JazzMusicArchives.com Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home >Other music related lounges >Jazz related lounge
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Jimi Hendrix - as a guitarist
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

Jimi Hendrix - as a guitarist

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
dreadpirateroberts View Drop Down
Forum Admin Group
Forum Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Location: AU
Status: Offline
Points: 1836
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dreadpirateroberts Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Jimi Hendrix - as a guitarist
    Posted: 20 Mar 2012 at 8:14am
Hi everyone, thought I'd get some opinions on the great fellow - from a stylistic/technique viewpoint.  

I've had a large amount of his material for years and have always meant to ask a guitar-player what it is about Jimi that's so very distinctive. I know as a listener, what I think, what impresses me, but as a guitarist (or a proper musician of any other instrument) what's the key to his playing?

I've heard someone say that something like Little Wing shows the way he blends lead and rhythm playing, how's that as a starting point?  Interested in other thoughts. I'll post it here anyway, though doubtless we're all familiar with the song:


We are men of action. Lies do not become us.
Reviews...
Back to Top
js View Drop Down
Forum Admin Group
Forum Admin Group
Avatar
Site admin

Joined: 22 Dec 2010
Location: Memphis
Status: Offline
Points: 35255
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote js Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2012 at 10:00am
Although most go for his guitar playing, i like his introspective song writing such as "Drifting" and "Midnight Oil".

From a musicians standpoint, I guess what is remarkable about his guitar playing is the way it flows,. His playing sounds like a steam of thought, a lot of musicians can't do that. A guitar player who I thought took what Jimi was doing to the next level is Pete Cosey on Miles albums like "Agharta" and others.
Back to Top
Kazuhiro View Drop Down
Forum Admin Group
Forum Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 15 Jan 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Status: Offline
Points: 3774
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kazuhiro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2012 at 8:40pm
The guitar player such as Jimi Hendrix was surely originality. And probably musicians affected by Jimi Hendrix will be enormous. It was said that Miles Davis looked for a guitar player such as Jimi Hendrix in the 80s.

However, I thought that it was really rock guitar that Mike Stern went. It is not a performance such as much Jimi Hendrix.

In any case Michael Landau where I was always a favorite.
 
Back to Top
dreadpirateroberts View Drop Down
Forum Admin Group
Forum Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Location: AU
Status: Offline
Points: 1836
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dreadpirateroberts Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2012 at 12:18am
^ cool, Kazu - got the Hendrix vibe there all right!  Yeah, I'd heard the same about Miles, I understand, I'd have been looking for something like him too, for sure.
We are men of action. Lies do not become us.
Reviews...
Back to Top
dreadpirateroberts View Drop Down
Forum Admin Group
Forum Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Location: AU
Status: Offline
Points: 1836
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dreadpirateroberts Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2012 at 12:18am
Originally posted by js js wrote:

Although most go for his guitar playing, i like his introspective song writing such as "Drifting" and "Midnight Oil".

From a musicians standpoint, I guess what is remarkable about his guitar playing is the way it flows,. His playing sounds like a steam of thought, a lot of musicians can't do that. A guitar player who I thought took what Jimi was doing to the next level is Pete Cosey on Miles albums like "Agharta" and others.


Ah yes, the flow is so seamless, good point.  I will have to check out Pete - and I still don't own 'Agharta' so I should stat there perhaps!
We are men of action. Lies do not become us.
Reviews...
Back to Top
Atavachron View Drop Down
JMA Collaborator
JMA Collaborator
Avatar
Jazz Reviewer

Joined: 26 Jan 2011
Status: Offline
Points: 189
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2012 at 4:08am
Hmm, it's a very good question; to me the most significant thing Jimi did was uncovering what the electric guitar was really capable of as an instrument wholly unlike its acoustic version, or any other instrument for that matter.   He saw that the amp could be as important and expressive as the guitar, and pushed that pairing past what anyone could have imagined in their wildest dreams.   This came out particularly live, e.g. Band of Gypsys or Live at Berkeley, but also on albums as Axis and Ladyland.   Had Hendrix just been the bitchin' guitarist and exciting hard blues songwriter he was he still would've been successful but not a legend.   It's when Jimi let go and just played that he was at his best.

Back to Top
dreadpirateroberts View Drop Down
Forum Admin Group
Forum Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Location: AU
Status: Offline
Points: 1836
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dreadpirateroberts Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Mar 2012 at 6:18am
Expressive use of the amp, that's another great example - mixing it with his playing so well.
What did you think of the Blue Angel live stuff?
We are men of action. Lies do not become us.
Reviews...
Back to Top
Sean Trane View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Location: Brussels
Status: Offline
Points: 789
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Mar 2012 at 12:44pm
I just borrowed from the library the album Gil Evans plays the music of Jimi Hendrix
 
Let you know how that is during the next week
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicted musicians to crazy ones....

Back to Top
dreadpirateroberts View Drop Down
Forum Admin Group
Forum Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Location: AU
Status: Offline
Points: 1836
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dreadpirateroberts Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Mar 2012 at 7:31pm
^ that sounds interesting indeed
We are men of action. Lies do not become us.
Reviews...
Back to Top
Chicapah View Drop Down
JMA Special Collaborator
JMA Special Collaborator
Avatar
Jazz Reviewer

Joined: 20 Jan 2011
Location: Forney, Texas
Status: Offline
Points: 56
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chicapah Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Apr 2012 at 2:28pm
What attracts me most about Jimi's playing is that he was so open to anything that could give him a new angle or a new sound.  I agree that he made the amp a vital part of his technique but he also used electronic effects fearlessly.  For example, "All Along the Watchtower" is a virtual tour de force of gadgets yet he never let them overpower his performance or become his trademark.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord...
Back to Top
dreadpirateroberts View Drop Down
Forum Admin Group
Forum Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Location: AU
Status: Offline
Points: 1836
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dreadpirateroberts Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2012 at 6:24am
Ah, great example - I've just re-listened to 'All Along the Watchtower', trying to pay very close attention to the guitar sound and I see what you're saying, great stuff - I'd forgotten about the effective sound he gets with the reverb or delay before the solo and then the wah and so on. There sounds like heaps more stuff I can't name too.

But as you say, they're subtle enough that they don't jump and shout for attention.
We are men of action. Lies do not become us.
Reviews...
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 10.16
Copyright ©2001-2013 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.141 seconds.