On Practicing Guitar

Second Half and Climax

Phrase Four begins the second half of the solo, and this is where it really takes off (See Part I of the Hey Joe Solo Analysis below for the tab). The opening fragment from Phrases One and Two returns, but this time it’s expanded by a double pump on the whole-step bend with vibrato, and the second bend has a more intense, ‘Hendrixian’ feeling to it. Again we have three parts, with the middle one echoing the middle of Phrase Two, but again it’s expanded. The first three notes can form a repeated lick that Jimi (and many others) often used, but the last two notes confound expectations and demonstrate how Jimi would rarely succumb to cliché during this period of his career. Part three of the phrase is one of the most affecting melodic fragments of the solo, a short, four note phrase that outlines an implied minor seventh chord. It is melodic, harmonic and eerie, all at the same time. This figure echoes the second part of Phrase Three, our ‘second theme,’ again rising up from the lowest note of the solo, B, the dominant.

Phrase Five is the climax of the solo. The opening figure of Phrase One is composed out, with the whole-step bend moving to the G string. This is followed by a broken double-stop, again ala Chuck Berry, that is followed by half-step bend up to G# that falls to the tonic, E. This five note figure outlines an E major triad, E – G# – B, and encapsulates the essential tonal material of the solo, from the low B of the ‘second theme’ through the many tonic Es to the highest note, G#. The full range of the solo is an octave and a major sixth. This is pretty wide for a twenty second break in a three minute ‘pop’ song, but the tight construction, repetition, and meticulous development of the ideas prevents the solo from seeming florid or indulgent.

Phrase Five can again be broken into three distinct parts, but perhaps because the solo is beginning to wind down, the last two parts can be seen as connected. The middle part again echoes the middle of Phrases Two and by extension, Four. Again it is expanded, with a whole-step bend that forms an incomplete dominant triad or minor seventh chord. The last note, a whole-step bend from A to B, is played staccato, adding rhythmic color and variety to an otherwise legato outing. The final, short fragment emphasizes the minor third from G to E that we’ve been hearing all along, this time ending on a concluding tonic.

Phrase Six brilliantly plays on and expands the ‘second theme,’ this time adding a taste of the parallel major key (E major), with the notes C# and F# added to the mix. But before a true major pentatonic scale can be realized, which might give the listener a sense of hope for our protagonist, the phrase peaks on a double-stop, G – B, forming a half-diminished seventh chord that adds to the spooky quality of the solo and keeps with the downbeat emotional tone of the song as a whole. Interestingly, this is the only part of the solo that goes outside of the twelfth position E minor pentatonic form, known as Form I. It’s as if Joe is making an attempt to break out of his predicament, with little success. It foreshadows the probability that he’s not going to make it down to Mexico, after all.

Is it planning, instinct, or simply listening to and learning from the masters before him? Probably all three. But it is essential when learning solos like this to break them down and practice the licks from the inside out, to both hone the techniques involved and to get a sense of the structure that underlies the music. Did Jimi record the solo on Noel Redding’s telecaster as some allege? It’s difficult to tell, but maybe there’s a reason why I play so many blues solos on my Kelly Tele, using the front pickup with the volume and tone turned full up.