Hey Joe and the Art of Expressive, Melodic Rhythm & Lead Guitar
If you’ve been playing guitar for a little while and you’re ready to take things to the next level — to move past static chord shapes, overused licks, and boxed-in scales — this course is for you. As a professional guitarist and instructor who’s spent years on stage and in the studio, I can tell you that few players had the natural feel, melodic instinct, and rhythmic command that Jimi Hendrix had.
And here’s the good news: you can learn a lot of what made his playing so powerful. Even more importantly, I will show you how to approach learning this style of guitar playing so you can implement it yourself, just like John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Frusciante and countless others. Learning licks is one thing, understanding the concepts behind the playing of Hendrix, is another.
In this course, we’ll use Hendrix’s version of Hey Joe as our roadmap. It’s the perfect track to learn the techniques, fretboard knowledge, and creative mindset that Hendrix used to make his guitar sing. This isn’t about memorizing a few licks — it’s about learning how to connect scales, chords, and melody in a way that makes every note you play mean something. To play like Hendrix, one has to have a fuller understanding of the guitar neck, different chords and inversions across the neck and a knowledge of major and minor pentatonic. We will take an approach that will make you more confident in your guitar playing and improvising.
Why Hey Joe?
Hey Joe is a classic for a reason. It’s a simple chord progression — E, C, G, D, A — but in Hendrix’s hands, it becomes a masterclass in expressive guitar playing. From the opening riff to the solo and the subtle fills in between, this song shows off Hendrix’s ability to turn basic chords into something rich and alive. It’s approachable for late beginners and intermediate players, yet packed with the kinds of ideas that will level up your playing.
What You’ll Learn
We’ll start by learning how to play the intro and solo note-for-note. I’ll break down each phrase, explain the techniques behind it, and show you how it ties into the underlying chords. You’ll see how Hendrix moved effortlessly between E minor and E major pentatonic scales, how he targeted chord tones, and how he made use of double stops and expressive bends.
But more importantly, you’ll learn how to think about the fretboard the way Hendrix did — not as a series of isolated positions, but as one connected, musical canvas.
Pentatonic Scales and Dynamic Blending
One of the first things we’ll cover is how Hendrix blended major and minor pentatonic scales. Most players learn these scales separately, but Hendrix would often switch between them in the middle of a phrase. We’ll map out both E minor and E major pentatonic positions and practice moving between them over the Hey Joe progression. I’ll show you how to use those scales not just for soloing, but to create melodic fills and lead-in lines that complement the chords.
Chord Embellishments, Inversions, and Triads
A big part of what made Hendrix’s rhythm playing so memorable was how he treated chords. Instead of strumming the same open shape every time, he’d add hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, and partial chord shapes to keep things fresh. We’ll dive into how he did this, starting with simple embellishments and moving into triads and inversions up the neck.
I’ll show you how to find multiple voicings for each chord in Hey Joe, and how to link them with small fills and melodic fragments. This is where the guitar stops being just a rhythm instrument and starts becoming a melodic voice within the song.
Connecting It All With the CAGED System
Whether you realize it or not, Hendrix’s playing made use of what we now call the CAGED system — a method of connecting chord shapes, triads, and scales across the neck. I’ll explain how to visualize the CAGED shapes for E, C, G, D, and A, and how those shapes serve as anchor points for your pentatonic and blues scale positions.
This is a game-changer for intermediate players. Once you start seeing how scales and chords overlap, you’ll stop feeling stuck in one position and start moving up and down the neck with confidence.
Double Stops, Chord Tone Targeting, and Improvisation
We’ll spend time working on double stops — those two-note phrases Hendrix used so effectively — and how to build them into your solos and fills. I’ll teach you how to target key chord tones (like the root, third, and fifth) within your pentatonic phrases to make your solos sound more intentional and connected to the music.
Improvisation can seem intimidating, but it gets a lot easier when you start thinking in terms of chord shapes and target notes. I’ll walk you through exercises that show you how to build simple phrases using the tools we’ve covered, and how to gradually expand those ideas into full solos.
Rhythm Precision, Dynamics, and Feel
Something that often gets overlooked in Hendrix’s playing is how precise his rhythm work was. He wasn’t just flailing away with wild fills — everything was in time, in the pocket, and dynamically balanced with the rest of the band. I’ll teach you how to vary your pick attack, timing, and note length to create dynamic, expressive rhythm parts.
This is one of those areas where a little effort goes a long way. Even basic chords sound better when they’re played with the right feel and dynamic control.
Putting It All Together
By the end of this course, you’ll not only be able to play Hey Joe with confidence, but you’ll have a toolkit of techniques and ideas you can use in any song. You’ll understand how to:
- Connect pentatonic scales to chord shapes
- Blend major and minor tonalities
- Embellish chords with hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides
- Use triads and inversions up the neck
- Build solos that follow the chord changes
- Add double stops and melodic fills to your rhythm parts
- Move across the fretboard using the CAGED system
And maybe most importantly, you’ll start to feel more comfortable improvising. Learning to solo isn’t about memorizing a hundred licks — it’s about learning how other players approached the guitar and using those ideas to find your own voice.
What You’ll Get
- Roughly 6 hours of videos, with me demonstrating and explaining everything
- the Hey Joe intro & solo, fully tabbed and noted and performed and explained by me
- Custom backing tracks, at different tempos, so you can practice and play along with and without me
- All PDF’s and guitar tab for:
- 14 different rhythmic approaches, combing major pentatonic and chord shapes. All performed, tabbed and notated by me.
- 21 different pentatonic licks, tabbed and notated, to teach you how to improvise, phrase and integrate licks across the guitar neck so you learn to think and play like a pro. All performed, tabbed and notated by me.
- 20 different drills to help you improve your knowledge and understanding of the pentatonic scales across the neck, building hand strength and common Hendrix techniques as the course progresses.
- All Major and minor pentatonic scales, and chord shapes, used in the song.
I’ve built this course to be approachable, practical, and immediately useful. Whether you’re playing in a band, jamming with friends, or just working on your own style, these concepts will help you sound more musical, more confident, and more like yourself.
Let’s get started!
