Chords for Greg Koch on Jimi Hendrix • Wildwood Guitars

[N] _ [C] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ [Em] _ _ [Dm] _ [Am] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ [Gb] I don't know what that was at the end, ladies [D] and gentlemen. _
But you know [Ab] what?
We're going to talk just for a minute about our [C] friend Jim Hendrix.
[F] _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ Sometimes we [A] like to talk about influences and stuff here at Wildwood.
You know why?
Because guitar playing is fun.
Okay?
That's all I'm saying.
_ [F] _ And I play [E] guitar all the doggone time.
I get a [Db] chance to play guitar.
Hours go by and I'm playing and a lot of the initial impetus for me to play guitar and
to [A] continue to be inspired is the works of Jimi Hendrix.
Now _ in the last couple of days here I've been seeing [F] some troubling things on YouTube of
people and everyone has the right to their opinion.
I'm not saying that that's not correct.
But you [Db] know, questioning _ the reverence that Jimi Hendrix [Ab] has [E] held and _ _ [Gb] of course I believe
he deserves all of the [D] delicious kudos that he gets [E] for [Ab] his glorious [Gb] guitar activities.
But you know, a [F] lot of the newer generation _ [Eb] might think that Jimi was sloppy [D] or a lot
of the stuff that has been [B] unearthed that is out that, [Bb] you know, of him playing out
a tune and [G] so on and so forth.
[Gb] People are questioning why does he get _ [G] put on the pinnacle of the greatest, [Gb] you know,
one of the greatest guitar players of all time.
[Bm] First of all, you know, [Gm] the whole greatest guitar [Db] player thing [D] is weird.
We just talk about [Db] _ favorite guitar players and [C] certainly impactful guitar players and
you can't question the veracity of the impactfulness of slim Jim Hendrix.
I'm just going to say [Ab] it, ladies and gentlemen.
But I'll just talk [Db] to me about the personal [A] _ _ [Ab] effect Jimi had on me.
_ [Bb] _
From a player's point [A] of view, _ I just love the way he played.
His [C] rhythm guitar playing, his songwriting and his lead guitar playing [B] were absolutely
[C] revolutionary without question.
That's the main reason why I wanted to play guitar was because of Jimi Hendrix.
To me, he was just the coolest [A] cat ever to play the guitar.
[Ab] _ _
_ _ [D] And rhythm-wise, you know, just the stuff that he did, you know, [Bb] kind of that _ Curtis
[Db] Mayfield-y way of playing rhythm guitar along with his own kind of [Bbm] take on it.
You know, we do the [Ab] cleaner, _
[Gm] you know, kind of stuff where he's going_
[D] _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ [G] all that kind
of stuff is totally [B]
Hendrix-y in that where I get all that [Am] kind of, you know, _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ all that
kind [G] of stuff [Em] I take from [F] old Jimi.
And a lot of times he would choke [Bb] up on the pick to get [A] that kind of pinch [E] harmonic, _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [Ab] all
that kind of stuff, [Dm] which I [B] think he was heavily influenced by Curtis Mayfield without question,
all that kind of stuff.
A lot of times when he played blues things, you [C] know, he'd put the [B] middle pickup on and
he would _ choke up on the pick to get _
[Ab] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ _ _ [A] that_ _
That Hendrix-y in bend where you bend up on the B string [C] like_
And then on the _ _ _ A_
_ [Ab] _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ He'd take a [C] pitch, _ [Bb] bend it [F] up a whole step, [D] _ [Db] and then add the vibrato.
[D] _ _ _ _ On the B string there, I'm bending up [A] the seventh and A.
I'm bending that _ _ [Db] B string at
the eighth fret up a whole step.
_ [Eb] _
_ And then I'm catching the tip of my finger, [Db] the G string, as I'm [Am] up there.
_ _ [A] _ _ _
_ _ [Ab] _ _ _ [Gb] So when you're doing [E] that kind of thing, you can get this kind of [D] quasi Elmore [A] James thing,
which he was going for.
_ [Ab] _ _ _ _ _
[A] You _ [F] know, that kind of thing to kind of sound like slide [D] guitar.
