A home course in restraint

Few notes,
held long.

Most lead guitar courses teach speed, scales, and volume. This one is built the other way — around what David Gilmour leaves out. Box position, bend accuracy, vibrato, and silence. Three levels, six months, one small amp.

Duration~24 weeks across 3 levels Gear requiredOne guitar, one amp FormatSelf-paced, free

The setup.
Deliberately small.

01 — Gear

Gilmour's tone is often associated with elaborate pedalboards. The phrasing beneath that tone is not. Everything in this course can be practiced on a single-channel amp with built-in reverb and delay.

The rig below is the reference setup this site is written for. Anything broadly similar — a humbucker or single-coil guitar, a modelling amp or small combo — will work.

Poor tone hides errors. Correct tone exposes them. Start clean before adding gain.

Guitar

Fender Player II (MIM)

Neck pickup for most of the course. Middle position for chord work. Bridge only when explicitly noted.

Amplifier

Fender Mustang ML 25

Use onboard reverb and delay. Modelling capability makes tone experimentation cheap — use it sparingly.

Strings

9s or 10s, nickel-wound

9s favour bending, which dominates the early weeks. Tune to standard. Intonation matters more than brand.

Room

Quiet. Low volume.

Low volume forces you to hear pitch and timing clearly. Loud practice masks weak bends and rushed phrasing.

Amp starting points Mustang ML 25
Beginner
Clean model. Gain 2 · Bass 5 · Mid 6 · Treble 5. Light reverb. Short delay, 2–3 repeats. Neck pickup.
Intermediate
Overdrive model, low-to-medium gain. Delay timed to track — dotted eighth or quarter. Reverb for space, not wash.
Advanced
Stack delays for sustain rather than adding gain. Experiment with volume-knob swells. Pickup switching mid-phrase.

Three levels.
One idea, expanded.

02 — Path
Level 01

Beginner

8 weeks · Box 1 only

Own a small area of the neck. Bend in tune. Vibrato that holds. Silence as a phrasing tool before technique is added to it.

End stateA 20–30 second solo over A minor, using five or six notes, three pauses, and three accurate bends.
Begin
Level 02

Intermediate

8 weeks · Boxes 1 + 2

Expand territory without losing restraint. Target tones over passing notes. Dynamics and touch. Full-solo study of Time and Comfortably Numb.

End stateA 45–60 second original solo with dynamic contrast, deliberate pauses, and five accurate bends.
Continue
Level 03

Advanced

8–10 weeks · Full neck

Full fretboard as a continuous field. Modal colour. Microtonal pitch control. Tone used as an active musical parameter. Composition under constraint.

End stateA 90–120 second solo with a recurring motif, density shifts, and harmonic targeting over chord changes.
Advance
Level 01

Beginner

8 weeks · Box 1 · Tone check required early

Premise. Gilmour's sound is not built from complexity. It is built from minor pentatonic box 1, precise bends, controlled vibrato, and silence between phrases. This course removes everything else.

Work in short daily sessions. Twenty focused minutes beats two distracted hours. When something sounds wrong — stop and reset rather than playing through it.

Week 1 – 2

Territory and control

Own a small area of the neck
Content
  • A minor pentatonic, Box 1, at the 5th position
  • Three anchor notes: G string 7, B string 8, D string 7
  • After day 4, add high E string 5 and high E string 8
Drills
  • Play only the three anchor notes for ten minutes
  • Move between anchors without passing through other notes
  • Introduce the two added notes only after day four
Figure 1.1 · A minor pentatonic, Box 1● anchor notes · ◯ added day 4+
Constraint No full scale runs. No speed increase. Every movement must resolve to an anchor note before sounding the next.
OutcomeYou know where to go without thinking. The hand returns to anchor notes on its own.
Week 3

