Learn to Play "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix on the Guitar

In this lesson, we'll learn how to play Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix on the guitar. This song is a fantastic piece to learn for any guitarist looking to explore the style and techniques of Jimi Hendrix. It's a beautiful tune and one of Hendrix's signature songs. In this first part of the lesson, we're going to study the intro. After you've got the intro down, check out Part 2 and Part 3 of the lesson.

Tuning

The original song is tuned down a semitone. So, if you want to play along with the record, you'll need to tune your guitar down by one semitone. However, we'll stick to regular tuning to keep things simple for this lesson. If you want to play along with the record in regular tuning, there's software available that can adjust the pitch of the song.

Learning the Song

Little Wing's intro begins with a muted hit and a slide back from the 12th fret. Much of Hendrix's style involves using the thumb over the neck to play several notes, so this technique is well worth practicing.

We'll also talk a little about the chord progression at the end of this part of the lesson in case you want to have a go at playing through the whole song without watching the other two parts. In this section, we're playing the open A string, hammering the second finger down on the second fret of the A string, and then plucking the open G string. Then, we quickly move up the neck, jumping right up to the fifth fret. Here, we're playing the fourth and fifth strings at the same time and hammering down our third finger on the seventh fret of the fifth string.

Then, we're into the fun part of the tune. The thumb slides up to the third fret, play the open G quietly, and then the thinnest three strings. The first finger holds down like a little bar, the third finger hammers onto the fifth fret, then flicks off and plays the thinnest string again.

👉Unfortunately, I can't put the tab on the site, so the one mentioned in the video is no longer available, but we go through all the chords in the video!

Final Thoughts

Remember that learning to play a song on the guitar is a process, so don't rush. Take your time to get comfortable with each part of the song before moving on to the next. It's okay if you don't get it perfect right away. With consistent practice, you'll be playing Little Wing in no time!

And that's it! Take the time to learn this classic tune. Remember, the most important part of playing guitar is having fun. Keep practicing and exploring new songs and techniques. And don't forget to watch the video for a more detailed walkthrough of how to play this song. Happy playing!

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