What is the signature Jimi Hendrix chord?
It makes sense that Jimi Hendrix should have his own chord. One of guitar playing’s true innovators, best described as the definitive modern axeman, there’s no surprise that he has a storied cluster of notes to his name, representing his indelible impact on music and culture. As fans of the late Seattle native will know, the ‘Hendrix Chord’ is the 7#9.
Although it existed long before he burst onto the scene in the late 1960s, Hendrix weaponised it, and the chord symbolised the different elements of his sound. The gritty blues, searing psychedelia, and harmonious jazz are all embodied in these four simple notes.
So what is the 7#9 chord? Per Fender, the home of Hendrix’s favourite model, the Stratocaster, it’s an extended dominant 7th chord with an augmented (sharpened) ninth. Although the sonority had been used in jazz and other related styles, Hendrix made it his own via a handful of classic records and his propensity for using it regularly in the live setting. After he popularised it, it would make its way into the vocabulary of modern rock, with a host of prominent names drawing on it. Whilst he used it in many forms, it is the E7#9 form on the 7th fret that he is closely associated with.
The earliest known recording of the dominant 7#9 chord used by Hendrix is the 1964 Isley Brothers’ track ‘Testify’, which he played on two years before going solo. Before Hendrix made it his own, The Beatles used it in D7#9 form on ‘Taxman’, the opening track of 1966’s Revolver, as Cream did that same year in E7#9 on ‘I Feel Free’.
That was all well and good, but when The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their second single ‘Purple Haze’ on March 17th, 1967 – a piece built around the depth of the E7#9 chord voicing – it would start to become closely associated with the guitarist. The simple choice of opting for the E7#9 voicing rather than the standard E major or E7 helped to create what would quickly become his signature song and sound.
Famously, ‘Purple Haze’ starts with an almost palpable amount of tension from the staccato of the tritone opening before Hendrix and the band jump into the verse, with Hendrix playing his iconic riff. It then melts away into the verse, which is coloured by the bouncing rhythm of the E7#9 chord.
Whilst ‘Purple Haze’ is the track most closely linked to the ‘Hendrix Chord’, it is also implied on the hit ‘Foxy Lady’, another 1967 release. Elsewhere, often when performing 1968’s ‘Voodoo Chile’ live, Hendrix would use not only the E7♯9 but also D7♯9 and C7♯9 chords, the subtonic and submediant, displaying the invention that he brought to everything he did.
What is the appeal of the chord, then? It is both major and minor simultaneously, including major third and minor third tones. Perfect for the unique sound of Jimi Hendrix, typically, both these notes played together would create a jarring dissonance, but the ‘Hendrix Chord’ spreads them enough apart to convey a real depth of sound, appealing to the lighter and harder sides of rock music.
Since Hendrix claimed the 7#9 in the late 1960s, many famous faces have used it. Some of the most notable examples come from Steely Dan’s 1976 song ‘Kid Charlemagne’, Pixies’ 1989 single ‘Here Comes Your Man’ and Muse’s 2001 piece ‘Hyper Music’.