Bend accuracy

Eliminate out-of-tune bends
Content
  • Whole-step bends on G string, 7th fret (D bent to E)
  • Half-step bends on B string, 8th fret (G bent to G♯)
Drills
  • Use a tuner or reference pitch
  • Bend, hold for 3 seconds, release slowly
  • Thirty repetitions per session
Figure 3.1 · Bend targetsfull step (1) and half step (½)
Constraint If pitch is off, reset. Do not continue phrases with bad bends. A bend that arrives five cents under target is still wrong.
OutcomeThe first recognisably "Gilmour" sound appears here.
Week 4

Vibrato control

Make notes feel alive without speed
Content
  • Wrist-driven vibrato, not finger wobble
  • Slow, even oscillation around target pitch
Drills
  • Hold a single note for five seconds
  • Apply vibrato only after one second of clean sustain
  • Count the oscillations — stay even
Figure 4.1 · Vibrato on a sustained notewrist-driven, even oscillation
Constraint No fast shaking. Vibrato must be even, not random. A note without vibrato is preferable to a note with uneven vibrato.
OutcomeNotes begin to carry weight instead of sounding flat.
Week 5

Phrase construction

Stop playing continuously
Content
  • Call-and-response phrasing
  • Phrase 1 (2–3 notes) → pause (1–2 sec) → Phrase 2 (variation)
Drills
  • Limit to five notes total per phrase
  • Force a pause after every phrase
  • Count the silence out loud if needed
Constraint Silence is required, not optional. The rest is part of the phrase, not a gap between two phrases.
OutcomePlaying begins to resemble musical sentences.
Week 6

Entry and exit

Remove abrupt note starts
Content
  • Slides into notes
  • Pre-bend releases
Drills
  • Slide into B string 8 from fret 6 or 7
  • Pre-bend G string 7, pick, then release to pitch
Figure 6.1 · Slide into pitch · Pre-bend releaselines arrive rather than start
Constraint No static note entry on any phrase climax. Let the note arrive from somewhere.
OutcomeLines sound connected instead of mechanical.
Week 7

Song integration (partial)

Apply technique in a known context
Material
  • Wish You Were Here — lead phrases
  • Another Brick in the Wall — solo fragments
Approach
  • Learn in 2–3 note chunks
  • Focus on phrasing, not completion
  • Recognise which techniques from earlier weeks appear
Constraint Do not attempt the full solo yet. The point is not to finish a song — it is to notice that weeks 3, 4, and 6 are already in it.
OutcomeRecognition of patterns across songs. The vocabulary starts to repeat.
Week 8

Full micro-solo

Assemble a complete, simple solo
Task
  • 20–30 second solo over an A minor backing track
  • Record it. Listen back. Re-record once.
Rules
  • Box 1 only
  • 5–6 notes total across the whole solo
  • Minimum three pauses
  • At least three accurate bends
  • Vibrato on any sustained note
OutcomeA structurally correct Gilmour-style solo. Short, but the grammar is right.

End state — Level 01

You do not yet know many songs. What you do have is the grammar underneath them.

  • Bend in tune
  • Apply controlled, even vibrato
  • Phrase within a limited space
  • Construct a short, expressive solo from five or six notes
Level 02

Intermediate

8 weeks · Boxes 1 + 2 · Target-tone awareness

Premise. Beginner level built control inside one box. Intermediate level expands range without losing restraint.

The failure pattern at this stage is predictable — players add notes and speed, and lose phrasing, pitch accuracy, and note-choice discipline. This course prevents that by forcing every added note to earn its place.

Week 1 – 2

Linking positions (Box 1 → Box 2)

Expand territory while preserving orientation
Content
  • A minor pentatonic Box 1 and Box 2 connection
  • Visualise shared notes between the two positions
Drills
  • Move between G string 7 → 9
  • Move between B string 8 → 10
  • Ascend in Box 1, descend in Box 2
Figure 1.1 · Boxes 1 + 2 connected● A (root anchor across both positions)
Constraint No continuous runs longer than six notes. Always resolve to a known anchor — A or D — before starting the next phrase.
OutcomeThe neck begins to feel continuous rather than segmented into boxes.
Week 3

