Hendrix Chords

When you are bored with the same old chords, try to learn how to play some Hendrix chords. Don't be fooled by those revealing the "secrets" of how this works. The truth is because of the way he played, it was hard to see exactly what he was doing. Since then, many have figured it out. In some ways, it is still uncommon. You just don't see guitarists do it. Being a typical teenager, I stumbled upon this just by trying to pose like he did on a poster, but with my guitar. Look at the way he holds the neck. Why does he do that?

Here are 3 things I learned that I'd like to share.

1) Learn "how to get a grip" on the neck and strings of your guitar.

2) You need to realize the strings you do not play can make all the difference.

3) Many Hendrix chords are inversions of common shapes.

1) Learn to "Get a grip."

Hendrix Chord Grip

Jimi almost never played bar chords like most people do. Why? Hedidn't have to. He had unusually long thumbs and fingers for a man his size. Was it a blessing or a curse? This doesn't mean that because you have short fingers, like myself, that you can't do the same thing. His were probably a least an inch longer than mine, so don't run off and give up on this just yet. Put simply, he played with his thumb over the 5th and 6th strings often.To most people this is awkward at first, but believe me, when you have to play six 50 minute sets a night, this comes in handy and makes playing a lot more fun. You need a guitar neck that fits your hand well enough. There are 3 ways the bar chords can sound. 1)All strings heard. 2) 3 or 4 top or bottom strings heard. 3) 5 or 6 strings strummed but, 1 or 2 are muted so you only hear 3 or 4 of them ring through. These last 2 formulas make it easier to play with your thumb. Which brings us to...

2) You need to realize the strings you do not play can make all the difference.On other pages I tell you to make sure you can hear each strings when you strum. No clicks or buzzes of improperly fretted strings. Now you have to take it a step further and purposely mute a string with a fret hand finger touching it, but still make the other notes around that muted one, sound good. Pretty radical huh? Well that's what makes Hendrix one of the best of all time. He had this down. You can too.

3) Many Hendrix chords are inversions of common shapes. A chord inversion is the same three notes played in different order. On a guitar it usually is somewhere else on the neck and that makes the chord sound and look different. For example, if a C chord has the notes C, G and E. Change the order to G, E, C for one inversion, or change to E, C, G for another. ( To learn where these notes are on the neck, check out your notes card. (click here for notes card page) Sometimes these inversions require not playing or muting strings in order to make them easy to play. You know, get the notes of each chord closer to each other so you don't have to stretch all over the place like a contortionist. ( Look it up in the dictionary.) See, if you can find and play a bunch of inversions near the area you are already playing in, you don't have to slide and jump around all over the neck. Your playing looks effortless, therefore, you look cool. Hendrix obviously played with many different piano, guitar and horn players. Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner and BB King for example. He also must have practiced all the time. This is what you have to do if you don't want to "step on" the exact same chords others are playing and get buried in the mix or worse, throw them off. What really made him unique was when he continued to play this way in a 3 piece band. He could cover the ranges of different instruments by himself. No real need for a rhythm player when you got the best.

Check out the Hendrix chords chart below.

Hendrix Chords with tab

I'll refer to the numbers above each chord as we go along.1 and 2 are what most people refer to as the Hendrix chord. Same chord at different positions for a slighty different sound.

6 is the D version of 2 slid down 2 frets. Notice you don't play the 2 E strings when moving this chord away from E.

5 is very similar to 6 and can be moved up and down as well.

3 is similar in shape to 6 with the root on the 6th string. Can be moved as well.

7 is just to show you where 8 comes from, you don't play as many strings with 8, and it's easier.

4 can be played as A7 by keeping on the 5th fret of string 1.Thumb can play Root on 6th string and is a movable bar chord. You can mute the 4th string as shown, as well as the 1st string if desired.

9 and 10 are forms that can be tried on different strings and slid up and down the neck for weird effect. Try strumming just the 3rd, 4th and 5th strings for 9.

For 10 try plucking both strings at the same time. Also try all your octaves this way, using strings 1&3, 2&4, 3&5 and 4&6. There are many more octaves around the neck. Look for them on your notes card.

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