"I'm sure he wasn't thinking like this; no one thinks about music like this when they're playing, but analyzing brilliant minds let us grow as musicians". - Paul Davids.
Your answer is genius. I’m not a good drummer but sometimes I can’t stand these super analyzers analyze when what you are saying is totally correct thanks
@@robertcialone6609 Please note that I have the highest regard for Paul D, and love his videos. I do think that Jimi's styles is sometime over analysed. Strangely, immediately after watching this video, I saw another by a well respected US guitarist analysing what he now thinks he has done wrong when playing Little Wing and Wind Cries Mary. I don't see the point of duplicating another's style - cover the songs, fine, but play it your own way.
@SillyMoustache I couldn't agree more. I don't think Hendrix forensically dissected every note by his hero's. He learnt how to capture the flavour and make it his own. Plus he played live in front of people doing all sorts of music and gigs. You'll never get as good as hendrix sitting in a bedroom, as theres no pressure. Great editing and well made though.
I agree complitly with you : he did not think about 'how' to play...but just the way he feels ( and it was each time different). Now we try to analyse things ( in my opnion). The result is often that we try to play the same way as he did....but if he would be here he would tell us that each one should play music ( and do things) the way they feel. And this is also why Hendrix did such a masterpeace when he played his way Dylan's ' all along the watchtower".
Well obviously not. He was more likely thinking about "butterflies, zerbras and moonbeams" and where his next acid tab was coming from, but he subconsciously digested all these musical ideas at some point even if he didn't know all their names or dissect the theory.
Hendrix just casually vibing with his guitar and not paying attention to the rythm, and people nowadays analyze every little thing he did like he did it on purpose. I like it.
@@alexanderyaroslavich2703 at the end of the video he says: "I'm sure he wasn't thinking like this; no one thinks about music like this when they're playing, but analyzing brilliant minds let us grow as musicians". I don't think the point of the video is to get views but to realize how certain subtleties affect the way we hear or feel what we play as musicians.
I don't think it's doing it "like he did it on purpose", this was on purpose. He didn't think about it like this, but he knew his groove. This is just the breakdown the rest of us have to do if we want to capture the feel that came naturally to him.
I learned to play this song by ear about 20 years ago (when I was in my mid 20s). I never thought about it, I simply played by feel. But this is the best breakdown of Jimi's genius I have ever seen.
"this is the best breakdown of Jimi's genius I have ever seen." @jonbona876: it's obvious, you're absolutely right. Paul's work with his DAW allows you to understand the placement of each note. Paul is an excellent guitarist in many different genres and techniques. He is also a brilliant teacher, for me the best guitar teacher on the Internet. You certainly know his analysis of George Harrisson's performance in "Here comes the sun"...
My dad, who was a seasoned musician and player, told me when i started playing guitar that I will only be “good” once I can play Little Wing properly. Took me many years to figure out why, and now you told them all the secret. You have to feel the groove.
I'm not the best player by any metric at all, and I'm a huge fan of this channel, but this entire video had me thinking "no sh*t just feel the groove and express it through your fingers" ..... Metronomes are great for practicing technique but not every lick needs to be broken down so analytically....maybe dude was just feeling the music..... idk that's how I play, in time but the fingers do the thinking more than the brain sometimes, I don't think about it and defer creative control to my hands
@@nofrojeff2000 This. Specially when they say that every time Hendrix played it was different... No point in analyzing this. He was just feeling it every time and every time his feels were different. I don't picture Hendrix thinking ok, let's move this not 2 ms upfront so I create urgency and now 2 ms back so I can screw with people in the future trying to play this...
The interplay of rhythms between Hendrix ad Mitchell really is the stuff of magic. Its amazing how they both change the syncopation up so much, yet always find themselves back together with the last note.
Hendrix did every bit of this NATURALLY. The same way we talk...we all talk with a rhythm....Jimi's guitar was such a natural part of him, he literally spoke through his guitar.
But we all do that when we play an instrument. It's harder to play like a robot with exact timing to the beat and every note played at the same volume.
When I watched the interview with Rick beato and sting, sting said one of the most important things of a song is the element of surprise. The intro riff to little wing does exactly that. It's not just the changes in rhythm, but also all the different melodic elements Hendrix used. It almost feels like a rollercoaster of different emotion throughout that maybe 20 sec long intro. This element of surprise is why I never seem to get sick of that intro. Every time I hear it it feels like I still discover something new even though I have heard it 100+ times and deconstructed it when I tried to learn to play it. It just does something amazing to my brain, really an outstanding work of music!
Beautiful song and it taught me so much as well about feel and that music and how you play it is sooo much more than just learning and hitting the correct notes
I have no interest in Sting's music but he is 100% right. The journey of a song must remain interesting, and there's many ways you can intrigue the listener.
@@whatilearnttoday5295: His interviews with musicians are top-notch and consistently insightful, with few exceptions. The Sting interview was one of his better ones. Brian May and Daniel Lanois were also highlights. I tend to avoid his livestreams, since they tend to ramble (and even on his non-live stuff, his editing is not his strong point), and his "old man complaining about today's music" rants, which tend to be kind of lazy. He also doesn't have the teaching skills of Paul or of, say, David Bennett. I see his value as being more of an enthusiast who can get you excited about aspects of music that you might not otherwise have thought about deeply. In any case, again, his interviews are not to be missed. And it's pretty clear from the reactions of his subjects that he is NOT talking nonsense, but able to draw great insights from them. E.g. in the Sting interview, you could tell Sting was a bit wary at first (I imagine musicians often have to deal with clueless interviews), but by the end, he was explicit in saying how much he enjoyed the conversation. It was clear he was pleasantly surprised.
A great and incontrovertible analysis of the shifting rhythms that make those few seconds so fascinating RHYTHMICALLY... and then there's the beautiful, tasteful and sparing way he voices those chords... it's wonderfully rich music that doesnt need a video to boost and sell it.
@@Nor-p5v No not really. Jimi is amazing, but he died at age 27. There are people alive today that have been playing for longer than he was alive. There are people creating songs that he would never be capable of playing, because he wasn't alive long enough to reach the same heights. Even among his contemporaries, he wasn't head and shoulders above all of them. Just off the top of my head, people like Gilmour, Page, Blackmore, Clapton, Zappa, Moore, Jeff Beck, Eddie Hazel, and I'm sure there's plenty I'm forgetting. That doesn't mean you can't personally have Hendrix as your favorite guitarist. But to put him on some insane pedestal where you refuse to entertain anyone else being near him shows more ignorance on your part. I'm not sure how anyone who truly loves the guitar could pick out one person in that way, because there are so many guitarists doing completely different and incomparable things.
@@degande-d1w In skill yeah but in creativity they are nowhere near. How many guitarists can play Voodoo Chile? Plenty. But he CREATED it. Also even in pure skill there are some things Hendrix did that is very hard to replicate. People praise Stevie Ray Vaughan and many put him above Hendrix. But his rendition of Voodoo Chile is just not better. Its not even on par. Its just not.
