Smoke On the Water

How to play Smoke On the Water by Deep Purple on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 3 you play Em, E, A, D, F, Am, the shapes the player above shows.

This is a classic riff-driven song that feels powerful right away, and it is a great one for building confidence at a steady, beginner-friendly pace. You get a strong, familiar groove that sounds bigger than the chord count suggests, so it is satisfying to lock in early and keep it moving.

The chart mixes open shapes and barre shapes, so the easy chords are G, C, and F, while the harder grips are Gm, G#, and Cm. Watch the opening move from Gm to G to C and back to G - that shift is the main spot where your fretting hand needs to stay relaxed and land cleanly.

Start by practicing the opening progression slowly and making each change without stopping. Then loop the full chord sequence at a comfortable tempo, focusing on clean fretting before speed. Once the shapes feel solid, bring it up toward the song tempo and keep the rhythm steady.

Use the play-along above to follow each chord change in time with the music, or learn the shapes first with the chord diagrams below.