Guitar Tricks Insider February/March Digital Edition | Page 30

COVER STORY

DAVID GILMOUR TALKS ABOUT KEYS
THAT ARE GOOD FOR SOLOING:
There is no key like E for the guitar player if you’re
going to let yourself be carried away by what’s going
on by the music. There are moments when it’s very
nice to forget about performance and structure and
shape and just play. There are some sequences like
that on “Sorrow,” which maintains an E root while the
top chords change through D and C and backup again.
Basically, you can forget that completely. “Comfortably
Numb” you can pretty much play in B and forget
anything else and let yourself get carried away on the
music and blow. “Turning Away’’ has a slight resolve
in it – you actually have to remember and be thinking
slightly more all the time.
Most of “Sorrow’’ got put down the day after I wrote
it. I hadn’t even written the middle eight. Because it
was on digital tape I could pick up a whole end and
insert it. We had it on computer, as well – MIDI stuff
– so we could manipulate that in the computer. The
vocal of the verses, the background guitars, the drum
parts and the lead guitar were all done the day it was
written and were kept. The solo was done first take
with a Steinberger through a little GK and a Fender
Super Champ in a tiny room. I never got round to
doing it again. ■