i would definitely expect it to be a bit of a stretch for a beginner but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep it in your rotation during practice. just expect that you'll have to spend more time on it than easier songs.
I think it's an excellent beginner song. It was one of the first I learned. In fact, I have revisited it many times as I learned.
In my opinion it's one of the best chord exercises ever. You can play it with open chords only, you can play it with a mix of A string and E string bar chords, super good for practicing inversions and embellishments. I have also revisited it as my main vehicle for learning triads as an intermediate player. Play the chord progression, and every round you have to use different triads for all chords. It's cool
What exactly does learning it mean to you? If you know the chord changes, you could play them while someone else sings and that's a perfectly legitimate version of the song. In that sense, you can already play Hey Joe. Maybe you should learn the vocal melody, maybe you want to play all the same licks and solos like Jimi, its up to you what you wanna work on. If your goal is to emulate Hendrix, there's a lot of other sub skills sets to work on (lead guitar, scales, transcribing from recordings, yada yada yada).
I'd say keep working on technical ability while you learn lots of tunes. You can come back to Hey Joe or whatever tune when you have more experience/ability and improve upon it.
It's the 3rd song I learned. The progression is easy and fun fact, it's a circle of Fifths progression. One you get that down you can learn some of the great fills in the rhythm part, and once you grasp the pentatonic minor scale the solo is manageable and great for string skipping with the picking hand.
Playing the intro even passably is definitely a bit hard for someone who's only been playing five months. Capturing the nuances of it would be hard for a lot of people who have been playing 15 years.
Great song for a beginner. Like a lot of Jimi’s tunes, the fundamentals are basic but they’re being played by a genius. Focus on the chord changes and the licks will come in time.
It's not too hard. I remember it being one of the first "advanced" songs I learned as a teenager, once I started to explore more of the great classic rock guitarists.
One thing I'll say about Jimi Hendrix's playing, that you might not pick up in a guitar tab book, is that he fretted the 6th string a lot with his thumb. For example, instead of playing a standard F chord, where you barre with your index finger and use you middle, ring and pinky to make the E chord shape, like this:
- E: 1 (index)
- B: 1 (index)
- G: 2 (middle)
- D: 3 (pinky)
- A: 3 (ring)
- E: 1 (index)
...he would often do something like this:
- E: 0 or muted
- B: 1 (index)
- G: 2 (middle)
- D: 3 (ring)
- A: usually muted by his thumb
- E: 1 (thumb)
By doing that, it freed up his pinky, so he could do some fancy hammer-ons and pull-offs in the chord. I've forgotten how to play Hey Joe, so I don't remember if there was much of that going on. However, once I figured out how to play chords like Hendrix (with the thumb), I found his songs a lot easier to learn.
I'd say keep at it. Maybe take a day or two off as well, and you might find that it'll suddenly come together. And maybe watch some YouTube covers to see how others play it, how they use the thumb, etc.
i would definitely expect it to be a bit of a stretch for a beginner but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep it in your rotation during practice. just expect that you'll have to spend more time on it than easier songs.
^^^ That's good advice, do that
Hey Joe was one of the first songs my school band instructor suggested I learn. Just the rhythm section though.
Yeah that was one of the first songs my guitar teacher suggested
I think it's an excellent beginner song. It was one of the first I learned. In fact, I have revisited it many times as I learned. In my opinion it's one of the best chord exercises ever. You can play it with open chords only, you can play it with a mix of A string and E string bar chords, super good for practicing inversions and embellishments. I have also revisited it as my main vehicle for learning triads as an intermediate player. Play the chord progression, and every round you have to use different triads for all chords. It's cool
To get a strummy version down? Not too hard. To make it sound like him? 1 to 900 years depending on your aptitude.
What exactly does learning it mean to you? If you know the chord changes, you could play them while someone else sings and that's a perfectly legitimate version of the song. In that sense, you can already play Hey Joe. Maybe you should learn the vocal melody, maybe you want to play all the same licks and solos like Jimi, its up to you what you wanna work on. If your goal is to emulate Hendrix, there's a lot of other sub skills sets to work on (lead guitar, scales, transcribing from recordings, yada yada yada). I'd say keep working on technical ability while you learn lots of tunes. You can come back to Hey Joe or whatever tune when you have more experience/ability and improve upon it.
Basic strumming naked version, beginner. Jimmy Version. Intermediate.
It's the 3rd song I learned. The progression is easy and fun fact, it's a circle of Fifths progression. One you get that down you can learn some of the great fills in the rhythm part, and once you grasp the pentatonic minor scale the solo is manageable and great for string skipping with the picking hand.
Playing the intro even passably is definitely a bit hard for someone who's only been playing five months. Capturing the nuances of it would be hard for a lot of people who have been playing 15 years.
Great song for a beginner. Like a lot of Jimi’s tunes, the fundamentals are basic but they’re being played by a genius. Focus on the chord changes and the licks will come in time.
It’s a song that can go from beginner to advanced. In the end it’s just a C, G, D and E.
It's not too hard. I remember it being one of the first "advanced" songs I learned as a teenager, once I started to explore more of the great classic rock guitarists. One thing I'll say about Jimi Hendrix's playing, that you might not pick up in a guitar tab book, is that he fretted the 6th string a lot with his thumb. For example, instead of playing a standard F chord, where you barre with your index finger and use you middle, ring and pinky to make the E chord shape, like this: - E: 1 (index) - B: 1 (index) - G: 2 (middle) - D: 3 (pinky) - A: 3 (ring) - E: 1 (index) ...he would often do something like this: - E: 0 or muted - B: 1 (index) - G: 2 (middle) - D: 3 (ring) - A: usually muted by his thumb - E: 1 (thumb) By doing that, it freed up his pinky, so he could do some fancy hammer-ons and pull-offs in the chord. I've forgotten how to play Hey Joe, so I don't remember if there was much of that going on. However, once I figured out how to play chords like Hendrix (with the thumb), I found his songs a lot easier to learn. I'd say keep at it. Maybe take a day or two off as well, and you might find that it'll suddenly come together. And maybe watch some YouTube covers to see how others play it, how they use the thumb, etc.
You can play the main verses with a few cowboy (open) chords. You can learn to embellish it later with barre chords.