Learn to play Run Like Hell - Guitar Lesson
Guitar lesson for this song by Pink Floyd
Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd
Learn how to play “Run Like Hell” by Pink Floyd with this detailed note-for-note guitar lesson by Richard Shaw, exploring the distinctive rhythm guitar approach, chord voicings, effects-driven textures and dynamic playing that make the track instantly recognisable. Originally released on Pink Floyd’s landmark 1979 album The Wall, “Run Like Hell” is a superb study in how a relatively economical guitar part can become enormous through rhythm, articulation, tone and arrangement.
Built around David Gilmour’s highly distinctive guitar work, the song combines unusual chord shapes, ringing open strings, syncopated rhythmic accents and spacious effects to create a propulsive sound that is very different from conventional rock rhythm guitar. Rather than relying on a dense wall of distorted power chords, the guitar leaves space within the arrangement, allowing each attack to cut through while delay and modulation add width and movement.
This “Run Like Hell” guitar lesson breaks down the important parts and techniques required to recreate the track accurately, while also developing rhythm guitar skills that can be applied to rock, progressive rock and countless other styles.
The Signature Guitar Riff and Chord Voicings
The opening guitar part is one of the most immediately recognisable moments in the Pink Floyd catalogue. A major part of its character comes from the way David Gilmour uses an altered tuning, allowing open strings and unusual chord voicings to ring together in ways that would be more awkward in standard tuning.
Learning this section is an excellent introduction to using alternative tunings creatively. Rather than viewing tuning simply as a way of changing pitch, guitarists can discover how altered tunings create entirely new chord shapes, resonances and possibilities across the fretboard.
The chord voicings themselves are equally important. Notes are allowed to ring against one another, creating a wide and atmospheric sound that becomes even more dramatic once delay and modulation are introduced. Studying these shapes can improve your understanding of chord construction and encourage you to look beyond familiar open and barre chord forms.
Syncopated Rhythm Guitar
One of the most valuable elements of “Run Like Hell” for guitarists is its syncopated rhythm playing. The guitar works tightly against the rhythm section, with carefully placed accents helping to generate the relentless forward momentum of the track.
Practising these syncopated patterns develops your internal sense of timing and teaches you to feel subdivisions rather than simply following the main pulse. This is particularly useful for guitarists who want to improve their funk-influenced rock rhythm playing, as accurate placement of each chord attack is essential to making the groove work.
The spaces between the notes are just as important as the notes themselves. Learning to control when chords ring and when they stop helps develop cleaner rhythm technique and a greater appreciation of how silence can become part of a guitar riff.
Slides and Position Changes
Slides contribute to the fluid movement of the guitar part and help connect different chord positions without interrupting the momentum of the riff. Gilmour’s approach demonstrates how a simple shift along the neck can become an expressive feature rather than merely a practical way of reaching the next position.
Developing accurate slides improves fretting-hand control and helps guitarists move around the neck more confidently. It also encourages you to maintain rhythmic accuracy while changing position, an important skill for riffs and chord sequences that cover a larger area of the fretboard.
Chord Progressions and Harmonic Movement
Although the rhythm guitar sound often receives much of the attention, the chord progression underneath “Run Like Hell” plays a major role in creating its dark, dramatic atmosphere. The harmony supports the vocal sections while maintaining the tension and momentum established by the central guitar figure.
Learning the progression gives players an opportunity to study how chord movement can serve an arrangement without becoming overly complicated. It demonstrates that effective songwriting is often about the relationship between rhythm, voicing and dynamics rather than the sheer number of chords being used.
Understanding this approach can help guitarists create stronger rhythm parts of their own, particularly when writing music where guitars need to complement keyboards, bass, vocals and atmospheric production.
Dynamic Control, Sustain and Effects-Driven Playing
“Run Like Hell” is also an excellent lesson in dynamic control and sustain. Gilmour’s guitar sound is spacious and expansive, with effects helping relatively short guitar attacks bloom into a much larger sonic texture.
For the player, this means learning to control the initial pick attack and allowing notes and chords to sustain naturally rather than constantly filling every available space. Developing this kind of restraint can dramatically improve rhythm playing because it encourages you to listen to the complete sound of each phrase.
It is also a useful demonstration of the relationship between playing technique and effects. Delay, modulation and ambience can enhance a performance, but the underlying timing must remain precise. If the original guitar attack is rhythmically inconsistent, repeated delay signals can make those inaccuracies even more obvious.
David Gilmour – Guitarist and Influence
David Gilmour is one of the most influential guitarists in rock history, renowned for his expressive phrasing, exceptional control of tone and ability to make relatively economical guitar parts sound emotionally powerful. While his soaring solos on tracks such as “Comfortably Numb” are often celebrated, “Run Like Hell” highlights another crucial side of his playing: his creativity as a rhythm guitarist and arranger.
His work with Pink Floyd demonstrated how the electric guitar could function as both a traditional rock instrument and a source of atmosphere, texture and sound design. Gilmour’s use of effects, unusual chord voicings, dynamics and space has influenced generations of progressive rock, alternative rock and ambient guitar players. Learning “Run Like Hell” provides valuable insight into this more textural side of his playing.
Why Learn Run Like Hell?
Learning “Run Like Hell” is ideal for guitarists who want to develop their rhythm guitar timing, chord vocabulary and understanding of altered tunings. The song proves that a memorable guitar part does not need to involve extreme speed or technical complexity. Precision, groove, tone and carefully chosen voicings can be equally powerful.
Working through the guitar parts will help improve coordination between both hands, particularly when moving between chord positions while maintaining a consistent rhythmic feel. The syncopated nature of the riff also provides an excellent timing workout, while the unusual tuning encourages players to think differently about familiar fretboard relationships.
Most importantly, studying “Run Like Hell” provides a fascinating insight into David Gilmour’s approach to guitar arrangement. It is a masterclass in using space, effects and rhythmic discipline to create a guitar part that serves the song while remaining unmistakable from the very first notes.
Guitar Techniques Used in This Lesson
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