Unit 10: Hey Joe

In this lesson we learn a tune by one of the great masters of the guitar: Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix did not write this song, but he certainly made it famous. I like it because the chord progression uses almost all of the chords you already know, and it introduces on new chord: E major.

E is a 6 string strummed chord that looks like this in Tab:
--0--
--0--
--1--
--2--
--2--
--0--

After a short introductions (which I show you in class) the chord progression begins. It stays like this for the entire song:
C G/ D A/ E /E/

That C for two beats and G for two beats followed by d for two beats and A for two beats. The E chord gets two whole measures of time of 8 beats. Start with the chords in open position, and then begin to explore other areas of the neck like Jimi does. For the test you need to play the progression three ways. First, all open chords:

--0--3--2-----0--
--1--0--3--2--0--
--0--0--2--2--1--
--2--0--0--2--2--
--3--2-----0--2--
-----3--------0--

Next, play in 3rd position:

-----3-----5--4--
--5--3--7--5--5--
--5--4--7--6--4--
--5--5--7--7--6--
--3-----5-----7--
-----------------

Notice that the C chord is like the open A chord, but moved up from the 2nd fret to the 5th fret? Instead of ringing an open A for the root, we move the A string note up to the 3rd fret (the same distance).. The G chord is like the F chord that you learned in "Saving Grace", but it's moved up to the 3rd fret so it's not F anymore.

Finally, play in 10th position:

--8--7--10--9----
--8--8--10--10--9
--9--7--11--9---9
-10--9--12--11--9
----------------7
-----------------

In this case, our C voicing is the same as our "Saving Grace" voicing, but it's on C (10th Fret). The G chord is the same as the open D voicing, but we applied the same concept of moving the chord up the neck and eliminating the open strings. That's the test. Good luck!

Hendrix played all over the guitar and mixed up these voicings at will. To really get a taste of the genius on jimi Hendrix, i suggest learing this song note for note, chord for chord. There are plenty of good transcriptions available in tab format. I suggest a published verion as on-line tab is notoriously inaccurate. For a real life-changing experience, forgo the transcription learn it by ear.