The beautiful chord changes of “Little Wing,” Jimi Hendrix’s psychedelic ballad, are an opportunity for beginners to up their game. You may feel that you want to play the intricate melodies, fills, and leads that Jimi and others play, but you’ll be much better prepared for that if you master the changes. You need to perfect these basic left hand techniques. But if you're already familiar with them individually, it’s a great song in which to put it all together. The video below goes into detail on how to do it.
There’s a lot to work with here so let’s dive in. The rhythm is very simple. It’s a slow ballad in the key of E minor that uses the same strumming pattern as Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. I like to think of the overall chord pattern as being broken up into three lines. The first line is simple, just Em – G – Am – Em, one chord to the bar over a four bar phrase. Take a look at the chart below.
Download Little Wing Right Hand Close-Up
The fireworks, so to speak, occur in line two. The first challenge is getting to the Bm chord in bar five. I usually start my students out playing chords with just three fingers, but here, it’s better to start using all four. A four fingered Bm chord sounds fuller and you’re less likely to have unwanted open strings ringing. Use a guide finger to get from the Em chord to the Bm chord. The third finger is the only choice as it's on the D string in both chords.
Just jump from Bm (which is at the second fret) to the Am chord in the next bar. To go from Am to C, keep your first finger down on the C note that’s on the B string at the first fret. Just open up the hand a bit and reach for the lower note (C on the A string) with your third finger. The second finger should not move that much.
Download Little Wing Left Hand Close-Up
The next change is a little tough to master: C to G. I would use the four finger version of G (see the chart), with the second finger on the bass note, G on the low E string, but other versions will work. You be the judge. Next is what may be the toughest part for some beginners: The F chord. Use whatever your best F chord fingering is but don’t cheat and use Fmaj7 – it’s not in the character of the piece. Please see my F Chord Diagram below for tips if you need them. The rhythm thins out during this bar so that it’s easier to make the change. One of the things you may notice is that the chord changes have doubled up – there are two chords per bar, as opposed to one per bar in the first line. This is called the harmonic rhythm. When the harmonic rhythm gets faster, rhythmic activity, aka strumming, can become less.
From F to C is a breeze due to the hand position, but there’s a catch. Jimi inserted a bar of 2/4 – that’s a measure with two quarter note beats – because it felt right with the melody. You barely have to think about it, it’s just so natural sounding. But it’s important to know that it’s in there. If you have any trouble with it, you can count it out, or just use your ears. The pull of the changes is hard to resist. After this one bar of 2/4, 4/4 resumes.
Just one more change, to D major, and then, the last little flourish: The Dsus4 chord. Sus stands for ‘suspended’ because a G note is replacing the usual F#, and is therefore suspended above it. Use your pinky to play the G note at the fourth fret on the high E string, and you should keep the other fingers down while you do so. Dsus4 ‘resolves’ to a normal D major chord.
I’ve added a tiny strumming variation at this point, making the second half of the bar symmetrical to the first. You can see it on the sheet. This pattern is very common and is often used throughout entire songs. I thought a little variety might be in order and it adds some energy at the end. Then, there’s a bit of a pause. This is where Mitch Mitchell always does a drum fill. Make sure to repeat the song multiple times in a row when you practice. There you have it. Once you can play the changes in time, you can start to add little melodies or fills, play with the rhythm, and substitute different chord voicings to make the song your own.
“Little Wing” is a song that’s favored by top notch guitarists. Make sure to listen to it before, during and after you practice. Jimi Hendrix’s original from the Experience’s unique and intimate album, Axis: Bold As Love (1967) is without question the greatest version. Eric Clapton’s rendition with Derek and The Dominoes featuring Duane Allman makes me think of this mythic group as “The Bar Band of the Gods.” Duane’s heartfelt leadwork sounds both spontaneous and as if he had been working it out for years, a difficult trick to pull off. Another surprisingly good take on Jimi’s classic was done by Sting, featuring the excellent, late Hiram Bullock on lead guitar. He interprets Jimi’s style into something of his own, with a soaring, otherworldly solo that sounds nothing like the 1960s.
As always, have fun with it! -Christian Botta