Target-note awareness

Stop treating all notes as equal
Content
  • Emphasis on root (A), minor third (C), fifth (E)
  • Identify these across both positions
Drills
  • Improvise using only target notes for five minutes
  • Then add passing tones sparingly — one at a time
Figure 3.1 · Target tones — root, minor third, fifth● A (root) · ● C (♭3) · ● E (5)
Constraint If every note sounds equal, reset. Phrases must resolve clearly to a target tone, not trail off into passing notes.
OutcomeLines sound intentional rather than random.
Week 4

Advanced bending

Introduce expressive pitch variation
Content
  • Pre-bends and releases
  • Double-stop bends (B and G strings together)
  • Slight micro-bends for tension
Drills
  • Pre-bend G string 7, pick, release slowly
  • Bend B string 8 while holding G string 7
Figure 4.1 · Double-stop bendbend B string, hold G string stationary
Constraint Pitch accuracy remains absolute. No approximate bends, even inside double stops.
OutcomeMore vocal, less mechanical phrasing.
Week 5

Dynamics and touch

Create contrast within phrases
Content
  • Pick attack variation
  • Volume control via picking hand and guitar volume knob
Drills
  • Play the same phrase softly, then aggressively
  • Practise volume-knob swells into sustained notes
Constraint Dynamics must be deliberate, not accidental. A loud note that was meant to be loud is different from one that escaped.
OutcomePhrases gain shape without adding complexity.
Week 6

Time and phrasing control

Detach from rigid timing
Content
  • Playing behind the beat
  • Extending notes across bar lines
Drills
  • Use a slow backing track
  • Delay note entry slightly after the beat
  • Hold notes longer than expected
Constraint Do not rush to fill space. The backing track continues whether you play or not.
OutcomeThe laid-back feel associated with Gilmour phrasing.
Week 7

Song study (full sections)

Internalise structure from real solos
Material
  • Time — solo, major sections
  • Comfortably Numb — first solo, complete
Approach
  • Break into phrases
  • Identify where phrases start and end
  • Note which notes are sustained and where silence occurs
Constraint Do not memorise mechanically. Identify why each phrase works. Mechanical reproduction teaches very little.
OutcomeRecognition of recurring phrasing logic across different songs.
Week 8

Composition and variation

Create original material within constraints
Task
  • Build a 45–60 second solo over an A minor progression
  • Introduce a phrase, then vary it later
Rules
  • Box 1 and Box 2 only
  • Five or more accurate bends
  • Three or more sustained vibrato notes
  • Four or more deliberate pauses
  • Dynamic variation across the solo
OutcomeAbility to construct extended, coherent solos with internal structure.

End state — Level 02

At this stage, the difference is not note knowledge. It is control over time, pitch, and restraint.

  • Movement across two positions without losing orientation
  • Consistent pitch accuracy on bends, including double stops
  • Controlled vibrato and deliberate dynamics
  • Ability to analyse and reproduce full solos by phrase
  • Ability to construct original solos with internal structure
Level 03

Advanced

8–10 weeks · Full neck · Decision quality under time

Premise. At this level the limitation is not technique. It is decision quality under time.

Most players can access the notes. Few can choose which note to play, when to play it, how long to hold it, and when to stop. This course compresses choice into controlled intent.

Week 1

Full-neck unification

Remove box dependency
Content
  • Connect pentatonic Boxes 1–5 across the entire neck
  • Map all root (A), third (C), and fifth (E) positions
Drills
  • Start any phrase in one position, end in another
  • Move horizontally across strings, not only vertically
Figure 1.1 · A minor pentatonic across the full neck● A (root) · ● C (♭3) · ● E (5)
Constraint No pattern runs. Every movement must resolve to a target tone. The neck is a continuous field, not a series of shapes.
OutcomeThe fretboard becomes a continuous field, not a sequence of shapes.
Week 2