Interesting video. Its about the options of "on, behind or ahead of the beat - something well known to drummers. I was "on the scene" in London and the same time as Jimi, Mitch and Noel. I never saw him live as our gigs always seemed to clash. I was a drummer then, and mentored Mitch a little as Charlie Watts mentored me. As a drummer, you don't "measure" everything you "feel" it which is what Mitch and I and of course Jimi did. Now as a guitarists. I frequently to do push, and/or pull notes in my soloing, which "humanises" and makes the melody more "emotional". Back in the day, I worked with a bass player that I went to school with. We just could not get on socially, but on stage our bass and drums fitted together perfectly doing those push and pulls together perfectly. Nick passed some years ago, as have most of my band in the '60s but oh they were cool days!
"hangover wobble" is the name of Hendrix's most common effect. A beautiful manifestation of this can be heard in "Little Wing". Slight movement coordination disturbances, but tempo remains in place. Deeply beautiful and human. Beautiful song, beautiful playing.
Thank you, Paul, for not only preserving the magic of well composed and expertly performed music, but also the value of masterfully produced video content (some of the best online).
Thank you so much for making videos for us and doing so much for music, I really can't thank you enough, you really really have helped me in my Guitar journey. Love you! ❤
Hi, I just watched your video on Little Wing. As a teenager I had already found out it was impossible to get perfect. However, I caught a radio interview with the producer who recorded it. Jimi played it 3 times, each time a little different. The final song was a layering of all 3. This explains why it's different in a live performance. 😁
This is the problem with music nowadays. Everyone is so focused on perfection that they forgot how actual music made by humans is supposed to sound. It’s not supposed to be perfect
You're right, if this was recorded today they would quantise the guitar, bass and drums and autotune the vocal because everything Paul and Tim were discussing would be considered mistakes by modern producers.
I notice this with the Internet RUclips guitar. People are so incredible technically but I begin to realize they aren't doing the part where they live life and express through the craft as art.. They are just kind of technical masters. It can be very impressive but I think obfuscates something crucial
Add to that all the notes he hits that you can barely even hear and you have a song that you can't play by learning it. You have to feel it. It's all the little things that you can figure out only by listening to the recording that make this song so special. I'm pretty sure that even Hendrix wouldn't be able to play it perfectly again. All the little intricacies are dictated by his emotions, unique to the moment. Truly one of a kind player.
The irony of Hendrix's playing and groove being analyzed using a computer would probably just make him laugh and shake his head. That said, it's a spot on analysis Paul, thank you!
@@djhygs I wonder why so many great guitarists thought that Jimi Hendrix was something uniquely special, not just a blues guy doing the typical blues guitar cliches? Jimi was a transformative player who changed the landscape of electric guitar playing for most every electric guitar players afterward.
It would be cool if you did this kind of analysis on Stevie Ray Vaughan's version and then compare them to each other, just to see the difference. (Not trying to start a war in the comments between which is best, would just be fun to really understand the differences between the versions.) Great video by the way!
Agreed. There is no best. I'm sure Stevie would say that there is the original, and everything else is just a copy. And we are all winners listening to the efforts.
There is a similar problem if you try to copy many EVH riffs. Many guitar players can now copy all his notes in the right order at a comparable speed (or even faster). But there is (almost ?) no one that can play them with his unique 'shuffle' feel :)
SRV's Little Wing is fantastic but one of the things I love most about the Hendrix original is how short it is. It ends gently but quickly. When I first heard it I couldn't believe it had ended so soon, I felt it was just getting started! But the ephemeral nature of it adds to the beauty of the track, it almost feels fragile. Very fitting for a song (presumably) about his mother's spirit. For all its brilliance the SRV version loses that.
@@morriypoulsen1238 And music appreciation is opinion. I love Jimi's version. I love SRVs more. It's a different song. To be fair, SRV didn't like his version enough to release it, his brother released it after his death.
You have no idea what a relief this video is to me. I have been struggling with Little Wing for more than 25 years... I've been playing guitar for 40 years and I still can't play it right. So thank you for making feel better. If Mr. Pierce still can't play it the way Jimi did, all hopes are lost for me. LOL
It's amazing and pleasing for me to find that the default Jimi picture in use for the last year or so is from the second Royal Albert Hall show in February 1969. I was at both shows and that second one is the best evening I have ever had at any kind of concert. Interesting video.
The Riff that comes after the B minor to B-flat minor on the A took me a month to figure out when I was 10 years old in 1967 because he starts with a minor second and ends up with a major Triad. Because no one could teach me this stuff I had to learn on my own. I thought surely he cannot be playing those two notes together but after playing it over and over for a month I realized I was right at first and sure enough he goes from total disonance to Total Harmony in an absolute two-legged triplet swing feel. I wish you could have had that in this video! But Bravo on a great video! 13:31
I play that song for my 3 yo son nearly every time we go somewhere in the truck. I had no idea all the nuances in it and why. Very well-edited video and breakdown!
Amazing! From an early album of Sting, 'Little wing' is my favourite song, but the depth of the knowledge shared here, is what makes me want to pick up my guitar and start playing right away! Thank you for sharing this, and I'm definitely interested in your course now! All the best, cheers!
Sting really got me playing/singing Little Wing with a fresh view of it as an acoustic ballad, essentially - It's a great song per se [I've got a bit of a Bert Jansch vibe going on it, sans swing]. A different approach.
I love this video so much cause that's what I always heard in Hendrix music... Not to mention the way he strikes each string differently so that it would twang or just a normal strike and the dynamics of selecting which notes to emphasize. That's how I feel when I play too. It's wonderful.
No mistakes, you are metronom injured if you think that. Same goes for all blues and many rock genres. It's almost always hilarious when someone schooled playes blues.
Meh, that's like saying Jordan made a "mistake" switching hands while going down the lane at Sam Perkins during game 2 of the '91 finals. Jimi was a performer. He wasn't replicating anything. He wasn't playing as a session guitarist. He was f'ing Jimi Hendrix. The idea of a "perfect" performance isn't really useful in this sense.
@@JPVanderbuilt Ok, yes...but there are also might have been pauses and hiccups in some of his old, live, bootleg stuff...or even studio stuff...that your nostalgia goggles might have deemed brilliant but that might have just been his pushing back his sleeve or moving his cigarette...but then he just fell into the vibe that created, again because he's a genius, and changed the whole song on the fly. Jazz groups do this all the time when jamming for long sets because they're dropping this instrument or that percussion guy to the bathroom or a drink or flirting with the waitress. I wouldn't be surprised, if we had a full documenting of every session, that we might not find that Jimi was thinking on his feet more often than we might believe.
It's a pretty simple concept: Hendrix's sense of timing was always "in the moment". He played how he felt. It was a conversation between Jimi and his rhythm section, with Jimi seeming to be in his own world while the rest of the band kept him anchored so he wouldn't just float away.
AS spot on and interesting as this analysis is, I have a hard time believing Jimi put this much thought into it. He had a sound in his head and it just came out of his fingers.
I recently tabbed out over 60 Hendrix chord embellishments from 4 different recordings of Little Wing, and I ran smack into what you're describing here. He mixed straight feel with varying levels of swing, sometimes within the same measure. All instinct and feel. Great video, really superb teaching and editing!
I love the way you visualize music theory for your viewers. Those of us who don’t have a background in music can understand and appreciate this so much more. Good stuff!
