so iwas on youtube the other night looking up some deep purple videos, and combing tab sites for the same. i come across this video interview with ritchie blackmore, he is explaining a little into how he plays smoke on the water. well if that didnt sound nothing like it!!!! he is a rather pretentious sob he may have been trying to save face or something. it seems he plucks the 3rd and 4th strings and the left hand only spans a couple of frets. seems 2 generations of guitarists have been way off. i know it is an easy song, for a good guitarist, i am just learning it. anybody here wanna take a stab at his video, and try and read it for me. i think blackmore is a god, his riffs are so simple yet powerful, he seems to have a real good sense of note placement and letting his guitar breathe. he sure is a pretentious ..... though! anyone else really dig blackmores talents and tone??? Dan

 

How are you learning to play? I think tablature is one of the easiest to comprehend for
most new players and it has a flow to it. There are a bunch of tab sites out there but
you need to check a few to find the right notation some are correct and some are way
off!! I'm not too much on them but that song is a staple that every guitarist has to jam
out it is a rite of passage!! I'm more for jamming some AIC, SG, primus, sublime matter of fact if you like some sublime there is a bunch of tab for them and their songs will make you concentrate on your strumming, Which is just as important as your fret fingering.

 

I'd take a look for you, so to offer some input, but at work there are too many firewalls to access youtube, and at my home I'm still on dial up. (i live in the boonies).
I can offer this to ya though. Every guitarist is individual. You don't need to do it just like Blackmore. Play it like you play it, in your own style. You can learn from him, but maintain your own style and technique as your own.
Just my thoughts. Good luck in your adventure, and have fun.

 

hey thanks guys, i will never be able to put together a song or even part, but i still like to try. i will post up a link on that interview. i heard the song on the radio today and i swear it isnt what blackmore used in his demo. I know people have given him a hard time for the simplicity of the riff, but that is what makes it so brilliant. i just think that the pretentios git had to make up something harder to pass off to shut people up, and make him look better. sad thing is, he is already a guitar god. why not embrace it for what it is a very simple, yet timeless piece that has been played by millions of aspiring guitarists. I have been checking out lots of the tab sites, amazing how many ways people can come up with to play something. sorry beast, i am not much of a fan of sg or sublime, but i do believe Jerry Cantrell is one of the greatest of our time, and certainly ranks with the all time greats. my problem is timing and strumming, i cant relax enough while strumming to let it flow and actually sound like anything. and then the timing thing well lets just say i have no idea where to start. Thanks again. Dan

 

I would love to be able to play the guitar. I've tried teaching myself but I've never had much luck. I get as far as "mary had a little lamb" and by then I'm ready to put it through the wall. I'm too restless and don't have the talent and patience necessary to play well. I've never tried the tab method though.
I really have appreciation and respect for Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimmy Hendrix and most blues style guitar. There's a guy on youtube that is really awesome, I think he is "bluesy13" or something like that.

 

I got my first guitar when I was 10 and didn't put it down until I was 18 (parents gave it to me because I was "over active" this was before ridlen) I occationally teach coworkers kids, and it drives me crazy when they learn from tabs. Learn your notes first then chordes, and once those are mastered you won't need tabs.

I know that is something that you don't want to hear. It takes patience, and after a year or two it will begin to pay off.

 

I really have appreciation and respect for Stevie Ray Vaughn ;"quote"

Stevie Ray Vaughne had the skin between his fingers cut, thats how he can play those killer blues chords...............

 

I have to agree with rangerfan. I wouldnt focus too much on tabs it really limits you. At some point someone will say lets hear you play guitar. Then all youd know is the intro to like 8 songs and maybe the chorus or something but you wont be able to jam.

And one last thing. Try not to get too hung up on song difficulty. In the end its all about the music. People dont listen to how hard a song is to play. They hear a song and its either good or bad, it demands a response. Song difficulty should have no bearing on the response. A good example would be ac/dc. Easy to play, sounds awesome.

Oh yeah, i would try to answer your question but i dont see a link for the video.

And dont say youll never be able to put a song together or i will slap you. You can do it.

 

yes fellas i am remiss, i still havent posted a link, so lets try this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWl0YJN5Xf4 thanks. Dan

 

alright linky no workie, it brings me to the youtube site and then you can just type in smoke on the water in the search..... several videos down you will see a thumbnail of a current looking Ritchie Blackmore with a nice cream classical acoustic. it is titled deep purple smoke on the water riff. no need to watch the entire video, they show him playing it in the first 20 seconds or so. Dan
okay my fault i mistyped the web address, it works for me now. thanks Dan

 

Interesting vid.

I wish I would have seen them play that song, but I saw them perform in 1971 or '72.

That song came out in '73.

 

If your just starting to learn to play by Tabs , I recommend using a program " Guitar Pro 5 ", it may speed the learning process up for you, It has helped many I know with the learning process of Tabs, it's an audible read and write tab program with visual fret board references, and can single out each individual track, Bass, lead, rythm and percussion.. etc..and there is literally thousands of "guitar pro tab" songs on the net to fuel the program and your desire, from Classical to death metal and everything in between.

I wish this program was around when I first started to play 25 years ago, I've been using guitar pro for a few years now, and it's definitly improved my playing by Tabs..But I do highly recommend lessons as well, as tedious as they are, knowing the theory of music will give you a better overall understanding if you can bare it. Don't get caught in the "power chord trap" like many have, as it will soon become a one way dead end street, you gotta learn to walk before you run.

Buy and old beater acoustic, with the action about 1\2 inch off the board, toughen them finger tips up, and get somewhat fluent with it, then you'll appreciate the sound and feel of a quality axe, when you get on one.


http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php

 

Not a bad idea. I can recommend a guitar for that. I bought my Honer acoustic/electric years ago for around $120. The action is terrible, and the guitar itself is huge. Playing the guitar is like wrestling a bear.

I use medium strings with it, although you may want to start off with a light/medium if your caluses arnt there yet. Also, bar chords will be seemingly impossible on a guitar like that when your starting out and especially with the heavier strings. The cool thing is though is it may be hard to play but it sounds awesome. It sounds better than guitars way beyond its pricerange.

Then whenever i play my buddys $1200 Martin i can really appreciate the action. That thing is like a keyboard.

 

To get out of the power chord trap or to better your fingering, buy a cheap bass guitar
it is easier to find the strings with your right hand and will help develop finger picking for use on the guitar. There are alot of the guitar greats that didn't know how to read musical notation and they didn't use tabs either that just did it!! wal-mart has a poster of chords and would be a good thing to have in your playing space. Arpeggios are a good thing to learn how to use and alternating your strumming cadence and in which order you strike the strings can help develop rythm. Of course the blues scale is a much needed thing to know and is the basis of many lead riffs basically E1-4,
A1-3, D1-3, G1-3, B1-4, hi E1-4 then back up, throw in a few bends every now and then and your playing scales, you can move it anywhere on the neck, in any tuning
any tempo then you can go on to the big time scales and then you are on to yngwie
and steve vai territory. http://www.cyberfret.com/scales/primer/index.php

 

Did the incident described in "Smoke On The Water" actually occur? In Switzerland?