How to Play Smoke on the Water on Your Loog Guitar

We’ve been talking about first songs played on the guitar on our Twitter during the last few weeks and we thought we’d add a bit more to the conversation. Despite some embarassing confessions among the Loog team (*cough* Summer of ’69 *cough*), most people’s first song on the guitar is the mother of all easy riffs: the opening one to Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water.

Why is no mystery. The opening riff is catchy, fun to rock out to and perfect to feel that you’re finally carrying a tune and not just mucking about. You probably felt so awesome the first time you figured it out that -much to your family’s dismay- there was nothing else you would play for a while. But for that single moment in which you discover that playing guitar IS fun and not just work-work-work is that this riff deserves our upmost respect.

The original opening riff to Smoke on the Water (that ubiquitous “Dun dun DUN dun dun da dun. Dun dun DUN da dun”) is done mostly using a six-string guitar’s G string. However, we figured out a way to easily emulate the sound on your Loog Guitar and well, created a step-by-step booklet explaining exactly how to play it.

You can download the PDF booklet from here. Trust us – even if you’ve NEVER played a single chord, these instructions will do the trick. Just pick up your Loog and try it out. It’s got pictures, it’s got diagrams and it’s got instructions leading every single step of the way. In just under 10 minutes you’ll be rocking out and joining the “Smoke on the Water was my first song on guitar” club.

And if it’s your kid who’s going to be playing this for the first time, don’t worry. The 10 minute mark still stands. Here’s the download link again. Learn how to play Smoke on the Water on your Loog Guitar and start rocking out!