Hi Paul you may have already come across him, Sean Mann’s take on “little wing” is something to behold. He definitely isn’t just a regular RUclips guitarist. Pure class. He even takes on SRV’s version as well. Just wow.
An interesting video would be: Should we really use click tracks and quantizing as much as we do? Would Jimi have played Little Wing as he did if he had grown up with ProTools? We learn to adjust whatever natural feel we have so it fits the machines... Another topic could be TAB's vs classical musical notation. I am of the opinion that TAB's is a shortcut that does not lead to actual reading music. It is more like reading a book in a foreign language written in phonetics.
You are such a consumate professional with your expression of music. Combined with your warm reception and human approach to the appraisal and recreation of classic songs and obscure and forgotten songs alike , your offering here on RUclips is genuine and original and I am happy I found this. Thank you
I love it when people say that Hendrix was a "sloppy" player. It immediately lets me know that person has never really listened to Hendrix. I mean, really listened.
There is no bigger Hendrix fan than me, at 10 years old when are you experienced came out it took me a month just to get one roof in the intro of little wing because it was heavily swung and he started off with a minor second and ended with a major Triad, but when he played live sometimes he was really sloppy he had a lot of off nights and also some nights that were so good it defies analyzing. He became the instrument that was being played by music. Band of gypsies January 1st 1970 first show I don't know and machine gun in particular also La Forum 1970 was amazingly great although the recordings are not that great
Cope. The reason all these mid-20th century players have all these "inimitable sounds" is precisely because it was sloppy. There's an adage that an unskilled person can be dangerous in a fight because he will move erratically and unpredictably, whereas a trained person will reliably move in predictable, systematic ways. Same thing with the old guitar players. It was drugged out "let's just see what happens" playing. It gave unique sounds, and it is definitely difficult to replicate with intention, but it was not profound genius because some music nerds can technically describe that a bunch of different bits of theory happened to be manifested. That's just post hoc intellectualising. A professional painter could just as easily look at a child throwing a bucket of paint on a canvas and describe the result in terms of all sorts of highbrow painting techniques. Doesn't mean the child tapped into the power of the cosmos to intuitively manifest a work of genius. None of these guitarists you idolise from the boomer-era can even replicate their own playing. Hendrix himself was never able to play the same thing twice. Neither can any of them. And no, that is not a good thing. Literally every other group of musicians on the planet besides electric guitar players know this.
Did you forget the entire genre of free jazz? I don't think they were replicating the songs they made. I highly doubt you're a musician of any worth if you don't know the importance of improv. If hendrix wanted to he could learn all his solos and riffs perfectly (within human limit) he was certainly technically able, some of his riffs he played very well live were very complex. But that would suck. Everytime i find a new bootleg of Jimi i'm excited by the fact i know he's going to switch it up and do some cool shit. He was an improv player and that's why people love him. Jimi Hendrix is and for the forseable future the greatest guitarist to ever walk the earth. Your assumption that he was unable to play the same thing twice is dumb, plain and simple. The fact he didn't doesn't make him a worse guitarist it makes him a better one.
@@sigiligus I get your point to a degree. But in every art form, especially music, being too accurate and always repeating one thing a thousand times over, defeats the very purpose of it. To be FUN and emotional. It's the difference between ART and a CRAFT. He couldn't play it the same way? He had proved x times during his career that he never ever wanted it that way. People are not robots. All Along The Watchtower is another great example - you take the swing out of it and it becomes bland. It's even in the way he sings it. The terms ''groove'', ''swing'' and ''shuffle'' were coined based on it all, for a reason.
11:59 That *C* chord [x3201x] is actually a *C6* chord [x3221x]! (I suppose he used his middle finger for both notes on fret 2 with a “shared fingertip fretting”.)
It's called 'shared finggertip fretting' or sff! I was thaught that technique by Wim Overgaauw.! Jimi Hendrix used it also with an open E chord by using his 2nd finger on the A and D strings. You put your finger between the two strings. It's not a partial bar. And with this C chord he did the same and made it a C6 by placing his 2nd finger between the D and G strings. That's why those necks are more narrow in that area I guess!
This is a great example of how musicians communicate through their instruments… the emotions that are evoked by this kind of playing are IMHO completely lacking from modern commercialized music. This is true expression and every single time I hear Little Wing I get an emotional reaction. Thanks for breaking this down!!!
Bravo! I've been teaching guitar for almost 30 years and I steer my students toward your videos because your analysis is always so solid. The editing on this video is next level too, well done and thank you Paul
I think yall are overthinking it pretty sure he was just a very talented dude that just liked jamming. He didn’t necessarily care about time signatures and notes he just played the guitar homie
Yes, but the question is “what did he play that we aren’t” and ‘he played Jimi Hendrix isn’t a good answer if you actually want to know. So I’ll ask you. What exactly did Jimi Hendrix play that we aren’t, besides “he’s just Jimi Hendrix”
Yeah when at 8:07 Tim says "This is the only time he played it like that," I was just about to type, the sad thing for the rest of us is, Jimi just played it like that in the moment, from his soul. It comes from the beat of the heart, not from plotting anything on a piece of paper.
Your videos always get my creativity going when I have writers block. And thanks for putting us on to some of these oldies. Great to draw inspiration from.
I think it'd be really cool to analyze more guitarist's "Feel" compare and contrast them because in the end that's what makes each of us unique. It's our foot print.
Might get flamed for this and absolutely no disrespect to Jimi at all but Stevie Ray takes this song to the next level. Of course the original is legendary but this is one of the rare times the cover is better IMO. RIP Jimi and SRV.
The beauty of Little Wing is that it is 2:26 long (and is a song) not a wank fest of licks for 10 mins. You have totally missed the point. Even SRV didn't release it. Posthumous album.
@@nicko6710 Seems I've somehow offended your knowledge of music history and taste. I apologize for stoking any inner negativity. When it comes to art I have always felt the point is to find something that connects emotionally and 'stirs the soul'. I honestly try my best not to let history or someones opinion (especially the artist) influence me. Hendrix connects so deeply with so many other songs and I like his covers of Hey Joe and All Along the Watchtower much more than Dylan's. However, for me personally, something about the feel, tone, and improv of those runs in SRV's cover simply speaks to me. Jimi is a legend but I think SRV took a great song, injected something more, and made it universally emotional no matter the language of the listener. I respect your opinion, arguing with someone about art is pretty silly. Peace ✌
I always felt something was off when I tried to find a tab to learn the intro to the song. They all sounded soulless and rigid, so I decided to just take the gist of the tab, where to fret to get the note that I need, and I just (little) winged it from there. It just felt better to somehow try and follow the essence of what I heard from Hendrix by fumbling around rather than follow what the tab tells me. This video put a name to the feelings I had. Thank you.
@@ethan6840 There is no other answer. Why did Picasso paint the way he did? Because he was Picasso. Why didn't Dali paint like Picasso? Because he wasn't Picasso. Do you really need such a simple and obvious truth explained to you?
When I first learned guitar 20 years ago, I had only tabs. No teacher or any other help. And so when I couldn't figure out the nuance or the timing, I had to skip that song. Little Wing was a huge example of this. And just this morning I found a youtube lesson with the tabs displayed above the guitar as the guy played. This solves that problem. And now I am finally getting it. I'd have never figured it out from a tab, but a video, with tab, and with the ability to slow the video speed...man, I think anything can be learnt. Good time to be alive and learn an instrument.
