The guitar riff is so popular amongst beginning guitar players that a guitar store in London put up a sign saying "Absolutely, under no circumstances at all are customers allowed to play Stairway to Heaven, Sweet Child of Mine or Smoke on the Water while trying out guitars.Smoke on the Water is number 426 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.Smoke on the Water is in the Guiness Book of Records: In 2007, 1683 guitarists played the riff together, live in Kansas City.Machine Head was written and recorded in two weeks.It reached number 4 in the US, but was never released as a single in the UK.
The album Machine Head was released in 1972, but Smoke on the Water was only released in 1973 as a single. The band never really believed in the song and never thought it would be a hit.The water is Lake Geneva, close to the casino. Roger Glover, the bass player of Deep Purple, came up with the title Smoke on the Water, because of a dream he had a few nights after the fire.It must not have been Frank Zappa's best period: a couple of days after losing all his equipment, he broke his leg on a concert in England when someone pulled him into the crowd.Eventually Deep Purple recorded their album in the Rolling Stones' mobile studio. The roof caught fire and the whole place burned down, destroying all the equipment of Zappa's band. During that concert some idiot fired a flare gun towards the roof. The night before the recording there was a live concert of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. In 1971 the band was in Montreux (Switzerland) to record their album Machine Head in the casino of Montreux. Smoke on the Water tells a true story.The lyrics of the song talk about how the band went to a recording session in Montreux.Some interesting background information about Smoke on the Water: The intro riff was originally played on a Fender Stratocaster, not a Gibson as many believe. The intro riff is ranked the #4 Greatest Riff of All Time by Total Guitar magazine. Smoke on the Water was released by Deep Purple on their 1972 album Machine Head. It’s loads of fun to play along with the backing track to Smoke on the Water you’ll find above, or even the original recording, so make sure you give it a shot once you are comfortable with the individual parts of the song. It’s just a bit more difficult than the intro, but you’ll get it perfect with just a bit of practice. It’s a great riff, and again, very easy to play even if you are brand new to the electric guitar.Īnd finally, we’ll learn the chorus, which is another very cool riff that you’ll be able to learn quickly and play to your friends and family. Next, we’ll learn to play the verse to Smoke on the Water, which is an arpeggio of 2 power chords.Ī lot of people stop at the intro riff, but I would really urge you to learn the chorus to Smoke on the Water as well. You just need 4 notes, as Ritchie Blackmore demonstrates in the intro Riff. You’ll find that everything is really simple, which really goes to show you that you don’t need lightning fingers and 20 scales to create something historic in music. It’s also interesting to note that Ritchie Blackmore played this lick without using a pick, so he played it with his fingers. Watch me play it, and also watch the original, to really get a feel for it. The most important part of learning this intro is getting the rhythm and timing right. You’ll need to get used to it at first, but it’ll become easy with practice. If you’re not familiar with double stops, the technique refers to playing 2 strings at the same time. So we’ll start out with the ever-popular intro riff, which consists of 4 double stops.
3 for song by Deep Purple Smoke On The Water.
Includes transpose, capo hints, changing speed and Free printable and easy tab ver. Play along with guitar, ukulele, or piano with interactive chords and diagrams. If you are at the level where you can already play that solo, then you probably won’t even need to be watching this lesson anyhow. Chords for Deep Purple Smoke on the water guitar solo Lesson with Tab. You’ll also hear a long solo in the original recording, but we won’t be learning that in this lesson, since this is meant to be a beginner’s tutorial.
You can play it on the acoustic as well, but you won’t get that distorted rock feel unfortunatelyīesides the intro riff, our guitar lesson on Smoke on the Water will also teach you how to play the verse, and the chorus, both of which are simple. Oh, sorry acoustic guitarists, but this song isn’t really suitable for the acoustic.
It’s one of those riffs you can show off to people after playing guitar for about 1 week ? If you are into the electric guitar and are a beginner, you’ll love this riff: it’s easy, quick, sounds great, and everyone will know it.
The intro riff to Smoke on the Water is most likely one of the first riffs 90% of guitarists learn to play. With our guitar tutorial on Smoke on the Water, you will learn these guitar skills: