Ritchie Blackmore

[NY Chief]

Btw the spring issue of Guitar Techniques magazine from the UK available from Barnes and Noble has Lazy transcribed and on the accompanying CD with the magazine, full song with guitar and backing track without geetar.
Chief said he was learning this tune, so he should check it out. I know he has Lick Library with RB and sometimes it is helpful to see the written transcription as well.

I'll be checking the magazine out of curiosity as I have yet to see one video or transcription of "Lazy" that has no errors. Every video I've seen so far has the wrong fingerings and notes, Danny Gill's being one of the worst offenders.
One important key to this solo IMO is to figure out a note pattern that Blackmore uses as a "motif" several times through it but that nobody seems to play right. Like most great players he usually based his solos around a basic idea and then built up from that. I'll post my version of how I think this solo is to be played soon, just to add to the discussion.

Shit, I just got that lick library vid but haven't dug in yet, max. Is it that bad??? I think Lazy is RB at the top of his game. It's nearly flawless playing and great phrasing. That's one thing I always wanted to really sit down and analyze. Looking forward to seeing and hearing your take. You have obviously put some time in to studying Blackmore.

[mAx___]

LOL, I'm sorry, yes, it's really off when it comes to the actual fingerings and notes. Besides the parts that you can't get wrong, all the others have little mistakes. In my interpretation of how Blackmore played it, there's lots of open strings and it's mostly played in the first position. Gill and all the others on the internet play the fastest section of the solo with some cumbersome four finger stretching that doesn't get the feeling or the speed right, making it even more difficult to nail that part. In my understanding after looking into lots of his solos and technique, Blackmore would never go for a fingering like that, much less if we take into account the fact that he was improvising that solo on the spot. Plus there's that pattern I mentioned before that it's the core of that section. I'll put a quick video together just to illustrate this and concentrate on the sound and accuracy some other time.

[NY Chief]

I agree that it is mostly in the first position, max. And Gill starts off up the neck.

That part about RB improvising THAT on the spot is what really gets my admiration because of how perfectly executed and clean it is. Not many could play it like that after studying it much less improvise it.

[Tone Slinger]

I agree, if you really want to play it right, you just gotta have him (Blackmore) in your psyche. I think I got it pretty much down. It's just HARD for me to not deviate and improvise.

[NY Chief]

I agree, if you really want to play it right, you just gotta have him (Blackmore) in your psyche. I think I got it pretty much down. It's just HARD for me to not deviate and improvise.

show off!

[mAx___]

That part about RB improvising THAT on the spot is what really gets my admiration because of how perfectly executed and clean it is. Not many could play it like that after studying it much less improvise it.

AND he was just 26 years old. A real prodigy. His execution skills and unique touch were second to none in those years IMO. He was sweep picking and shredding before anyone else back in the late '60s/early seventies with such precision and creativity (while at the same time making every note count, playing strictly for the song) that I wonder how did the other heavyweights feel at the time when listening to Ritchie. I know how Clapton felt, lol. Two different books say that when Cream were touring with Purple as a supporting act in '68 they paid them to leave the tour early because he didn't want to follow up onstage after Blackmore in front of that kind of guitar aficionado audience.

[yngwie308]

Here is some classic RB lads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMJHyZG2 ... &index=966" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETeumVKe ... &index=965" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M82KgyZX ... &index=964" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Ritchie a major influence on this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkEIWN-T ... &index=988" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgZSnAkQ ... &index=962" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Isolated track early VH:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_5mMWx2 ... &index=903" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx2B8ii_ ... &index=444" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vmXutNKVbM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They (Deep Purple) took down those incredible videos by Hidea I think was his name, he did an awesome version of Burn and a lesson as well, best I have ever saeen, Chief you remember that guy??
yngwie308

[Tone Slinger]

Ritchie was a Mofo for sure. When I say that I "pretty much have it down" ('Lazy') I mean its real close. But MaX on the other hand probably has it down so good it would be hard to decipher it from the record . I simply cannot NOT improvise to some extent.

Ritchie, as time goes by, is becoming more and more ingrained in me. I discovered Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth first, but I am fully aware that Blackmore set the direction for that whole 'Melodic/Euro Metal' scene.
I still like Blackmore and listen to 'Blackmore's Night", but I miss his earlier aggression. He gets at alot of melody still, but has lost alot of the fire (Getting older, I know). I like listening to 'Blackmores Night' on the way to the annual 'Rennaisance Festival' . Sets the mood nicely.

[JimiJames]

..."listen to 'Blackmore's Night"...

..."I miss his earlier aggression..."

Me too ! ... on his amp's guitar's & cab's !



Guitar had second's to live...

dual purpose slide


BEHOLD ! I have sacrificed my own to the Gods !

It shall be cast into the dark depths of the abyss !



..."but my Sorcery is more powerful !"

"Behold my Powers !"


"Both of you shut the fuck up before I hop on the trolly, come over, and a kick both your ass' " !

_______

In '77 at a show at the Aragon Ball Room nicknamed "Brawl Room" and rightly so,
I seen Ritchie DESTROY a FullStack and left the splintered guitar with ½ a neck,
stuck in one of the speakers, sticking out like a Knight's sword, (kinda' like the first pic)
as he walked of the stage as if he "Slayed the Dragon" What Wizardry !
I cannot express how kool that was as a kid to witness what he did just several years later what took place at CalJam.

[NY Chief]

I have seen all of those pics, JJ. Nice touch with JB at the end!
Funny how Ritchie's hair got thicker with age....

I remember an interview with RB where he was asked what governs his on stage persona and playing. Answer "about half a bottle of a good single malt...."

Here's an ineresting interview with Roger Glover.
http://thequietus.com/articles/05569-de ... -interview" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mAx___]

As promised, a quick video of how I think is the correct way to play Lazy. It has some execution mistakes but I think the idea is there. I'll do a more accurate version when I can. This one is direct from the camera. Let me know what you think!
http://youtu.be/jO1tfHtoSw8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Tone Slinger]

Spot on bro, nice job !
You nailed it for sure.

Is that a '71 strat ?

[Tone Slinger]

Again, AWESOME job on that solo man.
The '71 strats are unlike any other, spec-wise. I put a thread up in the Guitars section here about them. Still 4 bolt, but NO laminate board and NO bullet rod. The necks are like a 0ne piece 50's era, BUT, with the large headstock. Ritchie is one of the few Rock artists (or any artist for that matter)to use one. Very few were made that way.

[Tone Slinger]

Wow, our posts are out of order. Max actually has one up for tommorow (Wed. 8th) .

[mAx___]

Thank you! I hope some of the less obvious parts are easier to see. For example the phrase after the two first bends defines the pattern that he later uses in the fastest section. Most people miss the open B note at the beginning. Right after that there's the fast sweep that everybody starts with A flat but it should be B flat instead, sweeping into C and F. Then on the way back a quick pulloff on the open B string into the final part of the phrase. After that there's a section where he slides the notes, commonly played as fretted notes. The fastest section is all about the open G and B strings and the right picking pattern. Etc.

The Strat is a Custom Shop '71, based after RB's sunburst