I heard little wing when I was about 12.. it sounded like a butterfly. Never heard something so beautiful and amazing, prolly still to this day. When you watch a butterfly in the air, the pull of the wings is always different. Maybe that’s why the title.. either way, Jimi breathed through his guitar, it’s true to life.
Hello from France. Little Wing is my best song ever. Since the 90s when I listened to this music as a teenager. This music is just a gem. And it's a shame that Jimi didn't play it more during these concerts. I don't know why anyway.
I've got both a classical musical education and a modern one on the guitar. And I just always loved syncopation. No matter the subject or style. It's a very important tool in any musician's shed, regardless of which instrument they play. In classical music, it's ubiquitous. In blues and other guitar-related styles, it's also very common in my expereience.
Most of my life I’ve stayed away from playing Hendrix songs because I knew there was no way I was going to sound like Hendrix. Now in my old age, I find it extremely satisfying to emulate Hendrix. Thanks for this breakdown of a legendary musician.
Wow .. this technical analysis of this song finally quantifies what my ears were hearing and confirms my appreciation of the genius of Jimi Hendrix. He was playing on another level.
My wife makes fun of me when I tell her about truly great musicians on RUclips who can cover different artists' styles, but this video helped me understand WHY I can hear the difference. I always tell her that there's a ton of people who can play all these songs exactly right when it comes to the notes, but they just sound "off" for some reason. There's probably 2 RUclipsrs out of every 1,000 who can actually replicate the feel of a certain artist when they play. This video helped me make sense of the differences between all these players. It's SUPER hard to replicate famous guitarists styles and the soul of what they play, but some people just have that natural talent! Awesome video
This is a great lesson on timings in general and Hendrix's magic in particular. I first learned about this - en het kwartje viel ;) - when I was in a studio in Amsterdam with Cordell 'Boogie' Mosson of Parliament / Funkadelic. He taught us youngsters (I think I was 19 or 20 at the time) about timing and 'breathing' by example, by first playing Little Wing "as everyone plays it", followed by the way Hendrix played it. We were blown away; it was magic! It was the biggest lesson in music I've ever had. And I've referred to it many times ever since. Thanks for the elaborate analysis and beautiful lecture Paul!
Damn. Thank you for making this video and showing so clearly the differences between swing and a 'rhythm-corrected' style. Huge difference and I never thought about it this way.
He was genius, and yes in the studio , Jimmy probably intentionally used segments of " flow and tension " from straight to swing in such subtle micro moments, Paul I think your micro dissection with click track has exposed part of Jimmy's genius the world has not unraveled . A+ on the deep dive...
Next Level Playing id a beautiful course to do, I enjoy every bit. I honestly recommend it. Many thanks for that Paul, your video editing is getting better and better. Your musical talent is obvious. Amazing stuff.
One of my favorites. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s cover is my favorite version (outside of the original). Sometimes, it’s more than sheer talent. Requires SOUL!
I think even Jimi Hendrix didn't play it 100% like in record. It is a song to mess around and make it feel like it's your song in a way. One thing you need to learn if you play rock, blues, jazz etc. You interpret it as you wish and make it sound good. When you play, you just play and forget the song. That's the beauty in playing music, you just play and feel.
"I'm sure he wasn't thinking like this; no one thinks about music like this when they're playing, but analyzing brilliant minds let us grow as musicians".
- Paul Davids.
Your answer is genius. I’m not a good drummer but sometimes I can’t stand these super analyzers analyze when what you are saying is totally correct thanks
@@robertcialone6609 Please note that I have the highest regard for Paul D, and love his videos. I do think that Jimi's styles is sometime over analysed. Strangely, immediately after watching this video, I saw another by a well respected US guitarist analysing what he now thinks he has done wrong when playing Little Wing and Wind Cries Mary. I don't see the point of duplicating another's style - cover the songs, fine, but play it your own way.
@SillyMoustache I couldn't agree more. I don't think Hendrix forensically dissected every note by his hero's. He learnt how to capture the flavour and make it his own. Plus he played live in front of people doing all sorts of music and gigs. You'll never get as good as hendrix sitting in a bedroom, as theres no pressure. Great editing and well made though.
I agree complitly with you : he did not think about 'how' to play...but just the way he feels ( and it was each time different). Now we try to analyse things ( in my opnion). The result is often that we try to play the same way as he did....but if he would be here he would tell us that each one should play music ( and do things) the way they feel. And this is also why Hendrix did such a masterpeace when he played his way Dylan's ' all along the watchtower".
Well obviously not. He was more likely thinking about "butterflies, zerbras and moonbeams" and where his next acid tab was coming from, but he subconsciously digested all these musical ideas at some point even if he didn't know all their names or dissect the theory.
Hendrix just casually vibing with his guitar and not paying attention to the rythm, and people nowadays analyze every little thing he did like he did it on purpose. I like it.
100%
yeah wish I could casually vibe like that
Probably too stoned to keep the rhythm
@@alexanderyaroslavich2703 at the end of the video he says: "I'm sure he wasn't thinking like this; no one thinks about music like this when they're playing, but analyzing brilliant minds let us grow as musicians". I don't think the point of the video is to get views but to realize how certain subtleties affect the way we hear or feel what we play as musicians.
I don't think it's doing it "like he did it on purpose", this was on purpose. He didn't think about it like this, but he knew his groove. This is just the breakdown the rest of us have to do if we want to capture the feel that came naturally to him.
Can we please mention how crazy good this video has been edited ?!
Awesome job Dude
One of Paul's consistent strengths.
i love to watch paul improve as a creator over time, he's solid, a truly passionate creator
yuh
it's AI
There's a lot of thought behind this one. Feels like Paul is exploring the code for a new era of his videos.
I learned to play this song by ear about 20 years ago (when I was in my mid 20s). I never thought about it, I simply played by feel. But this is the best breakdown of Jimi's genius I have ever seen.
wow maybe u r a genius too congrats
Not really that impressive actually
And I bet you play it badly
"this is the best breakdown of Jimi's genius I have ever seen." @jonbona876: it's obvious, you're absolutely right. Paul's work with his DAW allows you to understand the placement of each note.
Paul is an excellent guitarist in many different genres and techniques. He is also a brilliant teacher, for me the best guitar teacher on the Internet. You certainly know his analysis of George Harrisson's performance in "Here comes the sun"...
@@Alexander-Lionheart_1881actually learning all by feel and ear is a talent. There is also "perfect pitch"
My dad, who was a seasoned musician and player, told me when i started playing guitar that I will only be “good” once I can play Little Wing properly. Took me many years to figure out why, and now you told them all the secret. You have to feel the groove.
Your dad was wrong. There are people who cannot play Little Wing "properly" but are bloody good musicians.
I'm not the best player by any metric at all, and I'm a huge fan of this channel, but this entire video had me thinking "no sh*t just feel the groove and express it through your fingers" ..... Metronomes are great for practicing technique but not every lick needs to be broken down so analytically....maybe dude was just feeling the music..... idk that's how I play, in time but the fingers do the thinking more than the brain sometimes, I don't think about it and defer creative control to my hands
@@nofrojeff2000 This. Specially when they say that every time Hendrix played it was different... No point in analyzing this. He was just feeling it every time and every time his feels were different. I don't picture Hendrix thinking ok, let's move this not 2 ms upfront so I create urgency and now 2 ms back so I can screw with people in the future trying to play this...
