'Smoke On The Water' lived up to its reputation as the most overplayed guitar riff of all time in Nashville on the weekend.
1683 guitarists set a new Guinness World Record by simultaneously playing the Deep Purple staple at the city's CommunityAmerica Ballpark. This breaks the previous record of 1323 guitarists set in Vancouver in 1994.The simple, four-note riff is one of the first tunes learned by aspiring guitarists, many of whom would note that to be played properly, it must be plucked not with a plectrum, but with the index and middle fingers. It is unclear whether this rule -clearly stipulated by Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in numerous interviews - was adhered to.
Participant Hannah Koch summed up the 'uhh, you had to be there...' significance of the exercise, explaining, "I thought it was going to be kind of cheesy. But after I got here, I got caught up in the excitement of it." It was also reported that Ms Koch attended the event in an elf costume.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports have suggested that there was a strange, worldwide spike in the suicide rate of guitar store employees at the exact time of the performance.
