{"id":1714,"date":"2022-04-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/?p=1714"},"modified":"2023-01-19T12:31:03","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T20:31:03","slug":"5-levels-of-hey-joe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/5-levels-of-hey-joe\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Levels of “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Download the tabs)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to describe the way Jimi Hendrix played is \u201ccomplete freedom\u201d on the fretboard. He was the king of mixing rhythm and lead guitar together at the same time. Even if you stripped the other instruments away from his performances, there was an entire ensemble of guitar happening at once. A great way to start learning to play like this yourself is to break one of his songs down into levels. In this lesson, we\u2019ll be using the song \u201cHey Joe\u201d to work our way through the skills you need to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level 1<\/span><\/strong>
We\u2019ll get started by using open chords. At its base, \u201cHey Joe\u201d uses some pretty simple open chord shapes that you probably already know. These chords are C major, G major, D Major, A Major, and E Major. Playing with these open chords makes the song sound much more like the original recording by Billy Roberts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level 2<\/span><\/strong>
To take things to the next level, you\u2019ll have to start playing bar chords. If you aren\u2019t comfortable with bar chords yet, check out this guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using bar chords opens up a lot of possibilities when it comes to playing lead lines between chords. If you really want to play these bar chords the way Jimi did, then you\u2019ll have to incorporate your thumb as well. Instead of using a bar, he used his thumb to reach around the back of the guitar neck and fret the low E string. Doing this for major chords rooted on the low E string allowed him to play more comfortably while freeing up his fingers to quickly play passing notes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level 3<\/span><\/strong>
Now it\u2019s time to get your strumming hand involved. Jimi always had a right hand groove going when he played that helped him to bounce between rhythm and lead. We\u2019ll start getting this pattern down by hitting the root note of the chord twice before hitting the rest of the chord. Once you\u2019ve got that down, you can add in the accented upstrokes. Be sure to watch the video to help you get the feel for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level 4<\/span><\/strong>
So you\u2019ve got the chords going and the strumming hand figured out, now it\u2019s time to add some lead to your rhythm playing. Every \u201cin-between\u201d phrase is played while continuing that strumming pattern. No matter what your fretting hand is doing, you need to make sure you keep that groove with your strumming hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level 5<\/span><\/strong>
For the last level of Hey Joe, we\u2019ll add in the rest of the lead guitar licks to the progression. These are all the iconic melodies he played throughout the song. Most of them are based on an E minor pentatonic scale and use a healthy amount of vibrato. You\u2019ll also use slides, double-stops, triads, and many more Hendrix guitar techniques. To get the most out of this lesson, be sure to download the PDF with all the tabs at the top of this page!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want More Jimi Hendrix Guitar Lessons?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How To Play Guitar Like Jimi Hendrix<\/strong><\/a>
Find all Ayla Tesler-Mabe\u2019s Jimi Hendrix guitar lessons in one place right here! You\u2019ll learn about Jimi\u2019s riffs, chords, guitar tone, and even play one of his songs all the way through. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Download the tabs) The best way to describe the way Jimi Hendrix played is \u201ccomplete freedom\u201d on the fretboard. He was the king of mixing rhythm and lead guitar together at the same time. Even if you stripped the other instruments away from his performances, there was an entire ensemble of guitar happening at once. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9,270,382,170,56,345,64],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1714"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2487,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions\/2487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitareo.com\/riff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}