Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze - Guitar Tab

Are You Experienced

1967 2:51

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About Purple Haze

Few guitar parts announce themselves as immediately as the opening two bars of "Purple Haze." That descending figure built around the tritone interval between E and B-flat sits at the core of the song, and getting it to sound right takes more than just fretting the correct notes. Jimi Hendrix played it with his thumb wrapped over the neck to fret the low E string, a technique that frees the other fingers for the fills and bends that follow. The verse riff is deceptively simple to read but hard to phrase correctly: the rhythmic pushes and ghost notes need to feel loose and slightly behind the beat, not stiff. Working in E minor, the solo draws heavily on the minor pentatonic scale with generous use of finger vibrato and wide bends up to pitch. If the solo transitions or the opening riff feel rushed, use the Practice Toolbar to loop them slowed down until the timing becomes natural.

• The opening tritone figure (E to B-flat) is the heart of the song and is best learned with the thumb-over-neck fretting technique Hendrix favoured.
• The verse riff relies on ghost notes and rhythmic pushes that feel stiff if played too precisely, so practise phrasing it loosely.
• The solo sits in E minor pentatonic and demands controlled wide bends and consistent finger vibrato, both worth isolating with slow loops.