Deep Purple - Burn - Guitar Lesson

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

1978 6:04

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About Burn

Few hard rock songs announce themselves as boldly as "Burn" does with its opening guitar figure. The main riff sits in G minor and cycles through a pattern that feels deceptively straightforward until you try to lock it in at full tempo, at which point the precision it demands becomes obvious. The twin-guitar interplay between Ritchie Blackmore and the rest of the Deep Purple lineup is central to how the song breathes, so pay close attention to where the rhythm guitar sits against the riff. Blackmore's lead work throughout leans heavily on the G minor pentatonic scale with blues-inflected bends, and keeping those bends in tune under speed is a genuine challenge. The solo section in particular rewards careful, repeated attention, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down and work out the phrasing before pushing the tempo back up. Getting the right amount of pick attack is as important here as fingering accuracy.

• The main riff is built around G minor and uses a repeating, driving pattern that tests your picking-hand consistency at higher tempos.
• Ritchie Blackmore's lead lines draw heavily from the G minor pentatonic scale, with aggressive string bends that need careful intonation control.
• The twin-guitar arrangement means learning both the rhythm part and the lead lines separately gives you a much fuller picture of the song.