Business Tools Blog

By week we use business tools, but on the weekends we can be anything we want to be - even a rockstar!

Have you ever wanted to play the guitar, but expensive lessons were out of reach? Check out Gibson’s free lessons at http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Lessons/

The lesson will be even more fun if you have a Gibson Les Paul (we can all dream).

Arlen Roth describes the lesson on how to play like Jimi Hendrix:

Jimi Hendrix had a truly powerful rhythm guitar approach that was beautifully designed to incorporate both lead and rhythm guitar, and accommodate the fact that he was basically in a three-piece band. This enabled him to paint in broad strokes with his guitar, and his technique varied widely from heavy power chord licks to smooth R&B/country-like sounds.

The first time I heard him do “The Wind Cries Mary”, I knew he was a guitarist of exceptional depth and roots, and his clean approach was unmatched. In some of his more “psychedelic” parts, such as “Foxy Lady” and “Purple Haze,” Hendrix played what many folks first think are dissonant chords such as sharp 9s. And yes, he did on occasion play those. But more often than not he would play a stinging, dissonant lick on top of the rest of the band, and it was the combination of his licks and the bass parts that created these chords.

In the course of this lesson, I will show you some of these key licks and positions that made Jimi’s style so unique, and we’ll even tune down the way he did, to get a slinkier, fatter sound. This “dropped” tuning was also favored by players such as Lonnie Mack, Stevie Ray Vaughan , Robin Trower and others, many of whom try to imitate that Hendrix tone and sound. Enjoy!-Arlen Roth