Jul 4, 2013

How to play the "Hendrix" chord?

Without getting into the specifics of the why behind the what, let's jump into sound.  Use it as you wish!  This chord is sometimes called an altered chord.  Thus, making its harmonic color sound pretty unique.  I will give the traditional chord formula as well as an example.

The chord formula is as follows:

1 --  3 -- 5 -- b7 -- #9

Example in E....
E -- G# -- B -- D -- F##

There is a difference between music theory and the application on the guitar.  The application in the guitar requires some technique.  Therefore, I will outline the order in which to play this chord quickly.

2nd finger on 5th string 7th fret (note: E)
1st finger on 4th string 6th fret (note: G#)
3rd finger on 3rd string 7th fret (note: D)
4th finger on 2nd string 8th fret (note: F## same as G)

Two issues here:

1--what the heck happened to the 5th? It does not need to be played; technically it does not affect the quality of the chord...the 5th is always perfect in every major, minor, and dominant chord.

2--why call G by the weird name of F##? We need to call it F## (or some kind of F) because in chord harmonic principles you must travel in thirds.  Technically although it sounds the same F## is the correct name and not G since G is some kind of 3rd, and we need a name to name the #9 (sharp nine).

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