Creator Area
Sign in Creator Area

Practice Studio

Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child Pt.1 - Guitar Lesson

Sections · Loop · Speed · Metronome

Not in tune?

Select a Loop

Start of your loop
End of your loop

Speed Control

Speed
100%

Tools

BPM
Key E minor
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child Pt.1 guitar lesson video
Guitar 365
Guitar 365 Top Contributor
YouTube: 1.6Msubs 1.1Mviews
Creator Page →
PLAY WITH BACKING TRACK
·
–50¢ 0 +50¢
· Tap to start

Your browser will ask for microphone permission.

Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Listen on Spotify
Jimi Hendrix Blues Rock E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Voodoo Child Pt.1

Few guitar moments hit as hard as the opening wah-drenched riff of "Voodoo Child Pt.1." Jimi Hendrix builds the whole track on a slow, swaggering E minor groove at 96 BPM, giving you just enough space to feel every bend and make it count. The song is played in Eb Standard tuning, so drop every string a half step before you start, and pay close attention to how that slightly looser tension affects your bends and vibrato. The central challenge is not speed but feel: Hendrix plays behind the beat, leans on the wah pedal as a melodic voice, and treats silence as part of the phrasing. Getting that combination to feel natural takes real time. Isolate the wah-and-bend phrases in the intro using the Practice Toolbar, looping them slowed down until your picking hand and wah foot are moving as one. This is a deep lesson in Blues Rock expression, not just a riff to memorise.

  • The song is played in Eb Standard tuning, meaning every string is tuned down a half step from standard, which gives the bends a slightly looser, more expressive feel.
  • A wah pedal is essential to the signature tone here, used not as an effect but as a melodic instrument in its own right throughout the riff.
  • At 96 BPM the tempo is moderate, but playing consistently behind the beat in the Hendrix style is the real technical hurdle to practise slowly.

How to Play Voodoo Child Pt.1

Tuning: Eb Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 96 BPM

Tuned down to Eb Standard, this track demands fluency with E minor blues phrasing across the entire neck, and the real challenge is not hitting the notes but shaping them: Hendrix's wide, vocal bends and his rhythmic, almost conversational use of the wah pedal are inseparable from the melody. Begin by locking in the main riff and its thumb-over-the-neck bass note technique before attempting the extended improvisational passages. The most common pitfall is rushing the bends and neglecting the dynamics; at 96 bpm the groove is slow enough that every note gets exposed, so use the speed control to isolate phrases and focus on matching Hendrix's pitch accuracy on those full-step and step-and-a-half bends.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 96 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Hendrix's reversed left-handed Strats with stock single-coils delivered bright, articulate tone with pronounced string separation that sang when driven through cranked tubes. The in-between pickup positions created his signature quack tones, while the volume knob let him dynamically shape fuzz in real time.

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)
Amp

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)

Hendrix pushed the Marshall 1959's power tubes to natural saturation, generating thick, harmonically rich overdrive that became his signature sound. The amp's aggressive breakup complemented his single-coils perfectly, delivering singing sustain without compressing his dynamic touch.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

In the studio, Hendrix used the Twin Reverb's cleaner headroom to capture sparkling, articulate tones and explore different breakup characteristics than the Marshall. Its built-in reverb added spaciousness to tracks like 'Little Wing' without relying on external effects.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Hendrix treated the Cry Baby as an expressive tone-shaping tool, rocking it rhythmically mid-riff on 'Voodoo Child' rather than just switching it on and off. The pedal's resonant sweep perfectly complemented his fuzz textures and added vocal-like expressiveness to his soloing.

Recommended for You

Play with Backing Track

Play with Backing Track

Solo (Backing Track)

Solo (Backing Track)