You need to bem Brazilian musician tô have the Groove
@@davidcodesidolopez1040 that’s right. Same asm jimmy page
The interplay of rhythms between Hendrix ad Mitchell really is the stuff of magic. Its amazing how they both change the syncopation up so much, yet always find themselves back together with the last note.
The two were TERRIFIC together
Exactly this
Yup
Hendrix did every bit of this NATURALLY.
The same way we talk...we all talk with a rhythm....Jimi's guitar was such a natural part of him, he literally spoke through his guitar.
I think you're on to it. This is like making a geometric analysis of a Monet painting.
it's crazy how non musicians think music is magic
You don’t actually play anything do you
@@arthurt.chasperton3569
I most certainly do....
But we all do that when we play an instrument. It's harder to play like a robot with exact timing to the beat and every note played at the same volume.
Third Stone From The Sun also has a really unusual feel. Jimi's rhythm playing was lush.
I always liked gypsies eyes
When I watched the interview with Rick beato and sting, sting said one of the most important things of a song is the element of surprise. The intro riff to little wing does exactly that. It's not just the changes in rhythm, but also all the different melodic elements Hendrix used. It almost feels like a rollercoaster of different emotion throughout that maybe 20 sec long intro. This element of surprise is why I never seem to get sick of that intro. Every time I hear it it feels like I still discover something new even though I have heard it 100+ times and deconstructed it when I tried to learn to play it. It just does something amazing to my brain, really an outstanding work of music!
Beautiful song and it taught me so much as well about feel and that music and how you play it is sooo much more than just learning and hitting the correct notes
I have no interest in Sting's music but he is 100% right. The journey of a song must remain interesting, and there's many ways you can intrigue the listener.
Rick Beato is a hack selling clickbait with keywords and whiteboards full of nonsense.
@@whatilearnttoday5295well, even if that’s what you think, you can’t deny the incredible string of long form interviews with titans of their genres
@@whatilearnttoday5295: His interviews with musicians are top-notch and consistently insightful, with few exceptions. The Sting interview was one of his better ones. Brian May and Daniel Lanois were also highlights.
I tend to avoid his livestreams, since they tend to ramble (and even on his non-live stuff, his editing is not his strong point), and his "old man complaining about today's music" rants, which tend to be kind of lazy. He also doesn't have the teaching skills of Paul or of, say, David Bennett. I see his value as being more of an enthusiast who can get you excited about aspects of music that you might not otherwise have thought about deeply.
In any case, again, his interviews are not to be missed. And it's pretty clear from the reactions of his subjects that he is NOT talking nonsense, but able to draw great insights from them. E.g. in the Sting interview, you could tell Sting was a bit wary at first (I imagine musicians often have to deal with clueless interviews), but by the end, he was explicit in saying how much he enjoyed the conversation. It was clear he was pleasantly surprised.
Tim with Paul great to see everyone collaborating.
I love all the visuals and the effort you put into this analysis. Great video! Really interesting stuff
A great and incontrovertible analysis of the shifting rhythms that make those few seconds so fascinating RHYTHMICALLY... and then there's the beautiful, tasteful and sparing way he voices those chords... it's wonderfully rich music that doesnt need a video to boost and sell it.
Jimi didn't waste his time being "on time". He just played what he felt.
He was still on time, he had great timing and rhythm. But best of all he had amazing never to be matched expression.
@@DigitalViscosity to hear new gen people said shit like Guthrie is better than Jimi is a joke really.
But what the hell do they know, am i right?
🤣
@@Nor-p5v No not really. Jimi is amazing, but he died at age 27. There are people alive today that have been playing for longer than he was alive. There are people creating songs that he would never be capable of playing, because he wasn't alive long enough to reach the same heights. Even among his contemporaries, he wasn't head and shoulders above all of them. Just off the top of my head, people like Gilmour, Page, Blackmore, Clapton, Zappa, Moore, Jeff Beck, Eddie Hazel, and I'm sure there's plenty I'm forgetting.
That doesn't mean you can't personally have Hendrix as your favorite guitarist. But to put him on some insane pedestal where you refuse to entertain anyone else being near him shows more ignorance on your part. I'm not sure how anyone who truly loves the guitar could pick out one person in that way, because there are so many guitarists doing completely different and incomparable things.
@@degande-d1w In skill yeah but in creativity they are nowhere near. How many guitarists can play Voodoo Chile? Plenty. But he CREATED it. Also even in pure skill there are some things Hendrix did that is very hard to replicate. People praise Stevie Ray Vaughan and many put him above Hendrix. But his rendition of Voodoo Chile is just not better. Its not even on par. Its just not.
He is playing with time
Interesting video. Its about the options of "on, behind or ahead of the beat - something well known to drummers.
I was "on the scene" in London and the same time as Jimi, Mitch and Noel. I never saw him live as our gigs always seemed to clash. I was a drummer then, and mentored Mitch a little as Charlie Watts mentored me. As a drummer, you don't "measure" everything you "feel" it which is what Mitch and I and of course Jimi did. Now as a guitarists. I frequently to do push, and/or pull notes in my soloing, which "humanises" and makes the melody more "emotional".
Back in the day, I worked with a bass player that I went to school with. We just could not get on socially, but on stage our bass and drums fitted together perfectly doing those push and pulls together perfectly. Nick passed some years ago, as have most of my band in the '60s but oh they were cool days!
this was a cool read
@@baronsonics Thanks.
What was your band?
@@liambrammall1764 I had many over the years, none famous.
@ 12:30
My theory is that the super straight lick
was a count in for mr Mitchell.
A call and response moment.
I just love videos like this one 🎶
great point... count in would be needed too!
That's super smart of you to pick up on that I never would've thought of it that way
I like your theory, makes perfect sense!
Hihi 🤭, and then the drums come in with all triplets...
Spot on. Exactly this. It has "Cue" stamped all over it.
"hangover wobble" is the name of Hendrix's most common effect. A beautiful manifestation of this can be heard in "Little Wing". Slight movement coordination disturbances, but tempo remains in place. Deeply beautiful and human. Beautiful song, beautiful playing.
Thank you, Paul, for not only preserving the magic of well composed and expertly performed music, but also the value of masterfully produced video content (some of the best online).
Thank you so much for making videos for us and doing so much for music, I really can't thank you enough, you really really have helped me in my Guitar journey.
Love you! ❤
57 years after this song was recorded the world is trying to figure out how Jimi made his magic.. a true genius.
Hi, I just watched your video on Little Wing. As a teenager I had already found out it was impossible to get perfect. However, I caught a radio interview with the producer who recorded it. Jimi played it 3 times, each time a little different. The final song was a layering of all 3. This explains why it's different in a live performance. 😁
Really? Awesome, do you remember where you heard this?
One of my all time favorites brilliantly analysed.
Top notch production quality too
This is the problem with music nowadays. Everyone is so focused on perfection that they forgot how actual music made by humans is supposed to sound. It’s not supposed to be perfect
You're right, if this was recorded today they would quantise the guitar, bass and drums and autotune the vocal because everything Paul and Tim were discussing would be considered mistakes by modern producers.
