Hendrix G chord

[Sage97]

No clue why I struggle with it. Either the low E buzzes or the B and low E are muted. Plus I can’t play or mute the A string. Fretting is so much easier but it makes certain transitions funky.

Maybe I need to pull my left thumb out with a pair of pliers and make it longer.

[Davis Webb]

He had huge hands. Most of us simply do regular chords for Purple Haze...you either have long fingers or you don't.

[JonPR]

What "Hendrix G chord" are you thinking of?

[Sage97]

Thumb on low E on 3rd fret, first finger barring strings 1 and 2 on 3rd fret, middle finger on 3rd string on 4th fret, ring finger on 4th an 5th strings on 5th fret.

[mr. beaumont]

Try it on a vintage styled strat with a 7.5" radius and narrow nut.

Sometimes the tool itself leads to innovation...though my guess is Hendrix could have played his thumb over chords on anything...

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Sage97

Thumb on low E on 3rd fret, first finger barring strings 1 and 2 on 3rd fret, middle finger on 3rd string on 4th fret, ring finger on 4th an 5th strings on 5th fret.

OK.
That obviously needs fingers fat enough to hold 2 strings at once, which is not a problem on a narrow enough neck.
I have quite slim fingers (probably average length for a man), and can do it easily enough on my Tele.
I don't have a Strat, but my Guild has a similar nut width to a Strat (42mm) and it's tricky on that - but then of course I'd use my pinky on 4th string, which means I don't have it spare for any embellishment of the chord.

IOW, wrapping the thumb is not the problem - that's a standard cheat for the barre shape (lots of people do that - can't everyone?). I can fret the 6th with my thumb on wider necks than that. Admittedly it's harder then to get both the top B and E with my index (easier to mute top E). Like I say, my fingers are not unusually long at all (smaller than some men's); but they are thinnish, I don't know if that makes it easier.

[SouthpawJeff]

It’s my understanding that Hendrix played a righty guitar upside down as a lefty and strung as a righty as well. So unless your doing the same seems like it would be difficult if not impossible to play all the chords the same as he did?

Not sure what song your doing but for Purple Haze I play it as a normal G barre chord. This allows my to lift the pinky off and on to add a little of my own flavor😉

Good lick,
Jeff

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by SouthpawJeff

It’s my understanding that Hendrix played a righty guitar upside down as a lefty and strung as a righty as well. So unless your doing the same seems like it would be difficult if not impossible to play all the chords the same as he did?

Not sure what song your doing but for Purple Haze I play it as a normal G barre chord. This allows my to lift the pinky off and on to add a little of my own flavor😉

Good lick,
Jeff

This is not true, Hendrix's guitar was strung as a normal lefty.

[lowrider]

Dick Dale, the king of surf guitar, played upside down lefty. So did a lot of others. There is a younger black guitar player who kills it upside down lefty, but I can't think of his name. Can somebody tell me who I'm thinking of?

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Try it on a vintage styled strat with a 7.5" radius and narrow nut.

Sometimes the tool itself leads to innovation...though my guess is Hendrix could have played his thumb over chords on anything...

Cool. A valid reason to check out another guitar.

Originally Posted by JonPR

OK.
That obviously needs fingers fat enough to hold 2 strings at once, which is not a problem on a narrow enough neck.
I have quite slim fingers (probably average length for a man), and can do it easily enough on my Tele.
I don't have a Strat, but my Guild has a similar nut width to a Strat (42mm) and it's tricky on that - but then of course I'd use my pinky on 4th string, which means I don't have it spare for any embellishment of the chord.

IOW, wrapping the thumb is not the problem - that's a standard cheat for the barre shape (lots of people do that - can't everyone?). I can fret the 6th with my thumb on wider necks than that. Admittedly it's harder then to get both the top B and E with my index (easier to mute top E). Like I say, my fingers are not unusually long at all (smaller than some men's); but they are thinnish, I don't know if that makes it easier.

I have no problems wrapping my thumb as well. It's the combo of the wrapped thumb, the index finger fretting strings 1 and 2 and the pinky stretching two frets over to hit the 4th and possibly 5th.

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by SouthpawJeff

It’s my understanding that Hendrix played a righty guitar upside down as a lefty and strung as a righty as well. So unless your doing the same seems like it would be difficult if not impossible to play all the chords the same as he did?

Not sure what song your doing but for Purple Haze I play it as a normal G barre chord. This allows my to lift the pinky off and on to add a little of my own flavor😉

Good lick,
Jeff

I've no problem with barre chords either. I do find advantages to doing it his way.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Sage97

I have no problems wrapping my thumb as well. It's the combo of the wrapped thumb, the index finger fretting strings 1 and 2 and the pinky stretching two frets over to hit the 4th and possibly 5th.

OK. Again, I have no trouble doing that, although I have been playing a l-o-n-g t-i-m-e... (I remember the last dinosaurs dying out...), so I can appreciate how others might have trouble.
I do have to squeeze the whole thing a little harder than other chord shapes - which is why I normally use a barre if I want all 6 strings (which I don't often).

[Nymuso]

I’ve long used that fingering, among others, for barring the E shape, didn’t know it was a Hendrix thing. I use a lot of thumb over chords. One of the benefits of self tuition in the pre-internet days - nobody ever told me it was wrong.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

I’ve long used that fingering, among others, for barring the E shape, didn’t know it was a Hendrix thing. I use a lot of thumb over chords. One of the benefits of self tuition in the pre-internet days - nobody ever told me it was wrong.

Well, nobody told you it was wrong because it isn't wrong!

As for it being a "Hendrix" thing, certainly he didn't invent it...but if you want some instant Hendrix sound--add the ninth on the first string with the pinky, make sure the 5th string is muted, and slide this chord around...

[Acoustic_Stevo]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Dick Dale, the king of surf guitar, played upside down lefty. So did a lot of others. There is a younger black guitar player who kills it upside down lefty, but I can't think of his name. Can somebody tell me who I'm thinking of?

Eric Gales