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E]
But Jimmy would [Gb] always do these little fall-offs, [G] _ _ _ [Bm]
which I love so much, and I think he got that
from Hubert [G] Sumlin because Hubert would do [Dm] _
like_
Those kind of [Ab] _ like_
Technical term.
But little fall-offs that [C] he would do. _ _
Now there I'm not [Db] even hitting the D [C] string [D] _
[B] and the A string.
I'm hitting the [C] G string.
[D] _
_ And those other ancillary notes, those fall-off notes, those six, four [C] notes. _ _ _ _
_ That's [Bb] just hammer-on, pull [D]-off.
That _
_ _ [A] _ _ [D] little _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ [Am] _ _ [G] _ _ [Am] _
_ [G] _ _ [A] _ _ thing right there.
[G] _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ Classic [Db] Jimmy-ism.
Blues scale stuff, [Em] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ [Em]
[Am] but_
_ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[Am] _ [C] _ And sometimes [E] Jimmy would [D] do scaler things [C] that aren't really [Bb] scales, but he [A] kind of
did them anyway.
His little pentatonic-y things [D] _ like_
[G] _ _ [D] _ _ [Dm] _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ We combined [D] things_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ Sorry, just some of them random Jimmy-isms [Eb] that we're doing for you here, ladies and gentlemen.
These are the [B] kind of things that I love [D] Jim Hendrix_
Other than [G] the songwriting, of course, his [F] showmanship, [B] and just_
He was a cat of unparalleled [Gb] proportion.
You know, let's just talk about it.
He was the man.
There was a guy on the [Eb] inter-Google saying, [F] oh, the only reason why people saw Jimmy back
in the day is because [B] he smashed things.
_ _ _ [F] What?
You've got to remember the world before Jimmy [Db] Hendrix and what guitar was used for before
[B] Jimmy existed, and then what it was afterward.
_ And he was the guy.
Okay?
I'm just going to say it.
[Db] People are saying, well, he was sloppy.
Think about the things Jimmy released in his time, ladies and gentlemen.
He was a perfectionist.
He wouldn't have wanted all [C] this stuff to come out [Db] with him being out of tune [C] and doing
all kinds of [Ab] crazy stuff.
He would have said, there's no way that stuff's going [D] to see the light of day.
But, you know, since he's been gone, of course, I'm a fan.
I [B] devour all that stuff.
So I enjoy hearing all these different songs and embryonic stages that are being released.
I dig it.
But for [Gb] people who are [C] not privy to the fact of what Jimmy released in his [A] time, he [Ab] was a perfectionist.
He wouldn't have wanted that [Gb] stuff.
But as a [A] fan, I just got to have it.
You know what I'm saying?
[Bb] So, _ _ thank you, Jimmy, for the magnificent [B] things that you've put out.
I know you're [E] existing in the ethers somewhere, [Eb] cruising along.
[Db] You brought [Bb] magic to the world with [A] your guitar powers.
That's all I'm saying.
Greg Kalk here at Wildwood [E] Guitars with this glorious [Bb] Stratocaster from the Custom Shop
that is indicative _ [Ab] of, you know, Jimmy played a guitar upside down and [Eb] that bridge pickup
being [Gb] backwards like that and having [Eb] the longer E string, D string and [Db] D string resonating
longer on the guitar has a [D] particular _ tonal characteristic to it that is Jimmy-esque in nature.
[E] _
And I'm not going to say that the vast majority of the sound wasn't in the [C] hands, but certainly
these little aspects add a certain twang and a certain [E] nuance to the tone that add to the Jimmy experience.
That's all I'm saying.
[A] Some people will even say [G] the larger headstock has [Db] additional resonance properties.
I say, hey, [Ab] you know what?
If it works for [Bb] you and it inspires you, let the good times roll.
[Ab] Right?
_ [C] Alright, folks.
Greg Kalk [Bb] here, caffeinated on this teal [Gb] green metallic [Ab] Custom [E] Shop 1969 [A] Stratocaster.
We'll see you cats in the flip-flop. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _