Ritchie Blackmore

• Scalloped fretboard: the wood between frets is carved away — string bends and vibrato require less finger pressure
• Dorian mode (minor with raised 6th) is Blackmore's primary scale — darker than major, brighter than natural minor
• Treble booster before amp: sharpens the attack and drives the amp into harmonic saturation
• Bridge pickup of the Strat gives the cutting, nasal quality central to the sound
• Bach two-part invention fingerings: practise right-hand lead with left-hand bass notes simultaneously
• Classical phrasing: long note values, strong sense of resolution to the root or 5th
• Amp EQ: treble 8, mid 5, bass 4 — bright and forward in the mix
• Vibrato is fast and even — Blackmore's vibrato has a controlled mechanical quality
• Study "Smoke on the Water", "Highway Star" solo and "Child in Time" for the full range

Ritchie Blackmore fused classical music — Bach, Baroque modes and minor key drama — with hard rock aggression to create the foundation of neoclassical rock guitar. His Fender Stratocaster through a Marshall stack (boosted with a Dallas Rangemaster) produced a bright, sharp and harmonically complex tone that inspired generations of metal guitarists.