Click
here for a printable version of the transcription to the intro
and outro. Once you're done reviewing this page you can keep your
printed copy to practice it.
The intro riff is built upon 3 power chords. They come from A
style barre chords with the notes on the B and high E string omitted.
Here are these 3 power chords:
Here is the actual riff. Jimi doubles the 5th of each chord on
the low E string and then plays a variation with hammer-ons.
When the riff repeats, a lead fill is added at the end. This
fill leads into the first verse.
The riff repeats in different fashion throughout the song. Below
you can see how Hendrix makes a minor modification with the fill
at the end.
The fills are built off of the F pentatonic major (as is most
of the lead lines throughout the song). The intro riff ends on
an F chord (which is the key signature). The fill comes from the
easily accessable G scale pattern. Below you'll see the F chord
using the A style barre chord and then the F pentatonic major
scale ascending, which is the same thing as the G scale pattern
that Hendrix uses.
You can come up with your own fills using a combination of the
F chord using the A style barre chord pattern and the G scale
pattern in the key of F (as seen above). The G scale pattern is
easy to slip into when playing an A style barre chord:
