Jimi Hendrix Rhythm Guitar Method

[juicy]

I've been working on some of Hendrix's pieces that use chord melody (little wing, castles made of sand, bold as love, etc) and i'm wondering if anybody knows anything about wtf goes on in that guy's head when he's doing chord improvisation. more specifically, i'd like to know how he structures his chord melodies to go smoothly between chord changes.

[CaptainCaveman]

Jimi usually only outlines the chords using double stops, like these ideas over a G major chord:


e ----3h5p3----------------
B ----3------4/6\4 ----3 ----
G -----------5/7\5-----2h4p2
D --------------------------

Try and play the root, fretting it with your thumb, on beat one, then play ideas like these

Here are some more ideas, over an Em7

e-------------------------------------------
B ----8h10p8-------------------------------
G ----7--------9----------------------------
D ---------------9---7--7--7--7h9p7--------
A--------------------9-10--7--7-------9--7\
E 0-----------------------------------------

Often the ideas are based on simple chord shapes, like this one


e---------------------------------------------
B----5 ---------5h6p5----------------------
G----5----------5------5-------------------
D----5---------------- 5h7p5.----5-5-5-5--
A--------------------------------7-8-7-5----
E-------------------------------------------

The shape is fretted with one finger, giving you lots of freedom to embellish it with slides, hammers, or perhaps some whammy tricks (SRV did that a lot).
Lastly, he would often slide chord shapes around, like this:

Gadd9 Fadd9
e -5/7\5---- 5\3-3
B -3/5\3---- 3\1-1
G -4/6\4-----x---x
D -----------5\3-3

One of the things that made his chord-melody playing so fluid was the bass notes, he would fret with his thumb, on the strong beats, giving the music a clear structure.

Playing like this is not easy at first. I used to practice it playing variations on the intro to Little Wing, getting used to the ideas, and improvising with them. First learn the tunes note-for-note, then start mixing the licks up.

Don't know if this is what you asked for, but i hope it is useful for some of you out there.

[ashc]

On a theoritical level I've always seen Jimi's work on this stuff as really just connecting the chords with the box shapes around them - essentially using what people call the CAGED system. So it's taking a chord and then adding embellishments from the scale box around it. Add a few simple inversions to eliminate/reduce position shifts and thats it ;)

An inversion he commonly uses to go down or up a step e.g. D -> C/E is like this x5777x -> x7555x. So the barre position doesn't move at all, just the 3rd finger, and by adding embellishments around it the chord change is almost invisible - some good examples from C -> Bb/D in wind cries mary.

NB: That first inversion voicing is actually the CAGED "G" chord shape with the 6th string not fretted.

On a practical level to get it to sound as good as Jimi is a long long journey! I got on the train at one stop and I didn't reach the next one yet..

[Blutwulf]

Aschc has the right of it from what I have gleaned in my pathetic attempts at Hendrix stylings. Take a man with huge sprawling fingers like Jimi had, combine that with overwhelming confidence, and you end up with the insane ease with which he simply chorded and played embellishments from the box pattern accompanying the chord. I get the impression that Hendrix thought in terms of root notes + whatever easiest (subjective thing there, usually individualized) construction was available. He seemed to basically play a bass line, and toss in supportng licks as well as the rest of a chord construct.

"Inhumanly relaxed" is how I generally typefy Hendrix's mellow stuff. Can't get there until one has developed the confidence and, well, relaxation. God knows I can't get there.

[Romp]

One of the things that made his chord-melody playing so fluid was the bass notes, he would fret with his thumb, on the strong beats, giving the music a clear structure.
I would add that another key feature of this technique is the ability to utilize harmonic extensions and embellishments.

e.g. In Little Wing, a G played with the thumb fretting the 6th string, 3rd fret and simultaneously muting the 5th string (this is where monster thumbs come in handy) and then using fingers 3, 2 and 1 to cover strings 4-1 (finger 1 covering strings 1 and 2 together) and this frees up finger 4 to extend to the 5th fret on string three for a Gsus4. Similarly, it allows finger 4 to hit 5th fret 1st string for a nice Gadd9. All of this can be accessed from the one position.

Another example from Little Wing is the moveable Gsus2 shape that utilizes the thumb again on the third fret, but with strings 5 and 3 muted by the thumb and 2nd finger, respectively, finger 4 on the 5th fret of the 1st string, 1st finger on third fret second string, and third finger on the 5th fret 4th string. Easily moved up two frets for an Asus2 to enhance the Am chord in the progression.

Clear as mud?

Side note: tune your guitar down a half-step (or more.) It will feel more Hendrixesque that way.

[juicy]

thanks for the advice. you are all sweet and sensuous.

[hafftaplay]

lol

[Blutwulf]

Look up "sweet" and "sensuous" in the dictionary, and there is a picture of ol' Blutwulf right there next to the definitions.

[Romp]

"Sweet" and "sensuous" are synonyms for "yeti"? Who knew?