Another Brick in the Wall Guitar Lesson

"We don't need no education" - a handful of words that immediately make you hear David Gilmour's funky strumming in Pink Floyd's hit track - 'Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2'. And with just a bit of irony, I'm sure you've clicked on this lesson to receive all the education you need to be able to play along with the song!

This lesson will break down everything you need to know about both the rhythm parts and the solo! As a disclaimer, there won't be any tabs available in this lesson write-up. Instead, Dion has provided us with two fantastic video lessons which perfectly demonstrate the chords and rhythm, and the solo.

Let's start with the rhythm sections of the track!

Verse

We're not wasting any time with an intro here, instead, we're hopping straight into a verse. The verse can be broken down into two little sub-sections, which we'll call the 'mimic' and 'funky strum' - great names, I know.

Mimic

You might have guessed why this part is called the 'mimic' - yes, it's because we're mimicking the vocal line of "we don't need no education". Needing only the 5th, 7th and 8th frets of the A-string, we're going to play along with the exact vocal rhythm. To get this part to sound right, add a bit of gain, as well as a splash of reverb and delay.

Feel free to add some of your own character to this part - slides or legato are excellent tools to help 'vocalise' the guitar!

Funky Strum

As the section name suggests, the second part of the verse is a funky little sixteenth note strumming pattern over a D minor chord.

Though we're just playing one chord, the combination of the specific strumming pattern and mutes make this part deceptively tricky! First thing's first, let's make sure we're comfortable with the strumming pattern.

The key to successful funk strumming is to keep your arm moving in the rhythm of the smallest sub-division - in this case, sixteenth notes. This will help you naturally get the directional strumming correct, without any of those awkward moments where you strum down when you know and feel that you're meant to strum up!

Understanding when to keep the chords staccato (short and punchy) is another important factor to making this sound right. Let's take a quick look at the muting technique called dampening. Dampening is the technique of lightly resting your fretting fingers on the strings by releasing the pressure on the fretboard, preventing the strings from ringing out.

To practice this, take the D minor chord and strum it once so it rings out. Then, simply release the pressure from the fretboard, making sure that you're still touching the strings in the strings in the same chord position. If done right, you'll hear a muted, percussive sound when you strum. Alternate between playing the chord and dampening it until you're consistently getting the technique right!

Once you're happy with the strumming pattern in it's entirety, try putting the two sub-sections together to complete the verse!

Pre-chorus

This section is yet another example that less can be more - as we're yet again only playing one chord! This time, we want to play a G major in the E position - another barre chord!

The challenge once again lies in the strumming pattern, and this one is slightly more intricate! We're staying with the sixteenth-note sub-division, but this time adding some accents and scratches to the mix.

The same principles apply from the previous strumming pattern - keep your arm moving for each sixteenth-note, and we're going to want to dampen again to keep some of the chords staccato.

Dampening has another role in this section - we want to use it to create the muted scratches. See the red arrows in strumming pattern above to see which beats you need to dampen!

Chorus

The chorus makes up for the single chord sections, as we're blasting through a handful of chord shapes as soon as the section begins!

We only want to target the triads on the top three strings - I've provided the full chord shapes above to show you where the voicings come from! Be sure to keep these chords staccato to avoid this section from sounding too muddy.

Please refer to the video to get the exact timing for this part, as not every chord is played the same amount of times!

The second part of the chorus makes use of three chords, one of which we've seen before - D minor. The other two are F major and C major.

When put together, the whole chord progression is just | F | C | Dm |, which is repeated twice. This is made even more straight-forward as we need to strum each chord just once at the beginning of the bar!

However, you're more than welcome to play the funky strumming pattern from the verse over the Dm chord on the first repeat. If you decide to do this, make sure you switch your overdrive pedal off to avoid it sounding more 'metal' than intended!

Let's very quickly take a look at the entire structure of the rhythm section before the epic solo kicks in. We simply need to repeat the above sections in order twice!

