Jimi Hendrix's Guitar Playing Style That Influenced Many Musicians

Jimi Hendrix (wikimedia.org)

JAKARTA - Jimi Hendrix was born today, November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, United States with the name John Allen Hendrix. The man who later changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix died on September 18, 1970 in London, England.

His father, Al had seen Jimi's great interest in guitar since childhood. "I used to have Jimi clean the room every day, and when I came home, I found a lot of broomsticks strewn around the foot of the bed ... Then I knew he was sitting on the edge of the bed and strumming a broom like he was playing the guitar," Al said. quoted jimihendrix.com site. Seeing his son "halu" playing guitar with a broomstick, he finally gave him the ukulele.

In 1958, when Jimi was 15 years old, Al bought him his first acoustic guitar. A year later, his father bought him an electric guitar because rock music is difficult to play on an acoustic guitar. His first acoustic guitar was branded Supro Ozark 1560S. Jimi used it when he joined The Rocking Kings.

Jimi Hendrix's Guitar Playing Style

Jimi Hendrix is an American rock guitarist who is often nicknamed the 'King of Rock'. He is also a singer who combines blues, jazz, rock, funk, and soul. Jimi pioneered the use of the electric guitar, especially in the blues rock genre. It is said that his name is legendary because he plays blues rock with a special distortion effect from the electric guitar he plays.

Jimi, who plays left-handed guitar, manages to create his style by combining fuzz, feedback, and distortion that creates a new musical color. His musical style influenced a number of modern musicians such as George Clinton, Miles Davis, Steve Vai, to John Mayer.

Besides his skill in playing the guitar, Jimi is a guitarist who is well known for his stage acts. Playing the guitar from behind his back, under his feet, and the most phenomenal is the action of smashing and burning guitars on stage.

In 1961, Jimi left home. Then he enlisted in the United States Army in November 1962. There he joined the paratrooper division.

After being discharged due to an injury he received while parachuting, Jimi began his career as a guitarist under the name Jimmy James. In late 1965, Jimi began playing guitar from stage to stage.

His career took off a year later. Chas Chandler from the band The Animals took him to London to meet two musicians from England, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. The trio was later united into The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Commonly abbreviated as The Experience. Chandler played a big part in Hendrix's career. Besides taking him to England and becoming his manager later, Chandler also had the idea to change Jimmy to Jimi.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Twitter @jimihendrix)

It was through The Experience that Jimi's name began to skyrocket. His first album, Are You Experienced, spawned many hit songs such as Fire, Maniac Depression, and Hey Joe.

Meanwhile, Axis' second album: Bold as Love, released in 1976, gave birth to Jimi's pop side. One of his hits, Little Wing, became a "must song" for guitarists who want to show their abilities. And the third album as well as his last album, titled Electric Ladyland was released a year later. This album gave birth to the legendary song Voodoo Chile.

Jimi was influenced by many musicians. Starting from Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Muddy Waters, Elvin James, to BB King. Jimi saw and combined the style of guitar he had heard from them.

"The first guitarist I listened to was Muddy Waters. I heard one of his old records when I was a kid and it scared me to death. Because I heard the whole sound. It was just amazing. And I love Albert King too. He played with perfect and straight on the flow of blues funk. New blues guitar strains, very young, nice funky sound. One of the funkiest I've ever heard, "explained Jimi when interviewed by The Rolling Stone magazine in 1968.

His musical prowess, especially playing the guitar, made him a mecca for rock music. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame calls Jimi "the best instrumentalist in rock history."

Jimi Hendrix died on September 18, 1970. His death at a young age of 27 people shocked many people. The results of post-death examinations found that Hendrix died from choking and difficulty breathing after taking high doses of sleeping pills.