It’s no secret that here at Guitareo, we LOVE Jimi Hendrix. In his short, 4-year career, he was able to transform the guitar world forever. He innovated new wild techniques, popularized the use of mind-bending effects, and did it all in a beautifully soulful way. His songwriting and guitar playing has inspired armies of guitarists over the decades.
In this article, we want to highlight some of our favorite Jimi Hendrix guitar lessons. You’ll learn about Jimi’s most iconic riffs, his favorite guitar chords, and dive into his approach to songwriting and soloing. Let’s get into the videos!
6 Hendrix Riffs That Changed History
Jimi was a master of writing incredible riffs. Even if you’re not a big fan of his, you can probably pick out a ton of his songs based on the intro riff alone! In this video, Ayla teaches you how to play six of Jimi Hendrix’s best riffs. We even have the tabs available for you to make each riff easier to learn.
The six songs you’ll learn in this lesson are:
Machine Gun
Foxey Lady
Spanish Castle Magic
Crosstown Traffic
Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
I Don’t Live Today
Ayla is back with another Hendrix lesson that focuses entirely on his chords. This includes the essential E7#9 chord that everyone associates with Jimi’s playing. We’ll also take a look at some other chords that require the use of your thumb. Being able to use your thumb when you’re playing chords can be helpful for positioning your hand to play bigger shapes or to give your hand a break from playing bar chords (like in this lesson).
Jimi Hendrix used his thumb all the time in his playing, so if you can make the stretch, you should try and incorporate this technique into your playing. The chords you’ll learn in this lesson include: E7#9 chord, A Major chord using your thumb, G#m7 chord, Asus2 chord (learn more about the Asus2 chord here), A7sus2 chord using your thumb, and an A/C# hammer-on chord.
How To Play ‘Voodoo Child’ & Sound Like Jimi Hendrix
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is a masterclass in guitar expression and technique. Many consider it to be one of the greatest electric guitar works of all time. In this lesson, you’ll learn exactly how to play the song in its entirety. You’ll dive into every technique, nuance, and concept so you can sound just like Jimi Hendrix.
Throughout the video, Ayla will cover Jimi’s approach to bending, hammer-ons and pull-offs, and some tricks for conquering the toughest parts of the song. The goal with this lesson is to be able to play the song and sound just like Jimi! Then you can take the things you learn here and apply them to your original songs or other songs you love.
The Most Underrated Jimi Hendrix Song
During his career, Jimi Hendrix recorded over 170 different songs! You’re probably familiar with the most popular ones, but we’re going to take a few minutes to appreciate one of his less popular tunes. “Angel” is a song featured on his 1971 posthumous album “The Cry of Love” and in this video, Ayla is going to perform it for us.
This song has a feel that’s pretty hard to nail. But there’s a lot that can be learned here about exercising patience in your guitar playing. If you love this song as much as Ayla does, you should consider taking the time to add it to your song repertoire.
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Andrew Clarke is a guitarist, educator, and content creator from Vancouver, Canada. He's best known for his YouTube channel, where he creates easy-to-follow guitar lessons and informative guitar gear videos. Andrew also manages The Riff.
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