Riff Rundown
Difficulty: Intermediate
Composer -Deep Purple
Where to find this song -Who Do We Think We Are track #1
Release Date -February 1973
The Band:
Ritchie Blackmore – guitar ( no longer with them)
Ian Gillian – vocals
Roger Glover – bass
Ian Paice – drums
Jon Lord – organ
Deep Purple formed in 1968 and since that time have continued, (through various line-up changes) recording and touring. They were regarded as fine musicians in the ‘hard-rock’ genre with their albums ‘Deep Purple in Rock’ & ‘Machine Head’ considered classics. Songs such as ‘Smoke on the Water’, ‘Lazy’ & ‘Highway Star’ set new standards in rock musicianship. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was one of the first hard rock players to use exotic scales and modes.
Main Riff
You will be performing a hammer-on and a pull-off in this riff. A
hammer-on is when you go from a lower note to a higher one, only striking the first note(s). A pull-off is when you go from a higher note to a lower note, only striking the first note(s).
How To Play It
Part 1
To begin this song, play the “low E” open one time, and begin
to form your fingers as followed: Place your 2nd finger on the “D” string on the second fret, and your 3rd finger on the “G” string
on the second fret. Play that once, and then you will perform a pull-off on the “G” string, coming from the arrangement you are on
right now. Notice that you will not pull-off on any other string except
that “G” string, even though your fingers are positioned as they are. In this case, play what you just played one more time, but focus on the “G” string and take your 3rd finger off of the “G” string, replacing your 1st finger on the first fret of the same string. That will give you the pull-off. Then simply put the 3rd finger back on the second fret. Play the “low E” one time open, and play the second fretted notes one last time to complete the measure.
For the second measure of this first part, you will need to do what
you just did involving the 1st finger on the first fret, but don’t
forget to play the “low E” open once. After you have put your 1st finger back there, play that once. Then, you will move up a string and place your 2nd finger on the “A” string on the second fret, and your 3rd finger on the “D” string on the second fret. Play that once with emphasis and once lightly. The last part of this measure may look a bit hard, but it’s not. Simply play the “low E” open once, and then as you play the “A” string open once, immediately use your 2nd finger to play the second fret of the same string. That will give you the hammer-on that you are looking for. To finish out this part, simply play the “D” string open once.
Part 2
For this part, you will begin by playing almost the exact same way
as you did in the first measure of the first part, except notice that
there is a note that needs to be played on the “D” string
at the beginning. Do this by placing your 2nd finger on the “D” string
on the second fret. Now, notice on the tablature that the open note
on the “low E” AND the second fretted note on the “D” string
are vertical to each other. That means that you will need to play them together, but instead of strumming it as a chord, use your picking hand and use your thumb to play the “low E” open note, and
either your 1st or 2nd finger to play the second fret on the “D” string.
Continue as directed above.
For the fourth and final measure, simply go back to the explanation
in the second measure and play the beginning of that as directed and
you are done!