I think you are right. Rock music in those days was not really about precision.
I notice this with the Internet RUclips guitar. People are so incredible technically but I begin to realize they aren't doing the part where they live life and express through the craft as art.. They are just kind of technical masters. It can be very impressive but I think obfuscates something crucial
Add to that all the notes he hits that you can barely even hear and you have a song that you can't play by learning it. You have to feel it. It's all the little things that you can figure out only by listening to the recording that make this song so special.
I'm pretty sure that even Hendrix wouldn't be able to play it perfectly again. All the little intricacies are dictated by his emotions, unique to the moment. Truly one of a kind player.
The irony of Hendrix's playing and groove being analyzed using a computer would probably just make him laugh and shake his head.
That said, it's a spot on analysis Paul, thank you!
Jimi’s nervous system was incredible. He had a foot in another world. Some of his work is just magical.
No he was a blues guitarist who had one or two new ideas. He was not a god, and did not come up with much that hadn't been done before him.
@@djhygs nah he was a god for sure
Every note he played got special consideration and treatment. No one can replicate Jimi. He had the grooviest soul ever ✌️😎
@@djhygs Sure if you say so😂
@@djhygs I wonder why so many great guitarists thought that Jimi Hendrix was something uniquely special, not just a blues guy doing the typical blues guitar cliches? Jimi was a transformative player who changed the landscape of electric guitar playing for most every electric guitar players afterward.
That image at 13:03 would make a great wall hanging for a music room... 🙂
It would be cool if you did this kind of analysis on Stevie Ray Vaughan's version and then compare them to each other, just to see the difference. (Not trying to start a war in the comments between which is best, would just be fun to really understand the differences between the versions.) Great video by the way!
Great idea.
Agreed. There is no best. I'm sure Stevie would say that there is the original, and everything else is just a copy. And we are all winners listening to the efforts.
There is a similar problem if you try to copy many EVH riffs. Many guitar players can now copy all his notes in the right order at a comparable speed (or even faster). But there is (almost ?) no one that can play them with his unique 'shuffle' feel :)
@@martijn_ytI agree. Van Halen definitely made it swing.
P@@lawrencetaylor4101
Two of my top songs of all time are covers. Jimi's version of All Along the Watchtower, and SRVs Little Wing.
SRV's Little Wing is fantastic but one of the things I love most about the Hendrix original is how short it is. It ends gently but quickly. When I first heard it I couldn't believe it had ended so soon, I felt it was just getting started! But the ephemeral nature of it adds to the beauty of the track, it almost feels fragile. Very fitting for a song (presumably) about his mother's spirit. For all its brilliance the SRV version loses that.
@@NosretapH it also misses the beautiful vocals and lyrics
SRV version is no where as good as Jimi's, and he don't sing in it,so he's not converting all what the song is about.
@@morriypoulsen1238 And music appreciation is opinion. I love Jimi's version. I love SRVs more. It's a different song. To be fair, SRV didn't like his version enough to release it, his brother released it after his death.
You have no idea what a relief this video is to me. I have been struggling with Little Wing for more than 25 years... I've been playing guitar for 40 years and I still can't play it right. So thank you for making feel better. If Mr. Pierce still can't play it the way Jimi did, all hopes are lost for me. LOL
On the bright side, you now know what it is that you need to work on!
It's amazing and pleasing for me to find that the default Jimi picture in use for the last year or so is from the second Royal Albert Hall show in February 1969. I was at both shows and that second one is the best evening I have ever had at any kind of concert.
Interesting video.
Blessings to you🙏 You have lived well, in the presence of Divinity.
i love the straight part at the end. it really gives an emphasis to that part and makes it feel so powerful imo
I learned this song 15 years ago and still play it.
The Riff that comes after the B minor to B-flat minor on the A took me a month to figure out when I was 10 years old in 1967 because he starts with a minor second and ends up with a major Triad. Because no one could teach me this stuff I had to learn on my own. I thought surely he cannot be playing those two notes together but after playing it over and over for a month I realized I was right at first and sure enough he goes from total disonance to Total Harmony in an absolute two-legged triplet swing feel. I wish you could have had that in this video! But Bravo on a great video! 13:31
Why is this video the perfect video right when Little Wing has been on my mind the past month!?
Thanks again Paul!!
I ve been thinking about it for 45 yrs
same😊
Same. I've actually been working on learning SRV's cover of it the past few days lol
I play that song for my 3 yo son nearly every time we go somewhere in the truck. I had no idea all the nuances in it and why. Very well-edited video and breakdown!
Amazing! From an early album of Sting, 'Little wing' is my favourite song, but the depth of the knowledge shared here, is what makes me want to pick up my guitar and start playing right away!
Thank you for sharing this, and I'm definitely interested in your course now!
All the best, cheers!
Sting really got me playing/singing Little Wing with a fresh view of it as an acoustic ballad, essentially - It's a great song per se [I've got a bit of a Bert Jansch vibe going on it, sans swing]. A different approach.
I love this video so much cause that's what I always heard in Hendrix music... Not to mention the way he strikes each string differently so that it would twang or just a normal strike and the dynamics of selecting which notes to emphasize. That's how I feel when I play too. It's wonderful.
Awesome, Paul. Swing, straight, shuffle and free - Jimi played with all the colors, all the time
Thank You. You actually taught Me something that numerous people have tried and failed!
Next Video: I got an email from Jimi Hendrix
A buddy of mine can play this and I got him to do it so many times. It was always my favorite thing to listen to him play
That's because hendrix made mistakes. he never played the same thing twice. He said it himself. People try to copy him so much they copy his mistakes.
Wrong lol.. he played things different for variation sakes lol.. and he was insane at improvising..
No mistakes, you are metronom injured if you think that. Same goes for all blues and many rock genres. It's almost always hilarious when someone schooled playes blues.
Meh, that's like saying Jordan made a "mistake" switching hands while going down the lane at Sam Perkins during game 2 of the '91 finals. Jimi was a performer. He wasn't replicating anything. He wasn't playing as a session guitarist. He was f'ing Jimi Hendrix. The idea of a "perfect" performance isn't really useful in this sense.
Hendrix was *brilliantly* bending the concepts of music. If you think those were mistakes, you’ve just missed the beauty & power of Hendrix.
@@JPVanderbuilt Ok, yes...but there are also might have been pauses and hiccups in some of his old, live, bootleg stuff...or even studio stuff...that your nostalgia goggles might have deemed brilliant but that might have just been his pushing back his sleeve or moving his cigarette...but then he just fell into the vibe that created, again because he's a genius, and changed the whole song on the fly. Jazz groups do this all the time when jamming for long sets because they're dropping this instrument or that percussion guy to the bathroom or a drink or flirting with the waitress.
I wouldn't be surprised, if we had a full documenting of every session, that we might not find that Jimi was thinking on his feet more often than we might believe.
Muddy Waters isn't delta blues, he's one of the progenitors of chicago blues! Love your stuff! Great video as always!
It's a pretty simple concept: Hendrix's sense of timing was always "in the moment". He played how he felt. It was a conversation between Jimi and his rhythm section, with Jimi seeming to be in his own world while the rest of the band kept him anchored so he wouldn't just float away.
