II, are simply amazing.
    Permalink posted 02/20/2008
  3. nordico
    nordico says I'm with you completely! David Gilmour's playing is most distinctly characterized by his bending of notes....particularly bending into lower notes by picking when the string is bent and then letting it flatten into the fretted note. Shine On is full of those and the beautiful rests you mention. On the same album, the solo for Have a Cigar is also killer, again demonstrating DG's ability to devise a melodic solo that never hints of the lyrical melody, yet becoming a signature identity to the song. I'm never bored listening to David Gilmour play. Some of the stuff on Animals ( ALL of the stuff on Animals??) is just unbelievable! And again, the bends are all over the place. I'm really curious about that little guitar harmony simile that appears twice in Dogs, and how much of those guitars are, like, completely bended notes. Oh well, on the other hand who cares? The sound and the atmosphere are unprecedented. Thanks for your post! You gave me new ears!!!!!
    Permalink posted 02/20/2008

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