Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child - Guitar Tab

Electric Ladyland

1968 5:13

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About Voodoo Child

Few tracks demand as much from a guitarist's hands and ears as "Voodoo Child" from Electric Ladyland. The song lives in Eb Standard tuning, which drops every string a half step and gives the whole thing a looser, slightly darker feel under your fingers. The key of E minor keeps you rooted to familiar pentatonic shapes, but the real challenge is capturing Jimi Hendrix's wah-driven phrasing: the notes themselves are not always difficult, but the timing, the vibrato, and the thumb-over-the-neck grip he used to fret bass notes while soloing are a different matter entirely. At 96 BPM the groove is medium-slow, which sounds forgiving until you realise every note sits under a microscope. That tempo actually makes sloppy bends and uneven vibrato more obvious, not less. Isolate the opening wah riff with the Practice Toolbar, loop it slowed down, and focus on matching the swell of the wah pedal to each note's attack before you worry about speed. This is one of the defining recordings in Blues Rock, and the guitar work rewards patient, detail-oriented practice.

• The song is played in Eb Standard tuning, so tune every string down a half step before you start or your bends and unison reference points will all feel off.
• Hendrix's signature wah-pedal riff opens the track, and controlling the wah sweep in time with the phrase is the central technique to master here.
• The medium-slow tempo of 96 BPM puts your vibrato and string bending accuracy on full display, making clean execution more important than speed.