This actually mind blowing! The urgency due to the slightly pulled forward note explains so much! Thank you
This video is amazingly nerdy and so good. Appreciate the breakdown and the editing is great. 👍🏼
Yes Jimi so so good, crazy good piece of music too, a music gem...but never forget that fantastic drummer that stand behind him...
AS spot on and interesting as this analysis is, I have a hard time believing Jimi put this much thought into it. He had a sound in his head and it just came out of his fingers.
He says that at 13:10
I recently tabbed out over 60 Hendrix chord embellishments from 4 different recordings of Little Wing, and I ran smack into what you're describing here. He mixed straight feel with varying levels of swing, sometimes within the same measure. All instinct and feel. Great video, really superb teaching and editing!
I think these are the kind of details that are missing from modern instagram type guitar
most of it is uninventive crap but the best insta guitarists will be ( some already are) the virtuosos and trail blaizers of the future
It's a problem of modern music in common. Everything is quantized, even if it doesn't need to
@@denysholovatyi3149I know a guy in my school that plays the guitar like he was James Hetfield himself on there.
Short, quiet, dorky Hispanic dude
I love the way you visualize music theory for your viewers. Those of us who don’t have a background in music can understand and appreciate this so much more. Good stuff!
Great to see Paul and Tim analyse Hendrix's musical techniques and timing in Little Wing
Hi Paul you may have already come across him, Sean Mann’s take on “little wing” is something to behold. He definitely isn’t just a regular RUclips guitarist. Pure class. He even takes on SRV’s version as well. Just wow.
Didn’t understand much of this, but your enthusiasm made it very engaging.
An interesting video would be: Should we really use click tracks and quantizing as much as we do? Would Jimi have played Little Wing as he did if he had grown up with ProTools? We learn to adjust whatever natural feel we have so it fits the machines...
Another topic could be TAB's vs classical musical notation. I am of the opinion that TAB's is a shortcut that does not lead to actual reading music. It is more like reading a book in a foreign language written in phonetics.
1:46 “It's the notes in between that are f***ing with me.”
You are such a consumate professional with your expression of music. Combined with your warm reception and human approach to the appraisal and recreation of classic songs and obscure and forgotten songs alike , your offering here on RUclips is genuine and original and I am happy I found this. Thank you
Thanks for breaking down the timing on this. I've always wondered about Little Wing and why I found its oddness beautiful.
I love it when people say that Hendrix was a "sloppy" player. It immediately lets me know that person has never really listened to Hendrix. I mean, really listened.
There is no bigger Hendrix fan than me, at 10 years old when are you experienced came out it took me a month just to get one roof in the intro of little wing because it was heavily swung and he started off with a minor second and ended with a major Triad, but when he played live sometimes he was really sloppy he had a lot of off nights and also some nights that were so good it defies analyzing. He became the instrument that was being played by music. Band of gypsies January 1st 1970 first show I don't know and machine gun in particular also La Forum 1970 was amazingly great although the recordings are not that great
Cope. The reason all these mid-20th century players have all these "inimitable sounds" is precisely because it was sloppy. There's an adage that an unskilled person can be dangerous in a fight because he will move erratically and unpredictably, whereas a trained person will reliably move in predictable, systematic ways. Same thing with the old guitar players. It was drugged out "let's just see what happens" playing. It gave unique sounds, and it is definitely difficult to replicate with intention, but it was not profound genius because some music nerds can technically describe that a bunch of different bits of theory happened to be manifested. That's just post hoc intellectualising. A professional painter could just as easily look at a child throwing a bucket of paint on a canvas and describe the result in terms of all sorts of highbrow painting techniques. Doesn't mean the child tapped into the power of the cosmos to intuitively manifest a work of genius.
None of these guitarists you idolise from the boomer-era can even replicate their own playing. Hendrix himself was never able to play the same thing twice. Neither can any of them. And no, that is not a good thing. Literally every other group of musicians on the planet besides electric guitar players know this.
Did you forget the entire genre of free jazz? I don't think they were replicating the songs they made. I highly doubt you're a musician of any worth if you don't know the importance of improv. If hendrix wanted to he could learn all his solos and riffs perfectly (within human limit) he was certainly technically able, some of his riffs he played very well live were very complex. But that would suck. Everytime i find a new bootleg of Jimi i'm excited by the fact i know he's going to switch it up and do some cool shit. He was an improv player and that's why people love him. Jimi Hendrix is and for the forseable future the greatest guitarist to ever walk the earth. Your assumption that he was unable to play the same thing twice is dumb, plain and simple. The fact he didn't doesn't make him a worse guitarist it makes him a better one.
@@sigiligus Derp
@@sigiligus I get your point to a degree. But in every art form, especially music, being too accurate and always repeating one thing a thousand times over, defeats the very purpose of it. To be FUN and emotional. It's the difference between ART and a CRAFT. He couldn't play it the same way? He had proved x times during his career that he never ever wanted it that way. People are not robots. All Along The Watchtower is another great example - you take the swing out of it and it becomes bland. It's even in the way he sings it. The terms ''groove'', ''swing'' and ''shuffle'' were coined based on it all, for a reason.
man everything about this song is mind blowing ,its was absolutely magical the first time I heard it
11:59 That *C* chord [x3201x] is actually a *C6* chord [x3221x]!
(I suppose he used his middle finger for both notes on fret 2 with a “shared fingertip fretting”.)
It's called 'shared finggertip fretting' or sff! I was thaught that technique by Wim Overgaauw.! Jimi Hendrix used it also with an open E chord by using his 2nd finger on the A and D strings. You put your finger between the two strings. It's not a partial bar. And with this C chord he did the same and made it a C6 by placing his 2nd finger between the D and G strings. That's why those necks are more narrow in that area I guess!
@@pietervermeulen67 Thank you - I never heard this term until now! I edited my comment accordingly :D
This is a great example of how musicians communicate through their instruments… the emotions that are evoked by this kind of playing are IMHO completely lacking from modern commercialized music. This is true expression and every single time I hear Little Wing I get an emotional reaction.
Thanks for breaking this down!!!
Note to self: Burn guitar before going to bed tonight. 😅🤣😂
Bravo! I've been teaching guitar for almost 30 years and I steer my students toward your videos because your analysis is always so solid. The editing on this video is next level too, well done and thank you Paul
I think yall are overthinking it pretty sure he was just a very talented dude that just liked jamming. He didn’t necessarily care about time signatures and notes he just played the guitar homie
Yes, but the question is “what did he play that we aren’t” and ‘he played Jimi Hendrix isn’t a good answer if you actually want to know. So I’ll ask you. What exactly did Jimi Hendrix play that we aren’t, besides “he’s just Jimi Hendrix”
@@ethan6840 Jimi Hendrix he played what he felt yeah there was technical ability involved but that’s not the point.
@@traynelly9082 yeah the point of the video was what actually made his playing different, along with what shaped music along the years
Yeah when at 8:07 Tim says "This is the only time he played it like that," I was just about to type, the sad thing for the rest of us is, Jimi just played it like that in the moment, from his soul. It comes from the beat of the heart, not from plotting anything on a piece of paper.
