Learn Songs On Guitar - Spotlight On David Gilmour Of Pink Floyd

David Jon Gilmour was described by Rolling Stone magazine as "One of the world's most distinctive guitarists". He was born in Cambridge, England to Douglas and Sylvia Gilmour on March 6th, 1946.

Gilmour is renowned as the lead guitarist and songwriter in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd and, in later years after Roger Waters left, the band's lead vocalist as well.

While he had produced a number of notable solo albums, both during and after his time with Pink Floyd, the most recent studio album being "On an Island", it is the classics he created with Pink Floyd that many aspiring guitarists turn to when they're looking to learn songs on guitar.

Pink Floyd's original singer and guitarist was the legendary Syd Barratt however, his insatiable appetite for the hallucinogenic drug LSD began to leave him unable to perform properly at the band's gigs. In December 1967, Pink Floyd's drummer, Nick Mason, asked Gilmour to join the band, temporarily making Pink Floyd a five piece, Gilmour's job being to cover the guitar parts when Barrett was off form.

Barratt's unpredictable performances continued to become more erratic until one day the band simply decided not to bother calling for him on the way to the gig. It was at this point that Gilmour assumed his permanent role as Floyd's lead guitarist, and also took over lead vocal duties, sharing the role with bass guitar player, Roger Waters.

Roger Waters started to exert more and more influence over the band and left Gilmour and the other members feeling sidelined, with Keyboard player Richard Wright even being fired by Waters at one point during the recording sessions for 'The Wall'.

As the relationship between Waters and Gilmour deteriorated further, Gilmour embarked on his first solo album. During the production of this album, Gilmour was to write one of the most celebrated tracks of all time. Although completed too late to be used on his own album, the track eventually saw the light of day with Pink Floyd as 'Comfortably Numb'.

Pink Floyd fell apart in 1985 once the film and album 'The Wall' was completed, with Roger Waters declaring the band "A spent force creatively", however Gilmour and Mason declared they were to carry on without him. Gilmour felt that Waters had taken the band in the wrong direction, relying too heavily on the song lyrics and Gilmour set out to create a better balance where the music once again played a more vital role.

Two final Pink Floyd studio albums were created, 'A Momentary Lapse Of Reason' in 1987 and 'The Division Bell' in 1994.

Learn Guitar Songs - Top 10 Pink Floyd tracks to learn 1. Comfortably numb 2. Wish you were here 3. Sorrow 4. Shine on you crazy diamond 5. On the turning away 6. Money 7. Time 8. Keep talking 9. High hopes 10. Another brick in the wall

While there has been continued speculation about a Pink Floyd reunion, Gilmour always rubbished such talk, and with the death of keyboard player Richard Wright in September 2008, it looks to have finally put paid to such a prospect. During his time with Pink Floyd, David Gilmour has left aspiring guitarists with one of the richest and most inspiring collections of classic rock music songs possible.