Major / minor interplay

Introduce tonal ambiguity
Content
  • Blend minor pentatonic with major pentatonic
  • Add the major third (C♯) selectively over A minor contexts
Drills
  • Alternate between C and C♯ within phrases
  • Resolve the tension deliberately, not accidentally
Figure 2.1 · Major third inserted selectively◆ added colour tone (C♯)
Constraint Use the major third sparingly. Overuse collapses the emotional contrast between minor and major.
OutcomeAccess to brighter phrasing without losing identity.
Week 3

Modal colour — Dorian

Extend beyond pentatonic without sounding academic
Content
  • Introduce A Dorian by adding F♯ over an A minor context
  • Treat the added note as colour, not a new foundation
Drills
  • Insert F♯ as a passing tone
  • Resolve back to pentatonic notes, not to F♯ itself
Figure 3.1 · F♯ as passing tone (Dorian)◆ added colour · does not replace the minor foundation
Constraint Treat added notes as colour, not as a new foundation. The phrase must still resolve inside the minor pentatonic.
OutcomeAn expanded palette while retaining the recognisable voice.
Week 4

Microtonal control

Refine pitch beyond fixed frets
Content
  • Quarter-step bends
  • Slow pitch drift into notes
  • Controlled imperfect intonation for tension
Drills
  • Bend slightly under pitch, then resolve to it
  • Compare against exact pitch using ear, not tuner
Figure 4.1 · Quarter-step bendpitch drift for tension — audible, not measured
Constraint Microtonal movement must be intentional. Unintentional sharpness is not microtonal control — it is a bad bend.
OutcomeNotes begin to feel vocal rather than mechanical.
Week 5

Harmonic awareness

Align phrasing with chord movement
Content
  • Target chord tones over progression changes
  • Example progression: Bm → A → E (common in Floyd material)
Drills
  • Identify chord tones per bar
  • Land phrases on those tones
Constraint Do not ignore chord changes. Generic scale playing across all chords produces generic solos.
OutcomeSolos sound integrated with harmony, not layered over it.
Week 6

Space and density control

Control listener attention over time
Structure
  • 10–15 seconds sparse
  • 5–10 seconds increased activity
  • Return to space
Drills
  • Limit note count per phrase
  • Then deliberately increase for contrast
Constraint Density changes must be noticeable. Small variation reads as inconsistency; large variation reads as narrative.
OutcomeSolos develop narrative rather than remaining flat.
Week 7

Tone architecture

Treat tone as part of phrasing
Content
  • Volume-knob swells
  • Pickup switching mid-phrase
  • Delay interaction with tempo
Drills
  • Swell into sustained notes
  • Adjust delay repeats to fill gaps
Constraint Tone changes must serve phrasing, not distract from it. A swell without a destination is just noise.
OutcomeSound carries emotion without additional notes.
Week 8

Signature solo deconstruction

Internalise decision patterns
Material
  • Comfortably Numb — second solo
  • Time — full solo
Approach
  • Analyse note choice relative to chord
  • Analyse duration of each note
  • Analyse placement of bends and use of silence
Constraint Do not just replicate. Extract rules from the phrases — rules that could generate similar phrases in other contexts.
OutcomeUnderstanding of why iconic solos work, not only how they sound.
Week 9 – 10

Composition under constraint

Produce original, structured solos
Task
  • 90–120 second solo over a dynamic backing track
  • Introduce a recurring motif and vary it across the solo
Rules
  • Use the full neck
  • Blend minor and major elements
  • Include sustained bends and microtonal phrasing
  • Dynamic density shifts
  • Harmonic targeting across chord changes
OutcomeA coherent, evolving solo rather than disconnected phrases.

End state — Level 03

At this level, the distinction is no longer technical execution. It is restraint under expanded capability.

  • Full fretboard fluency without pattern reliance
  • Control of pitch including micro-variation
  • Ability to track harmony in real time
  • Dynamic shaping across long solos
  • Tone used as an active musical parameter

Technique reference.
Reading the diagrams.

03 — Reference

Fretboards are drawn with the high E string at the top, as if you were holding the guitar across your lap and looking down at the fingerboard. Fret numbers run left to right below the diagram.