Jimi Hendrix is league on his own class❤
He changes the way of playing the guitar. One the True G.O.A.T of guitar
Truth!
Your videos always get my creativity going when I have writers block. And thanks for putting us on to some of these oldies. Great to draw inspiration from.
This guy is him
I think it'd be really cool to analyze more guitarist's "Feel" compare and contrast them because in the end that's what makes each of us unique. It's our foot print.
I came here to watch this video before it gets blocked for including Jimi Hendrix music.
Might get flamed for this and absolutely no disrespect to Jimi at all but Stevie Ray takes this song to the next level. Of course the original is legendary but this is one of the rare times the cover is better IMO.
RIP Jimi and SRV.
The beauty of Little Wing is that it is 2:26 long (and is a song) not a wank fest of licks for 10 mins. You have totally missed the point. Even SRV didn't release it. Posthumous album.
@@nicko6710 Seems I've somehow offended your knowledge of music history and taste. I apologize for stoking any inner negativity.
When it comes to art I have always felt the point is to find something that connects emotionally and 'stirs the soul'. I honestly try my best not to let history or someones opinion (especially the artist) influence me.
Hendrix connects so deeply with so many other songs and I like his covers of Hey Joe and All Along the Watchtower much more than Dylan's. However, for me personally, something about the feel, tone, and improv of those runs in SRV's cover simply speaks to me.
Jimi is a legend but I think SRV took a great song, injected something more, and made it universally emotional no matter the language of the listener.
I respect your opinion, arguing with someone about art is pretty silly. Peace ✌
I think this is one of the main things that gets missed yet is the most important part. Great video
Is there a recording of the full discussion with Tim Pierce?
That's all we want to know now!
I always felt something was off when I tried to find a tab to learn the intro to the song. They all sounded soulless and rigid, so I decided to just take the gist of the tab, where to fret to get the note that I need, and I just (little) winged it from there. It just felt better to somehow try and follow the essence of what I heard from Hendrix by fumbling around rather than follow what the tab tells me.
This video put a name to the feelings I had. Thank you.
Ridiculous over analysis of someone's guitar playing style. No one plays it like Hendrix because no one created it but Hendrix.
Yes, we know that. But why? That’s the question of the video. If you know the answer, tell me why, besides the fact that he’s just Jimi Hendrix.
@@ethan6840
There is no other answer. Why did Picasso paint the way he did? Because he was Picasso. Why didn't Dali paint like Picasso? Because he wasn't Picasso. Do you really need such a simple and obvious truth explained to you?
@@Mark-l9k9q you could have just said you don’t know
@@ethan6840
But I do know. It's you who has trouble digesting simple truths.
@@Mark-l9k9q no it’s okay I get it, I’m not judging you or anything
It's one of my favorite songs and having it broken down like this is amazing. Thank you.
You need brown sugar for that😊
Can we give a moment of appreciation for the visual work of this presentation.
My lawd. This man is an educator.
When I first learned guitar 20 years ago, I had only tabs. No teacher or any other help. And so when I couldn't figure out the nuance or the timing, I had to skip that song. Little Wing was a huge example of this.
And just this morning I found a youtube lesson with the tabs displayed above the guitar as the guy played. This solves that problem. And now I am finally getting it. I'd have never figured it out from a tab, but a video, with tab, and with the ability to slow the video speed...man, I think anything can be learnt. Good time to be alive and learn an instrument.
This is one of the most interesting things I've seen in my journey to try to really understand music. Brilliant job Paul!
I heard little wing when I was about 12.. it sounded like a butterfly. Never heard something so beautiful and amazing, prolly still to this day. When you watch a butterfly in the air, the pull of the wings is always different. Maybe that’s why the title.. either way, Jimi breathed through his guitar, it’s true to life.
Hello from France.
Little Wing is my best song ever. Since the 90s when I listened to this music as a teenager. This music is just a gem. And it's a shame that Jimi didn't play it more during these concerts. I don't know why anyway.
Paul you did a good job with Little Wing ,and I learned a lot about the swing of this song.
I've got both a classical musical education and a modern one on the guitar. And I just always loved syncopation. No matter the subject or style. It's a very important tool in any musician's shed, regardless of which instrument they play. In classical music, it's ubiquitous. In blues and other guitar-related styles, it's also very common in my expereience.
Most of my life I’ve stayed away from playing Hendrix songs because I knew there was no way I was going to sound like Hendrix. Now in my old age, I find it extremely satisfying to emulate Hendrix. Thanks for this breakdown of a legendary musician.
Absolutly fantastic. Thank you for doing the hard yards in breaking down the song. Will change my perspective forever
Wow .. this technical analysis of this song finally quantifies what my ears were hearing and confirms my appreciation of the genius of Jimi Hendrix. He was playing on another level.
I have been waiting for someone to make a video like this for little wing for a long time. youre the perfect one to do it
Once again a great edited video and explanation, you are the undisputed king of you tube guitar lessons my friend
My wife makes fun of me when I tell her about truly great musicians on RUclips who can cover different artists' styles, but this video helped me understand WHY I can hear the difference. I always tell her that there's a ton of people who can play all these songs exactly right when it comes to the notes, but they just sound "off" for some reason. There's probably 2 RUclipsrs out of every 1,000 who can actually replicate the feel of a certain artist when they play. This video helped me make sense of the differences between all these players. It's SUPER hard to replicate famous guitarists styles and the soul of what they play, but some people just have that natural talent! Awesome video
Jimi plaid Little Wing at the Calderón theater in Hempstead New York.
It was amazing .
I will never forget it.
Nice explanations! Adding a lot to the magic of the song is streching the rhythmic feel over two beats by entering a 2/4 bar in a 4/4 song.
This is a great lesson on timings in general and Hendrix's magic in particular. I first learned about this - en het kwartje viel ;) - when I was in a studio in Amsterdam with Cordell 'Boogie' Mosson of Parliament / Funkadelic. He taught us youngsters (I think I was 19 or 20 at the time) about timing and 'breathing' by example, by first playing Little Wing "as everyone plays it", followed by the way Hendrix played it. We were blown away; it was magic! It was the biggest lesson in music I've ever had. And I've referred to it many times ever since. Thanks for the elaborate analysis and beautiful lecture Paul!
Damn. Thank you for making this video and showing so clearly the differences between swing and a 'rhythm-corrected' style. Huge difference and I never thought about it this way.
He was genius, and yes in the studio , Jimmy probably intentionally used segments of " flow and tension " from straight to swing in such subtle micro moments, Paul I think your micro dissection with click track has exposed part of Jimmy's genius the world has not unraveled . A+ on the deep dive...
Next Level Playing id a beautiful course to do, I enjoy every bit. I honestly recommend it. Many thanks for that Paul, your video editing is getting better and better. Your musical talent is obvious. Amazing stuff.
this is not basic chord progression, Paul, this is quite sophisticated combination
One of my favorites. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s cover is my favorite version (outside of the original). Sometimes, it’s more than sheer talent. Requires SOUL!
I think even Jimi Hendrix didn't play it 100% like in record. It is a song to mess around and make it feel like it's your song in a way. One thing you need to learn if you play rock, blues, jazz etc. You interpret it as you wish and make it sound good. When you play, you just play and forget the song. That's the beauty in playing music, you just play and feel.