Here are some burning blues runs similar to what Jimi utilized in
songs like "Purple Haze" and "Foxey Lady". They are all based on the pentatonic
minor and these sorts of blues-rock licks set the pace for guitar players
to follow.
Example one uses a rapid-fire bend & pull simile followed by
some quick descnding pull-offs. Notice the "blue note" (flatted 5 in bars
3 & 4) and the quick shift from the 12th position to the 5th position
at the end of bar 3. Finally, be sure to play the opening licks freely,
rather than perfectly as written.
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Listen!
Example two: The beginning of this example is notated to imply the
speed changes Hendrix was noted for. That is, he'd play in free-time over
the band, then jet back in and play in perfect time. Don't play bar one
as notated, then, but with a free feel. Just be sure to hit bar #2 right
in the pocket. Bar 4 can be played either as written or freely, depending
on how close you want the call & response effect. Note in the final
bar that you can almost hear how Jimi would start calling up the feedback
and bashing on the whammy bar!
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Listen!
Have fun with these licks and then apply some of the free-time concepts
to your own playing within - or outside of - the blues framework and see
what you come up with.
See ya next time!
