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Pink Floyd - Run Like Hell - Guitar Lesson

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Key D minor
Pink Floyd - Run Like Hell guitar lesson video
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Classic Rock

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Pink Floyd Progressive Rock D minor
Capo Advisor 0 D minor · Original key

About Run Like Hell

Few riffs in rock are as immediately recognizable as the one that drives "Run Like Hell." David Gilmour built it around a relentless, muted sixteenth-note picking pattern in D minor, layered with chorus and echo to create that wide, pulsing wall of guitar. Getting the right hand tight and consistent is the real challenge here: the pick attack has to stay even across every sixteenth note or the groove collapses. The left hand, meanwhile, shapes a repeating chord figure that shifts subtly against the mechanical rhythm underneath. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop that opening riff slowed down and focus on keeping the muting clean between notes before bringing the tempo back up. The feel is deliberately hypnotic and machine-like, so any hesitation or uneven dynamics will stand out. Pink Floyd recorded this with heavy studio delay, so dialing in a dotted-eighth delay on your end will bring the tone much closer to the original.

  • The signature riff relies on tight, consistent sixteenth-note picking with palm muting, making right-hand stamina and evenness the main technical hurdle.
  • A dotted-eighth delay effect is central to the guitar tone, creating the cascading, rhythmic echo that defines the riff's texture.
  • The riff is built on repeating chord shapes in D minor, so practising it slowly in a loop helps lock in both the rhythm and the chord transitions.

How to Play Run Like Hell

Tuning: E Standard · Key: D minor · Tempo: 116 BPM

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 116 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Gilmour's 1969 Black Strat is his primary instrument, offering glassy neck pickup tones perfect for his singing bends and the warm, rounded character that defines Pink Floyd's melodic solos without harsh brightness.

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

This workhorse guitar provided Gilmour with a brighter, more cutting tone for rhythm work and alternative textures, offering the snap and clarity needed for Pink Floyd's diverse sonic palette across studio and live performances.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Gilmour's 1955 Les Paul Goldtop, fitted with original P-90 pickups, delivers the thick, gritty midrange essential for iconic solos like Comfortably Numb's outro, providing tonal weight and sustain that Strats cannot match.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

Though less documented than the Goldtop, this model would offer similar thick, sustained tones with enhanced versatility through multiple pickup switching, supporting Gilmour's need for varied textures within complex Pink Floyd arrangements.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

Gilmour used Twin Reverbs for their exceptional clean headroom and built-in reverb, creating spacious, shimmering textures that complement his delay-heavy effects chain and define Pink Floyd's atmospheric, three-dimensional soundscapes.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

The Cry Baby opens Gilmour's effects chain, allowing expressive vocal-like phrasing on solos, integral to Pink Floyd's emotional delivery and creating dynamic dynamic tonal sweeps that enhance the band's psychedelic and progressive character.

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