Solo

I hope you're ready, because this truly iconic solo is not easy! There are plenty of challenging bends and intricate little runs. Below is a video dedicated entirely to the solo, so please make sure you continue to reference it!

Dion makes a great point that David Gilmour most likely won't play the recorded version solo note-for-note during shows, and it has quite an improvisational feel to it.

So, To stop this lesson write-up from becoming a short novel, I'll provide all the key information about techniques and scale shapes, rather than outlining the solo note-for-note. This will give you the tools to come up with your own versions in a Gilmour-esque style!

With that said, Dion does outline a handful of the most memorable licks in the solo, so please be sure to check out the video below!

Scales

Just as the rhythm sections above, we're staying in the key of D minor throughout the solo. It stays mostly in box one of the minor pentatonic, with a few phrases traversing more of the fretboard - let's take a look:

I know I've just thrown a whole lot of scale shapes at you - but, Dion does an incredible job of outlining exactly what shapes are being used at each point in the solo. So, pay close attention and you'll be able to string them together in the most Pink Floyd style possible!

Just to reiterate, we (Dion and myself), strongly encourage you to use these shapes and the techniques that follow to come up with your own version of the solo!

Techniques

Once you're feeling confident with the handful of scale shapes above, you're ready to tackle the various techniques needed to create your best David Gilmour impression!

Double-stops

A double-stop is when you play two notes at the same time on the guitar, usually on adjacent strings. It’s a great way to add harmony, texture, and emphasis to lead lines, or even riffs.

Needless to say, Gilmour uses this technique incredibly tastefully a handful of times in this solo, with the first example being in the opening phrase! To replicate this, we need to play the 10th frets on both the G- and B-strings. The most efficient way to to this is by barring across the 10th fret, rather than using two fingers for each string. Barring not only keeps you in position, it also helps you catch it faster, and leaves your other fingers free to play other notes!

Gilmour bends

We all know the command that Gilmour has over the bending technique. He injects emotion by adding unique expression through controlling the speed and vibrato for each bend. However, when you think of 'Gilmour bends', you're most likely thinking about the crazy big two-tone bends!

The first example of this comes straight after our first phrase, where Gilmour teases us with a whole-tone bend before soaring up another tone! To recreate this, catch the 13th fret on the B-string and bend up a whole-tone before releasing it back to its starting position. Then, bending the 13th fret again (don't release it at any point), bend it up two whole-tones up to its peak! If done correctly, the pitch of the peak of the bend should be the same as the 17th fret on the B-string.

Before we move on, there are a few things to consider with using these big bends in your own playing. Firstly, always consider the 'peak' note of the bend - make sure that it fits in the key that you're playing in! For example, if you were to play the 12th fret on the G-string with a two-tone bend, you'd be bending up to a B natural, which does not fit diatonically in the key of D minor.

Secondly, make sure you practice the two-tone bends slowly - not only to get a feel for how much pressure you need to apply, but also to understand how your guitar will react. By spending just a little bit of time on this, you'll avoid any unnecessary injuries, and probably save the life of a guitar string or two!

Rakes

Another technique that Gilmour uses in his playing to add more emotion is raking. To execute this technique, you need to mute one or more strings with your fretting hand and drag, or rake, your pick across them before landing on a target note. To channel your inner-Gilmour in your own playing, try throwing in a rake before a big bend, especially one on the higher-strings!

General

Though the techniques we've just taken a closer look at above will help you emulate Gilmour's style and energy, it's important not to forget the more 'general' techniques he uses, too! This includes hammer-ons and pull-offs, slides, vibrato and of course, half- and whole-tone bends. We're not going to go into detail for these, as I'm sure you're fully capable and aware of them if you're tackling this solo - just don't forget to use them!

With that all said, there is tremendous value in either creating your own solo in-style of Gilmour using the aforementioned techniques, or replicating it note-for-note by listening to the video lesson and the track. Both will provide great insight into Gilmour's style, and how you can use the best bits in your own playing!