The birth of the “Hendrix chord” in 1967: How Jimi Hendrix came up with his greatest riff
The fact that we debate who the greatest guitarist in the world is when someone like Jimi Hendrix once walked the Earth is pretty ridiculous.
Everyone who we bring into the debate for the best guitarist to exist will all say the same thing, and that’s that they think Hendrix is the greatest. Read the interviews of your favourite six-string wielders and see how long it takes for them to reference Hendrix as one of the all-time greats. I can guarantee that you won’t have to do a lot of digging.
The moment that Hendrix touched down in the UK, he started playing in whatever venue would have him, and it didn’t take long for people to start recognising just how special a talent he was. One of those initial gigs was a jamming session with Eric Clapton and the members of Cream. Clapton was considered by many to be the most innovative and exceptional guitarist in the world at that point, and even he had to take his hat off to Hendrix.
“It was funny, in those days, anybody could get up with anybody if you were convincing enough that you could play,” said Clapton, “He got up and blew everyone’s mind. I just thought, ‘Ahh, someone that plays the stuff I love in the flesh, on stage with me’. I was actually privileged to be [on stage with him]… It’s something that no one is ever going to beat”.
“That incident, that night, it’s historic in my mind but only a few people are alive that would remember it.”
Eric Clapton
Not only does Hendrix have the respect of his contemporaries, though, but even in 100 years when all of these guitar greats have been and gone, the name of Hendrix will be on the tips of the tongues of musicians around the globe, as he has a chord named after him. Its technical name is E7#9, but we commonly refer to it as the Hendrix chord because of how frequently the Seattle-born guitar player used it.
It’s hard to tell why Hendrix felt such an affinity for the chord, but it did suit his style of playing a great deal. It has a very bluesy sound to it, but that sound lies slightly off kilter, essentially blending psychedelic rock and the blues into one cohesive tone, which were the two genres Hendrix straddled so effectively. He really asserted his dominance and understanding over the chord with the song ‘Purple Haze’, which he built around the Hendrix chord.
You hear it dominantly in the intro riff of ‘Purple Haze’, and while he’s singing, Hendrix is hitting that collection of notes relentlessly. You can also hear the chord’s prominence on some of his other hits like ‘Foxey Lady’ and ‘Voodoo Child’; however, ‘Purple Haze’ is the only song where he actively builds the riff and the rest of the song around it.
The Hendrix chord uses a combination of major and minor chords, and that’s why the whole track has a pretty trippy feel to it. When he plays the solo, which is slightly more exaggerated than that opening riff, while saying “help me” over it, it feels as though you’re tumbling into a bad dream. His use of E7#9 allows him to create these musical landscapes, which are, without a doubt, great examples of hard rock, but intertwined with something twisted. It’s a hard sound to apply words to, but that could be said for the majority of Hendrix’s guitar playing.
There really can’t be any debate about whether or not Jimi Hendrix is the greatest guitarist in the world or not, as when you have such a mastery over the six-string that people have named a chord after you, your influence is pretty difficult to argue against.
