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Pink Floyd - Us and Them - w/First Sax Solo - Guitar Lesson

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Pink Floyd - Us and Them - w/First Sax Solo guitar lesson video
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Pink Floyd Progressive Rock D minor
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About Us and Them - w/First Sax Solo

Few songs reward patience on guitar quite like "Us and Them" by Pink Floyd. The piece moves slowly and deliberately, and that tempo is the first thing to respect: every chord change needs to breathe, and rushing even slightly collapses the hypnotic weight the song depends on. The harmony sits in D minor, which opens up some beautifully dark voicings on the neck, particularly when letting open strings ring against fretted notes to fill the wide, spacious sound the arrangement calls for. The challenge here is not speed but control, specifically sustaining clean, even chords while keeping your picking hand relaxed enough to let notes decay naturally. The saxophone solo sections are landmarks in the track, and as a guitarist it is worth learning to follow those melodic lines on the neck to understand the phrasing. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop any passage slowed down so you can lock in the timing before bringing it back up to tempo.

  • The song moves at a very slow, deliberate pace, so practise holding chord shapes cleanly and letting each note fully sustain before moving on.
  • Playing in D minor gives access to resonant open-string voicings; experiment with letting the open D and A strings ring beneath fretted chords.
  • Following the saxophone melody lines on guitar is a strong ear-training exercise and reveals the song's core phrasing in a practical, hands-on way.

How to Play Us and Them - w/First Sax Solo

Key: D minor · Tempo: 76 BPM

Loop each section and focus on clean, even timing rather than speed, with the metronome at 76 BPM.

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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