Ritchie Blackmore: Divergence From the Blues Roots

Guitar solos were a defining foundational aspects in the early formative years of what would become known as heavy metal music. Though Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath has been largely credited as the most influential guitarist on the wider genre, this essay argues that it is the style of Ritchie Blackmore that has been of greater importance and influence with regard specifically to guitar soloing approaches and techniques. Musical analysis illustrates Blackmores sophisticated approach to soloing by the use of seven note scales, chord/melody relation and changes in underlying musical content to mark solo sections, as opposed to the largely pentatonic and blues approaches preferred by Iommi. Comparing soloing approaches from both guitarists in the years 1970-75 and considering the overall influence on subsequent practitioners demonstrates the wider function and meaning of the guitar solo in heavy metal music, and also importantly historically marks the process of heavy metal moving away from its blues-rock origins