Learn the Other “Purple Haze” Chord

Jimi Hendrix
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Ask most guitarists how to play the chord made famous by “Purple Haze,” and they’ll likely strum the E7#9 grip known informally the world over as “the Hendrix chord.”

Hendrix chord lesson tab 1

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However, other players - such as Chicago, Illinois, guitarist Paul Petraitis, who saw Jimi Hendrix perform four times in 1968 - can attest that in later performances of the song, Hendrix sometimes used an open-position Em7 instead. 

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“E7#9 is so overused in the post-Stevie Ray world, that this Em7 chord makes a nice alternative,” says Petraitis. “It doesn’t have that G#/G dissonance. It’s like the ‘Foxey Lady’ voicing.” 

Hendrix chord lesson tab 2

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