Creator Area
Sign in Creator Area

Practice Studio

Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing - Guitar Tab

Sections · Loop · Speed · Metronome

Not in tune?

SECTIONS

Select a Loop

Start of your loop
End of your loop

Speed Control

Speed
100%

Tools

BPM
Key Em minor
Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing guitar tab video
Mr. Tabs
Mr. Tabs Top Contributor
YouTube: 1.1Msubs 2.8Mviews
Creator Page →
PLAY WITH BACKING TRACK
·
–50¢ 0 +50¢
· Tap to start

Your browser will ask for microphone permission.

Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Axis: Bold As Love album cover
Axis: Bold As Love
1967 2:26
Listen on Spotify
Jimi Hendrix Psychedelic Rock 1967 Em minor
Capo Advisor 0 Em minor · Original key

About Little Wing

"Little Wing" is a slow-tempo rhythm and blues-inspired ballad written and recorded by Jimi Hendrix in 1967. Running just under two and a half minutes, it is one of Hendrix's most concise and melodically focused compositions, built around his expressive vocal and guitar work enhanced by studio effects. For electric guitarists, it is an essential study in lyrical phrasing, chord embellishment, and the ability to make a guitar sing within a compact, carefully arranged structure.

  • Hendrix layers chord melody with single-note runs, making 'Little Wing' a masterclass in combining rhythm and lead guitar simultaneously.
  • The arrangement includes glockenspiel alongside bass and drums, giving the track an unusually delicate texture for an electric guitar-led song.
  • At roughly two minutes and twenty-five seconds, 'Little Wing' proves that melodic economy can be more impactful than extended soloing.

How to Play Little Wing

The song moves through: Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2, Solo.

Key: Em minor · Tempo: 115 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

The central challenge of Little Wing is Hendrix's chord-melody technique: he weaves single-note fills and hammer-ons into the chord voicings themselves, so rhythm and lead guitar happen simultaneously rather than taking turns. Begin by learning the intro chord progression in E minor on its own, then isolate the connecting single-note phrases between chord changes before combining them. The hardest part for most players is keeping the chord shapes clean while the thumb simultaneously frets bass notes, so loop the intro slowly and build muscle memory for each hand position shift. A common pitfall is rushing the fills to match the 115 bpm groove before the fingering is solid, which blurs the notes that give the song its singing quality.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 115 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Hendrix's reversed left-handed Strats with stock single-coils delivered bright, articulate tone with pronounced string separation that sang when driven through cranked tubes. The in-between pickup positions created his signature quack tones, while the volume knob let him dynamically shape fuzz in real time.

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)
Amp

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)

Hendrix pushed the Marshall 1959's power tubes to natural saturation, generating thick, harmonically rich overdrive that became his signature sound. The amp's aggressive breakup complemented his single-coils perfectly, delivering singing sustain without compressing his dynamic touch.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

In the studio, Hendrix used the Twin Reverb's cleaner headroom to capture sparkling, articulate tones and explore different breakup characteristics than the Marshall. Its built-in reverb added spaciousness to tracks like 'Little Wing' without relying on external effects.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Hendrix treated the Cry Baby as an expressive tone-shaping tool, rocking it rhythmically mid-riff on 'Voodoo Child' rather than just switching it on and off. The pedal's resonant sweep perfectly complemented his fuzz textures and added vocal-like expressiveness to his soloing.

Recommended for You

Play with Backing Track

Play with Backing Track

Solo (Backing Track)

Solo (Backing Track)