Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

[Lewguitar]

I've loved this tune for many years but never learned to play it note for note.

Spent a few hours working it out the other day.

Just curious how many of you can play that intro perfectly?

It's in E flat by the way...you'll have to tune your guitar down a half step to play along with the record.

That intro to Little Wing is so beautiful...

After learning it, I was driving somewhere last night and SRV's version came on the radio...I was surprised that he doesn't play it note for note. The way he plays the intro is close...but not exact.

Lew

 

[jeremy]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

i play it pretty close, not that ive played it in a while. its so perfect on the record so i try and get as close as possible but i havent listened to it in a while so i forget little parts here and there.

 

[Ocifer]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

I don't play it note for note... I think it's one of those songs that everyone plays just a little differently. And the SRV version is my favourite.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

I don't play it note for note... I think it's one of those songs that everyone plays just a little differently. And the SRV version is my favourite.

SRV's version of the intro is a little more aggressive...especially the pull-off's. You can tell he's hitting the strings a little harder. At least on the take that they issued on the CD. I'm sure he could play it any way he felt like playing it though! Bigger strings (and maybe higher action?) on SRV's Strat than on Hendrix guitars. Jimi used a .010 high E string usually. SRV used a .012! Lew

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

It's my favorite song. Period. I've loved it since I was in the 3rd grade. I use to play it before first sets at club gigs sometimes, just to get people's ears adjusted, and establish a mood. I probably don't play it correctly anymore, as the way I play it has evolved over the years.

SRV's absolutely brillant instumental version was a major influance too.

I used to have a guitar tuned down 1/2 step and just play along with various Hendrix versions for fun.

It's just the greatest composition. That is what I loved about Hendrix the most, he was such a great composer, as well as a complete guitar player....

 

[tone4days]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

SRV's was down a 1/2 step too, no?

i wish i could play it more accurately ... i just do my own version and try to make it come out emotionally authentic to myself ... it would be a cool thing to take a lesson on that tune from someone who knows how to cop that technical approach .. i LOVE to improv solo over those changes too

a cool version, not nearly as widely known, was on a Sting CD ... i wanna say it was hiram bullock who solo'd, but i'll have to check ... very killer!

t4d

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

I play it very similar...but definitely not note for note....I know I can't play it like Hendrix did, and man..Hendrix didn't play it the way Hendrix did every night ya know? I cover that one a lot, people love it! It's just a beautiful written songs and one of the longest harmonic phrases in pop history...just a great song!

 

[dilney]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

I like both versions, but my favorite is Jimi's.

I can play the intro, although I can't get the same feel as Jimi (for obvious reasons).

Dilney

 

[Corbic]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

I love all three versions of it; Jimi's, Derek and the Domino's, and SRV's. Its the song that I want to play so badly but could never figure it out in a million years, even with tabs.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

Do you guys use your thumb for any of the chords? I'm sure Hendrix used that big ol' thumb of his alot on that tune! He could wrap it half way across the fingerboard! How do you guys play the D chord right at the end of the intro? Do you play the C chord and D chord in first position and then switch it up to the 7th fret for the very ending of the intro?

Lew

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

Do you guys use your thumb for any of the chords? I'm sure Hendrix used that big ol' thumb of his alot on that tune! He could wrap it half way across the fingerboard! How do you guys play the D chord right at the end of the intro? Do you play the C chord and D chord in first position and then switch it up to the 7th fret for the very ending of the intro?

Lew

that's how I do it..though I'm sure hendrix did it very differently

 

[tone4days]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

... Derek and the Domino's...

funny, i find that version absolutely unlistenable ... that overblown, pretentious, 'bolero' build-up before the verses come back in just ruin it for me

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

I don't , probably because I learned to play chords with my thumb as a pivot point on the back of the neck, sort of like classical guitar...

I would like to master that Hendrix thumb technique though. It opens up possibilities

 

[tone4days]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

How do you guys play the D chord right at the end of the intro?

i play a first position C major chord ...

X32010

then slide it up and play this for the "D"

X54030

not note for note correct, but with a little chorus and notching n+m, it really makes me feel tingly

t4d

 

[flank]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

i have an alternate version in which he plays it differently himself, and like Capo said, i doubt he would've played it the same way twice either, heh.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

i play a first position C major chord ...

X32010

then slide it up and play this for the "D"

X54030

not note for note correct, but with a little chorus and notching n+m, it really makes me feel tingly

t4d

Do for the D you play: D F# G D E ???

 

[ErikH]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

That song is probably one of the very very few out there that is an absolute incredible and beautiful piece of work, that no matter who does it and how, whether it's note for note or not, people dig it just because of the vibe. I've seen many players do a version and each one is different but they all had one thing in common, the vibe that Little Wing sends out. That's the coolness of it right there.

 

[Corbic]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

funny, i find that version absolutely unlistenable ... that overblown, pretentious, 'bolero' build-up before the verses come back in just ruin it for me

I don't like the opening part that much, but otherwise a lot of it sounds great. Plus the Dominos were the band that started me on playing guitar, and that was the third song of theirs I heard.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

a cool version, not nearly as widely known, was on a Sting CD ... i wanna say it was hiram bullock who solo'd, but i'll have to check ... very killer!

t4d

YUP, Hiram Bullock.....killer solo, but no intro ala Jimi or SRV :crying:

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Jimi Hendrix: Little Wing

I think I probably play it closer to the way SRV does it, since I've watched those videos closely, but I don't care about doing it exact....gotta throw in a little of my own vibe too. I like how it goes from open C to D, the little trills on D, the harmonics across most strings at the 12th fret, then grab the upper horn of the guitar with your right hand, the back of the headstock with your left hand and bend the whole neck to dive bomb the harmonics!!