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The iconic guitar sound
Get My Guitar blog profiles Ritchie Blackmore, including his sound, influences, top 5 tracks, technique, and historical equipment. While our regulars probably won’t find anything new there, it can be recommended as a well written introduction for the uninitiated.
Fans often note that Blackmore’s playing is not just about technical prowess—it’s about emotion, storytelling, and creating an atmosphere. His solos are often described as journeys, with each note carefully chosen to contribute to the overall feel of the song. This focus on musicality over flashiness is something that resonates with many guitarists, and it’s a key part of why Blackmore’s work continues to inspire.
Read more in Get My Guitar.
Thanks to Uwe Hornung for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I’ve read more in depth analyses of Blackmore’s style, technique and mannerisms over the years, but this has the advantage of you not having to be a guitar nerd to understand it. Fit for general consumption. And written by someone who genuinely seems to like Blackmore’s guitar playing.
May 7th, 2025 at 02:58Written by a bass guitarist, hmmmmmmmmm, interesting. Thanks Uwe, enjoyed the Blackmore article. Cheers.
May 7th, 2025 at 06:45He was (rock phase) incredibly talented not only as a virtuoso guitarist, showman ..but also an great,great,great author ..he borrows an idea, a guitar phrase then makes it better in his own way ..he also knew how to choose a team around him (probably if he played football he would have been a good football manager)
May 7th, 2025 at 08:30He made his musicians better ,especially the singers .He left bitterness in communication but also to their former singers a beautiful musical legacy for his further career ..except for Candice who got everything from him ,women have always been the stronger sex, mentally and with an advantage with natural attributes, men mostly give up ..and Ritchie gave up ..he also gave up RnR,love is win !
Who made Ritchie better as a musician during his career as he grew up ? ..I only think of Jon Lord, a Ritchie compatible musical partner…and Ritchie had a fight with him in 69/70 .. “Enough with the classics, let’s play hard rock ” or I’m leaving”. Good decision
“Written by a bass guitarist, hmmmmmmmmm, interesting.“
That is not that surprising, Herr MacGregor, unlike their more percussively oriented colleagues in the rhythm section departments, the vast majority of bassists can read and write.
May 7th, 2025 at 13:26@#1 You make a good point about the article not talking over the average reader’s head.
May 7th, 2025 at 21:41The thing that I liked about Ritchie’s guitar playing was he could go from playing something in kind of a mediocre way to coming up with absolutely sensational at the drop of a hat. Because he’s always improvising/experimenting; refuses to play a song the exact same way he’s played it before. I was just listening to his opening guitar work on “Mistreated” at the California Jam in 1974. Just a phenomenal sound. I think Jon Lord was every bit as good and improvisational.
Uwe you may be pleased to know I have ordered Jon Lord’s Sarabande cd from the local music store. Still easily available according to the young chap who owns the store. I did notice that online before hand, however I thought I would support the young couple who have taken over running that business. That young guy went to a King Crimson concert while over in Germany in 2019. His father is Dutch and about our age, so I would presume that is where he has heard that era’s music, at first at least as a youngster. Did you see any of those KC concerts when they were in town? Cheers.
May 8th, 2025 at 06:53