Comfortably Numb Outro Solo

I've been trying to learn this song and have a really hard time playing the blues scales within the song. I cant seem to get the rhythm right and end up butchering it....anyone have tips?

I cant imagine it sounding like the song when Im playing it slow and it feels like Im just hitting a bunch of notes that I cant put together..

You have to try to remember that it was improvised - composed and played at the same time in a recording studio. You are trying to learn and execute perfectly what a much more experienced player made up on the spot. Here's an idea: learn sections, but not with your guitar in your hands. Listen to small chunks of the outro until you can sing them, then grab your axe and translate what you have in your head to the strings. After you have learned the whole thing well enough to sing (or hum, or whistle) it you will find that your timing will come together when trying to play it on the guitar. Whatever you do DON'T THINK BLUES SCALE while you are playing, because all you will do is frustrate yourself if you flub it. Use scales when warming up, but when you are learning songs just let your fingers move.

What jbmando said.

Don't play blues scales, play music.

I play that solo in my Floyd tribute band and it's one I haven't learned all the way through. I start it out like Gilmour, but then just go off. At one point or another, I'm pretty sure I hit all his licks though. :mrgreen:

Dogs, on the other hand, I had to learn note for note....

He starts using the Blues scale long before the outro... Can you play either of the solos? How close can you get by ear? I have the first solo exact, but there are a couple of spots in the second solo where it's nearly impossible to discern exactly what he's playing.

One thing Gilmour does a lot in that tune is descend the Blues scale in rhythmic groups of three, i.e., digada, digada, digada, etc.

So if you're having a hard time finding the groove of the solo, turn on your metronome, set the accent to triplets, and just practicing playing Blues scales up and down the neck in time with the metronome...

http://www.ilearnmusic.com/guitar/music%20theory%20basics/note%20values/note%20values/tripplets.jpg

I agree, you need to learn to play music, not scales, but when you're up against a wall and having a hard time feeling the groove, playing the scales in time with a metronome certainly won't hurt you, even if it doesn't seem like something Yoda would tell a young Jedi master...

"For masterful timing, metronome practice, you must!" :mrgreen:

thank you all so much.

Looking at the song from a not so technical stand point REALLY helped me out so much. Including the triplet rhythms..which made me realize Im not ready for this song. More motivation for me to keep practicing until I can come back to this song one day.

thanks :mrgreen: