Finger Plucked Diad Riffs

One of Blackmore's best-known guitar riffs is from the song "Smoke on the Water". He plays the riff without a pick, using two fingers to pluck the strings in fourths. He used this finger picking technique for a lot of riffs in order to get a more precise note attack. The result of this is that it was closer to the type of simultaneous note attack of Jon Lord's organ. Both of them playing the notes of the riff at exactly the same time created a very powerful sound! Often, he'd cup the pick or put it in his mouth temporarily. Then, he'd revert to using the pick after the riffs were played.