Stormbringer Deep Purple Guitar Lesson
In this “Stormbringer Deep Purple” Guitar Lesson I’m going to go over the intro chords and the main riff. This song is super cool, catchy and fun to play. It’s pretty fast so you may want to slow it down on your own and work it up to speed and in this video I will break down and explain each part to get you there!
Step 1: The Intro and Main Riff
First off in our “Stormbringer Deep Purple” guitar lesson, we start with an E minor chord. For this E minor chord we start with our pointer finger barred from the 5th string down on the 7th fret. Our actual E root is the 7th fret 5th string, that is the E note. Then we take our ring finger and place it on the 4th string 9th fret and put our pinky right under it holding down that octave. Then to make this a minor chord, we are going to put our middle finger down on the 8th fret 2nd string and strum all the way down. We strum down six times. Down, down, down, down, down, down. Then I’m going to do the same rhythm and strum on the but I’m going to move all my finger up a string and lift my middle finger off the guitar for this chord, B minor.
To play this B minor bar chord we are going to put our pointer down on the 6th string 7th fret, so right above the E minor chord we were just playing, and we’re going to bar all six strings now, so from that B root on the 6th string 7th fret all the way down to our high E-string, the 1st string. Then we have our ring finger holding down the 5th in the chord on the 9th fret 5th string and our pinky holding down the octave on the 9th fret 4th string. Then strum six times just like we did on the E minor chord. Then we’re going to do this again, going back and forth between E minor to B minor. Just two times total. Then we are going to add two major chords, A and G.
The bar chord for a major shape on the 6th string looks just like the minor shape when the 5th string is the root. It’s also very similar to the minor shape we just played though because all we’re gonna have to do is add one note.
We are going to put our middle finger on the free in tween where are fingers are on the 3rd string. So in A Major on the 6th string we have our bar now on the 5th string all the way down, our ring and pinky fingers on the 7th fret 5th and 4th strings, and our middle finger add that major third by holding down the 6th fret 3rd string.
For G major we move this shape down two more frets making our root and bar now on the 3rd fret 6th string from the 6 string down to the first, our ring finger and pinky on the 5th and 4th strings on the 5th fret and our major third in between on the 4th fret 3rd string. And we kind of slap down our hand in between each of these major chords to mute them in between and it makes them stand out a lot and adds a lot of attitude.
Now for the riff! The riff is really driving and cool. We start on the 5th fret 4th string with our pointer and pick once, then we go to the 7th fret 5th string and pick it three times. So rhythmically on beat one we play the 5th fret 4th string once and on the and of one, beat two, and of two, we play the 7th fret 5th string. Then we move our pointer up a string to the 5th string 5th fret and pick it four times. So for beats three, and of three, four and of four. And I am alternate picking for this whole riff, which means I switch from a down to an up pick stroke every other time I pick.
Now we’re going to repeat that last part we did where we have our pointer on the 5th fret 5th string and we pick once and then pick the 7th fret 5th string four times. And one more time, making it so we played that part three times total. So one time starting with the 5th fret 4th string, and three times starting with the 5th fret 5th string. The next time through we actually just do one of each of these. So one starting with the 5th fret 4th string, then one starting with the 5th fret 5th string.
Then our ending lick starts on the 5th fret 5th string to the 7th fret 6th string, then chromatically down to the 6th fret 6th string to the 5th fret 6th string where we pick twice, and then to the 3rd fret 6th string and add some vibrato on that note. Then repeat everything in the riff, not the intro chords. So the riff is played two times total. If you are enjoying learning this Deep Purple song be sure to check out our lesson on how to play We are an American Band by Grand Funk Railroad for another driving rock song.
Step 2: The Lick
So before we play the actual lick we have this cool little lead into it. The lead in starts with the open 6th string, to the 6th string 3rd fret, then dropping right under to the 5th string 3rd fret, and then slide to the 6th fret 5th string. These four notes are all half notes so we switch every two beats to get to the next for two measures. Now for our lick. We are going to bend a full step on the 14th fret 3rd string and then put your pinky on the 11th fret 2nd string. So while the bend is still in the air we pick the 15th fret with your pinky on it and we’re going to do all of that three times.
Then we are going to bend the 14th fret 3rd string again both up and down and right into a pull off from the 14th fret to the 12th, then back to the 14th fret on the 3rd string and then back to the 12th fret on the 3rd string and really vibrato that note, hanging it out. Then we go to the 2nd string 12th fret to the 15th, then to the 1st string to pick the 12th fret, 14th, and 15th. Then pick the 15th fret again and bend it a full step.
Recap: Learn Stormbringer Deep Purple Guitar Lesson
I hope you enjoyed “Stormbringer Deep Purple” guitar lesson! There’s a ton of awesome parts in this song and I’m glad we got to cover most of them. Make sure to pay attention to detail and check yourself on the picking direction in the main riff and your whole step bends.
