Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze - Intro & Man Riff

Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze - Intro and Main Riff Video Transcription

Chris Becknell: Hello friends, Chris with BeginningGuitarOnline. com.

In this video we're taking a look at the intro and the main riff that make up one of rock and roll's greatest songs, about a purple laser beam. Up in this video is Purple Haze. We're going through the notes slowly here so you can play along. I've rolled back the distortion so you can hear things more accurately too.

Starting in six position here, six, eight.

Exploring the Octave Power Chord

At the opening here, we've got an octave power chord.

This shape on guitar, anywhere you move it, is an octave, the 1 3. across the 6th to the 4th string. We're skipping the 5th string in the middle. We're not playing a power chord. And he's going through that figure four times. Then we're modulating up a half step. As we slide into the main motif.

Bridging across here, letting up just at the end, so that we don't hear those ring together like that.

Mastering the Vibrato Technique

And giving a little bit of vibrato here, gives you a chance as a beginner. to practice some vibrato with that index finger.

And there's many different ways to approach vibrato. This is more of a vibrato bend. We're doing a little vibrato motion with the hand, but we're rolling the wrist outwards like this to get that kind of Oscillating sound. Keep the finger connected. Sliding back, reaching back down to our tonic E there.

The Art of Bending Strings

Couple of bends there. Oh, third there. And then a quick jump up to that higher octave G. And he bends it up. And as we're working on a bend that does not release, this song is just so great for that. We bend on the 12. And then as we've reached that pinnacle of the bend, we've bent a full half step up to our G sharp there.

And we're just going to place our right hand on. And then we can let go of the string without making any noise. Then as soon as we're done stopping that, we're coming back down and going into our E7 sharp 9 chord.

Decoding the Jimi Hendrix Chord

This is the Jimi Hendrix chord. We're playing an E. Another E octave up there on the seventh fret.

Sixth fret, G sharp. Third finger's playing my seven. Our dominant seven there, the D natural. And then our pinky is playing the G natural. So you get this contrasting sound between the G sharp under the first finger and the G natural under the pinky. Play those and isolate them. Really just enjoy the groove there.

Sci fi music, really, when it's isolated.

The Sci-Fi Inspiration Behind Purple Haze

And Jimi Hendrix talked about Purple Haze being inspired by a sci fi comic. About a laser ray that he read. So that's definitely the laser ray there, right? Just jarring to hear. But when we put it in the context of the other chord here, excuse me, the context of the other notes, it really sounds quite cool.

And our modern ear has gotten used to this, but man, when this album dropped. It's these kinds of sounds that led the critics to say Jimi Hendrix's music sounds like heavy metal falling from the sky. And as we pick that, we're allowing the sixth string to ring, but notice I'm not following through to the high E string there.

It's letting the pick drag through to the B string and then quickly stopping, pulling my hand away from the strings. And back.

Practicing the Rolling Pick Stroke

So again, as a beginning guitarist, this gives you an awful lot to work on. And back, you get to do a rolling pick stroke. And then a cutoff and just sitting and working on that groove, you know, looping things over and over is the best way to make 'em clear and to get some facility.

And your pinky can kind of lean against the high E there and notice it's not really even gonna sound anyways, even if I strike through it.

And then down to a G power chord up to an A power chord. And there's the main chunk of the song that G down B two. The G kind of coming just after the downbeat. We hear that low E.

Another thing you can isolate and practice, hitting that low E, getting the chord in place, then sliding up.

So much of Hendrik's guitar playing just gives you an infinite amount of things to work on as a developing guitar player.

Playing with Distortion

Next up, we're going to try it with a little bit more distortion.

And you'll notice as I'm playing that I'm pretty much just doing downstrokes here. The song's great for beginners in that there's not a lot of complicated syncopation with upstrokes in it. It's just mostly down, down, down, down, down, down, and then just a big down. Mute, down, mute. So it really gives you a chance to feel connected to the strings.

The Importance of Clarity in Guitar Playing

And as always, you know, as beginners, we're working on clarity. So the way I'm playing this, I'm really defining what's coming out. I'm really being concerned about how it sounds. The distortion's going to cover up a lot of the individual note clarity when we crank up the gain and actually play the piece at tempo.

But we don't want to rely on distortion as a cover up for clarity. We always want to work on clarity. while we're learning a piece, so that when we have the distortion, it's simply a layer of spice on top, and not something we have to hide sloppy technique behind. We've gone over a lot of the things that make this really great for a beginner to work on.

All the bends, all of the chord shifts, the octave points, get a little bit of theory in there, utilizing an unusual chord, the 7 sharp 9 chord, which is movable, by the way, as long as you're just playing those four strings.

Exploring Creative Practice and Chord Movements

So as always, when you have a finger pattern on guitar, take a little time to have some creative practice and move it around the neck. Just a lot of fun.

You start hearing some of the other people you might listen to in there. Funify it, kind of building on that.

Building Endurance with Right Hand Down Upstrokes

We can really work on some right-hand down upstrokes at a high tempo speed. This is similar to a drummer really getting used to maintaining a 16th-note groove on the hi-hat. We're just basically focusing on the principle that our right-hand does not stop.

Your right hand should just be a metronome going nonstop here. We're just going to go back and forth with our down and upstrokes.

And then when we chord change, our left hand has to do the motion without the right hand stopping in between.

So you're going to really get a lot of great endurance practice by just doing that. Try to do that for, you know, one or two minutes.

Conclusion and Invitation to Explore More Resources

As always, click subscribe, hit that like button, and if you haven't yet, head over to BeginningGuitarOnline. com and check out all the free resources we have available to you on your guitar-playing journey.

A little bit of knowledge goes a long way, and we hope to see you back here again at BeginningGuitarOnline.com soon.

Don't forget to subscribe to our Woodshed Newsletter for early access to content and curated online lessons. Share your thoughts, like, subscribe, and help others discover these insights. Happy practicing, and remember, the best approach is the one that keeps you engaged and progressing on your guitar journey!