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The Jimi Hendrix Experience

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Red House - Guitar Tab

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Band Overview

The Jimi Hendrix Experience formed in London in 1966, featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar and vocals, Noel Redding on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums. In just four years of active recording, this power trio rewrote the rulebook on what the electric guitar could do. Hendrix fused blues, rock, funk, and psychedelia into a singular style that remains the benchmark for expressive electric guitar playing. If you play electric guitar, learning Hendrix is not optional; it is foundational. What makes Hendrix essential for guitarists is the sheer range of techniques he pioneered or popularized. His rhythm playing blended chord voicings with melodic embellishments, often using the "Hendrix chord" (the dominant 7 sharp 9) as a launching pad. He used his thumb to fret bass notes on the low E string, freeing his other fingers to voice partial chords and hammer-on fills simultaneously. His lead work combined pentatonic blues vocabulary with aggressive whammy bar manipulation, controlled feedback, and a vibrato that was as wide and vocal as anything heard before or since. He played a right-handed Stratocaster flipped upside down and strung for left-handed playing, which subtly altered the string tension and the position of the pickup slant, contributing to his unique tone. For difficulty, Hendrix sits in a deceptive zone. Songs like "Red House" are approachable for intermediate players in terms of the basic chord progression and standard 12-bar blues structure, but nailing the feel, the micro-bends, the rhythmic phrasing between chords, and the dynamic control of his solos is a lifelong pursuit. His rhythm playing is arguably harder to replicate than his leads because of how fluidly he mixed chords, single notes, and percussive muting within a single bar. Expect to spend serious time on thumb-over fretting, double stops, and getting your whammy bar technique smooth and musical rather than gimmicky.

What Makes The Jimi Hendrix Experience Essential for Guitar Players

Hendrix's rhythm style is built on "chord embellishment," where he adds hammer-ons, pull-offs, and sliding double stops around open and barre chord shapes. Practicing this approach will transform your rhythm playing from static strumming into something alive and melodic.
His signature use of the thumb wrapped over the neck to fret the root note on the low E string is critical. This technique frees your index, ring, and pinky fingers to add fills, partial chord voicings, and pentatonic licks on top of the bass note, essentially turning one guitarist into two.
Hendrix was a master of controlled feedback and whammy bar manipulation. He would lean into his amp stack to coax harmonics and sustain, then use the tremolo arm to shape those tones into musical phrases rather than noise. Learning when and how to use feedback musically is a key Hendrix skill.
His vibrato was wide, slow, and highly vocal, often applied with the whammy bar as well as with standard finger vibrato. Listen to his sustained bends in "Red House" to hear how he lets notes breathe and swell, a stark contrast to the fast, narrow vibrato common in later rock styles.
Hendrix frequently used the Uni-Vibe and wah pedal not just as effects but as integral parts of his phrasing. He would rock the wah in time with his picking attack to create vowel-like articulations, making the guitar sound like a human voice. Practicing wah control as a dynamic tool rather than a simple on/off effect is essential to capturing his sound.

Did You Know?

Hendrix played right-handed Fender Stratocasters flipped upside down for left-handed playing. This meant the low E string sat closest to the slanted bridge pickup's treble side, and the high E was on the bass side, subtly altering his tone compared to a standard left-handed guitar.

The "Hendrix chord," the E7#9 (voiced 076780), was not invented by Hendrix, but he made it so iconic in "Purple Haze" that it permanently carries his name in guitar vocabulary worldwide.

During the recording of "Red House" for the UK release of "Are You Experienced," Hendrix reportedly borrowed a guitar because his own Strat had a broken string. The raw, slightly unfamiliar feel may have contributed to the loose, gritty blues energy of that take.

Hendrix often tuned down a half step to Eb standard. This slackened the string tension slightly, making his massive bends and whammy bar dives easier while also giving his tone a warmer, heavier quality.

Roger Mayer, an electronics engineer, custom-built effects pedals for Hendrix, including the Octavia fuzz (heard famously on "Purple Haze" and live versions of "Red House"). This collaboration was one of the earliest examples of artist-specific custom gear.

Hendrix would frequently change his strings before every show and preferred light gauge strings (.010 sets), which helped facilitate his extreme bending and whammy bar techniques on the Stratocaster.

At Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Hendrix famously set his guitar on fire. What many guitarists overlook is that just before the spectacle, he delivered one of the most technically ferocious and emotionally intense live performances ever captured, proving the showmanship was secondary to the playing.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Are You Experienced 1967

This debut is ground zero for electric guitar reinvention. "Purple Haze" teaches the sharp 9 chord and fuzz tone control, "Foxy Lady" is a masterclass in riff-based playing with feedback, and "Red House" (included on the US release) is one of the greatest slow blues guitar performances ever recorded. Start here to learn Hendrix's rhythm and lead fundamentals.

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Axis: Bold as Love 1967

This album showcases Hendrix's more refined and layered side. "Little Wing" is the definitive chord-melody piece for electric guitar, blending arpeggiated chords with pentatonic fills in a way every guitarist should study. "Bold as Love" features beautiful use of studio effects and dynamic lead phrasing. If you want to develop your chord embellishment and clean tone expressiveness, this is the album.

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Electric Ladyland 1968

The most sonically ambitious Hendrix record pushes guitar technique and studio experimentation to the limit. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" is an essential wah-wah workout with aggressive pentatonic riffing. "All Along the Watchtower" is a lesson in layered overdubs, slide guitar, and building intensity across a song. This album rewards advanced players who want to explore tone sculpting and dynamic range.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Fender Stratocaster, primarily late 1960s models (notably a 1968 Olympic White Strat and a 1967 sunburst), played upside down and restrung for left-handed playing. The nut was sometimes re-cut, but the reversed headstock meant the low strings had slightly longer scale length and the high strings shorter, subtly affecting tension and tone. The tremolo bar was always present and used extensively. Hendrix also occasionally played a Gibson Flying V and SG, but the Strat defined his sound.

Amp

Marshall Super Lead 100-watt plexi heads (1959 model), typically driving 4x12 cabinets loaded with Celestion speakers. Hendrix ran these amps loud, often using multiple stacks simultaneously for sheer volume and to generate natural tube saturation and controlled feedback. The amps were cranked with treble and presence up high to get that biting, harmonically rich overdrive that defined his live sound. In the studio, Fender Twin Reverbs and smaller amps were also used for cleaner tones and layering.

Pickups

Stock Fender single-coil pickups from mid-to-late 1960s Stratocasters. Because his guitars were flipped, the slanted bridge pickup had its polarity reversed relative to the strings, with the treble side under the wound strings, contributing to a slightly warmer, less ice-picky bridge tone than a standard Strat. The single-coil clarity was essential for his clean chord work, while the pickups' interaction with cranked Marshall amps produced his signature fuzzy overdrive and harmonic feedback.

Effects & Chain

Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face (germanium transistor models for warm, saggy fuzz), Vox Wah (later Cry Baby models), Roger Mayer Octavia (octave fuzz for soaring leads), and Uni-Vibe (a rotating speaker simulator creating lush, swirling modulation). The typical chain ran guitar into wah, then fuzz, then Octavia, then Uni-Vibe, into the Marshall. Hendrix used these effects as musical instruments in themselves, manipulating the wah mid-phrase and rolling his guitar volume knob to clean up the fuzz. His tone was shaped as much by touch and volume dynamics as by the pedals.

Recommended Gear

Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Hendrix's upside-down 1968 Olympic White Strat defined his sound with reversed single-coils that warmed his bridge pickup while maintaining the clarity needed for his rhythmic chord work and feedback-drenched leads. The reversed headstock's scale length imbalance subtly affected string tension, contributing to his signature tone when cranked through Marshalls.

Guitar

Gibson Flying V

Hendrix occasionally wielded the Gibson Flying V for its aggressive aesthetic and slightly different tonal character, though the Strat remained his primary instrument for the versatility and harmonic richness that matched his revolutionary playing style.

Amp

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)

The 100-watt Marshall 1959 plexi head, pushed to saturation with treble and presence maxed, generated Hendrix's iconic fuzzy overdrive and controlled feedback that made his guitar sing like a horn, especially crucial for his live sound across multiple stacked cabinets.

Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

In the studio, Hendrix used the Fender Twin Reverb's clean headroom and lush reverb to layer cleaner tones and provide contrast to his Marshall-driven tracks, allowing him to sculpt psychedelic textures impossible with pure plexi saturation.

Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

The Cry Baby wah became Hendrix's expressive voice, manipulated mid-phrase to create wailing vocal-like effects that defined songs like 'Voodoo Child,' giving him an interactive tool as important as any note-playing technique.

How to Practice The Jimi Hendrix Experience on GuitarZone

Every The Jimi Hendrix Experience song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice Red House - Guitar Tab