Deep Purple - Burn - Guitar Cover

When We Rock, We Rock and When We Roll, We Roll

1978 6:04

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About Burn

Few riffs in Hard Rock hit as hard as the opening line of "Burn." Ritchie Blackmore's signature figure sits in G minor and moves with a coiled, aggressive energy that demands clean alternate picking at 120 BPM. The tuning is Eb Standard, so drop every string down a half step before you start, or the riff will fight you in unison passages with the organ. The main riff itself is deceptively straightforward, but keeping it tight and even at full tempo is where most players slip. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop that opening figure slowed down, focusing on pick attack consistency before you push the speed back up. The solo section is where Deep Purple really raises the bar: Blackmore works through fast scalar runs and wide intervallic leaps in G minor that will expose any gaps in your fretboard knowledge. Nail the rhythm parts first, then build the lead lines phrase by phrase.

• The song is in Eb Standard tuning, so tune every string down a half step to match the original recording and avoid clashing unison lines with the keyboard.
• The main riff is built around G minor and drives at 120 BPM, making clean, consistent alternate picking the core technical demand for rhythm guitar.
• The lead guitar runs through fast scalar passages in G minor with wide interval jumps, so isolating each phrase with the Practice Toolbar slowed down is the most efficient approach.