JIMI HENDRIX Lesson (re-print) #3

 The final installment....

Jimi Hendrix Blues-based licks

by David M. McLean

Here are some burning blues runs similar to what Jimi utilized in songs like "Purple Haze" and "Foxey Lady". They are all based on the pentatonic minor and these sorts of blues-rock licks set the pace for guitar players to follow. Example one uses a rapid-fire bend & pull simile followed by some quick descnding pull-offs. Notice the "blue note" (flatted 5 in bars 3 & 4) and the quick shift from the 12th position to the 5th position at the end of bar 3. Finally, be sure to play the opening licks freely, rather than perfectly as written.

 

Example two: The beginning of this example is notated to imply the speed changes Hendrix was noted for. That is, he'd play in free-time over the band, then jet back in and play in perfect time. Don't play bar one as notated, then, but with a free feel. Just be sure to hit bar #2 right in the pocket. Bar 4 can be played either as written or freely, depending on how close you want the call & response effect. Note in the final bar that you can almost hear how Jimi would start calling up the feedback and bashing on the whammy bar!

Have fun with these licks and then apply some of the free-time concepts to your own playing within - or outside of - the blues framework and see what you come up with. See ya next time!

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(January 2004) Index

JIMI HENDRIX Lesson (re-print) #2

 Our second reprint lessons....

Jimi Hendrix Blues-based licks

by David M. McLean

In songs like "Voodoo Child (slight return)", Jimi calls on more than just pentatonic burning by adding the oh-so-cool "blue" note (the flatted 5th) to his sweat-drenched rhythms and burning leads. We touched on this a tad in the second Hendrix installment, but let's take a closer look now. Example one is similar to "Voodoo Child (slight return)". Notice the use of open strings, slides, and bends, plus the use of the triplettes in bar 4.

 

In example two, note the pulsing rhythm and the double-stops with one note bending up 1/2 step to the blue note. This is similar to the pulsing rhythms found in "Foxy Lady" and other Hendrix classics

Grok the implications of this heavy grooving style and see what it can do for your playing. You might also want to check out players like acoustic bluesmen Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, and Son House as well as early electric blues shredders like Albert King, and sure to listen a bit to those directly influenced by Hendrix like Clapton and Vaughan (who does several excellent Hendrix covers). See ya next time!

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JIMI HENDRIX Lesson (re-print) #1

I wrote these lesson years ago and they were available at 8notes and the former Insane Guitar web-sites. I'm re-posting here direct from 8notes.

Enjoy!

Lesson one:

Jimi Hendrix Chordal Style

by David M. McLean

Jimi Hendrix needs no introduction. In all likelihood, there are many comprehensive studies of Jimi's style available in books and on the web, but I write this mini-series at the request of several students. Most of those students were born long after Jimi was dead, thus are unsure of why his playing was considered so revolutionary by so many from such a diverse array of musical genres.

This discussion will cover some of Jimi's chordal stylings as used on songs like "Angel", "Castles Made of Sand", and "Little Wing". I once was told that "Little Wing" was one of the most recorded songs in history (Sting, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Rolling Stones, Otmar Leibert, Tuck Andress, Lawrence Juber, and many others have performed this piece). While I find this claim somewhat doubtful (especially considering all those recordings of "Yesterday" and "White Christmas"), there is no doubt that Jimi's chordal work has been a major influence on guitarists far and wide. Soooooo.....let's take a look at some examples in this style.

Example one is a simple progression (Am-G-C-Em-D7-G-C) that utilizes full barre chords, arpeggiations, and embellishments (including those cool quasi-modulations).

 

Example two is another look at this style. I used a standard 1950s pop & gospel sort of progression (which sounds more than a tad like Prince's "Purple Rain", as well as some famous 50s & 60s pop tunes) and kept the rhythmic ideas as close to example one as possible for comparative purposes. Note the A-F#m-E-D(sus2) progression and try out some of your own quasi-modulations (turn that ambiguous "E" into an E7 on one pass and an E pentatonic minor on the next, for example, or change my "D sus2" into a Dm7).

In addition to listening to Hendrix for tips on this style, check out some Steve Cropper and Curtis Mayfield. This is a gorgeous style of playing that Hendrix took and made his own - now it's your turn.

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