A lot of people only look at Jimi Hendrix as the Super Hero and he was the Super Hero rock musician that we all know him as. But I’m going to take you back, to a time before he blew up, and became famous.
And the world back then didn’t see as the up and coming SUPER STAR. And while we’re at it, get you another notch up your belt, of getting better at playing the guitar by ear!
So how did Jimi Hendrix give himself confidence to play the guitar by ear? Well like all of us, he didn’t have the skills yet when he first started playing the guitar. So his playing embarked on a road of structure, which allowed him to play the guitar by ear.
So the World without Jimi, a world without structure…. that is until Jimi came along with his psychedelic music. Transforming a world of blah music and into a world of creation. A creation of sound the world would later come to see. The sound he was working on since he was a kid.
At First It Was No Confidence For Jimi Hendrix
At first it was no confidence for Jimi Hendrix. Even at a young age he didn’t know he had guitar skills because he didn’t receive a guitar yet. But when he did, his world turned upside down. Once he picked up the guitar he never put it down again. Literally, he NEVER put it down.
So much so that the kids who knew him, would try to take it from him in anger because they got tired of him always having a guitar with him. And more than likely, just to tease him, as kids so often do.
He was at least trying to find confidence, the confidence to play guitar. AND, of a challenge he had to play it ALL by ear. A task so monumental, so big a challenge because this was in the 60’s. A time of no internet, he couldn’t run to YouTube to learn how to play guitar.
Back then you had to….if you wanted to learn guitar…. run around town, so to speak, to learn guitar. Meaning going around to different people. Their homes, places, even music stores, just to learn guitar.
Now of course there where the books you could learn from or the looking at TV, if you were proficient at looking at people playing guitar on it, to learn chords and such.
AND to TOP IT OFF! He still had to learn it FLIPPED upside down. And re stringed.
AND play it lefty because he was left handed.
AND to make matters EVEN MORE WORSE! His Mother wasn’t always in his life, because his Dad got divorced from his Mom. So by the time he got his first guitar, his Mother died, so his life was still shattered from this because he was always wanting to be around her, before she died.
So Jimi had a lot to overcome, just to be able to play the guitar. And to play it all by ear.
Confidence Starts Rising For Jimi Hendrix
Luckily for Jimi he already had a foundation of playing the guitar by ear ALREADY! By playing a one stringed ukulele. Huh!? Say that again. Yes a one string ukulele. Well? What’s that got to do with him learning to play the guitar by ear? Well EVERYTHING! Well not everything, but some of it.
Because it’s kind of like them unknown secrets that guitarists have, the old, learn the guitar from one string trick, where you concentrate on using ONE string first. Using it to play the melodies of songs.
And the ups and downs of songs, which is the pitches that you hear in music. Of when the music is sounding higher or lower in the keys, and such.
So that when you do play more strings, you’re already one step closer to learning to get better at the guitar.
It sounds crazy, but any professional guitarist will tell you that ONE string goes a LONG way, to learning the guitar. Or even when you do learn it, it is a valuable way of playing great sounds, ALL from one string.
From one string even comes techniques, like hammer ons, pull offs, and bends. Look at B. B. King if you don’t believe me.
He’s always making one string talk (sound good) by staying on one string and bending it over and over, with nice quality sounds, that’ll make your ANCESTORS (dead people) come alive.
His confidence is rising the more he plays the guitar, and it rose a little more by already having the knowledge of that ONE string ukulele, that he had.
Confidence Is Rising Even More For Jimi Hendrix
EVERY TIME he picked up the guitar, he was getting more confidence. YES even from a child he was ALWAYS holding on to things. Holding on to a BROOM! HUH? Did you say a BROOM! Yeah I did.
He was holding a broom, holding it like a guitar, playing it, “er,” strumming it. When he should of been cleaning his room. His dad told him, “I want your room cleaned,” only to come back and find him strumming the broom, like a guitar. This of course happened, when he was a little kid.
BECAUSE he always liked to hold on to things. And his obsession to music. Even going so far as to tear a radio apart to FIND music in it. Which afterwards he found nothing inside it that had music, of course. But a nice spanking, for breaking it, from his Dad.
So a constant holding of things, a obsession with music, a constant playing the guitar caused him to GROW even more in stature, and confidence, of playing the guitar by ear. Because he had no choice…..
Jimi Hendrix Has No Choice But To Get To His Highest Level Of Confidence
Jimi Hendrix has no choice but to get to his highest level of confidence. Because everything was about to blow up! BIG! And FAST!
Because in 9 short years he would explode on the music scene. But before THAT! He would have to get past the military. And even that was a challenge, because he was obsessed with PLAYING THE GUITAR. And playing it by ear.
He had no CHOICE but to play it by ear! His lack of knowledge of reading music or anything, was none existent. But what was there was ALL he needed, to play by ear.
Because it allowed him to concentrate better on the guitar, which made him circumvent reading music, to playing music, and all by ear. Which is all he needed cause, why read music when you can just play it by ear.
Enter the Chitlin Circuit, because Jimi learned the guitar real fast by circumventing reading music.
He was able to rise quick on the music scene. Guitar in hand, he played the Chitlin Circuit for 3 years. With the Greats of music. Causing him to get so good, that not even the Greats of music could hold him down.
Thrown out for being TOO GOOD (was accused of having too great of a sound. And working out his guitar to his style, and not their style. He’s catapulted into a world of his own. The world he wanted and would soon have!
Everything Works Out For Jimi Hendrix
All these experiences worked for his favor. His playing by ear, his holding on to things. His constant playing of the guitar.
Even going to sleep with his guitar, lead him to create the GREATEST musician the world has ever known. (Himself.) All In the 4 year time before his death. He had ALL the CONFIDENCE in the world.
Related Questions
If one were to emulate Jimi Hendrix what would he need to do? He would have to bypass the conventional ways of playing the guitar, which is that of reading music. And focus on playing the guitar by ear. And a constant playing of the guitar, to even the obsession of loving music so much.
Why was Jimi Hendrix so obsessed with playing the guitar? A constant need for always holding something in his hand, like brooms, ukulele’s, and guitars. That, and a great a love of the guitar and music. A strong desire to have his own sound and style of music, drove him to obsessively pursue guitar.
Photo credits:
Jimi Hendrix red tour bus photo courtesy of Jason Meredith from flickr.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
B B King playing intensely and emotionally the guitar, with eyes squinted closed photo courtesy of Unidentified (Michiganensian is the University of Michigan yearbook published by University of Michigan). Public domain image: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Jimi Hendrix in the Army photo courtesy of Unknown U.S. Army personnel. Public domain images: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Jimi Hendrix with guitar between his knees photo and playing guitar with his teeth photo, photos courtesy of Marjut Valakivi public domain image: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Jimi Hendrix holding guitar with one hand and his other hand up in the air, lights shining around him photo courtesy of Hannu Lindroos / Lehtikuva public domain image: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Jimi Hendrix smiling and playing guitar with his knees bent photo courtesy of Steve Banks: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Jimi Hendrix with his knees on the stage, with guitar in his hand photo courtesy of Hannu Lindroos / Lehtikuva public domain image: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Jimi Hendrix holding v-shaped guitar The Late Jimi Hendrix photo courtesy of Lou from flickr.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Jimi Hendrix blue image photo courtesy of ozzy5836 from flickr.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
