How Jimi Hendrix Brilliantly Deconstructed Chords to Create Distinctive Embellished Melodic Themes

Music writer Polyphonic, who creates incredibly informative video essays, took a look at the distinctive guitar style of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, specifically focusing on his brilliant talent and physical ability to deconstruct chords into delicious bite sized pieces. In doing so, Hendrix created beautifully embellished melodic themes that continually kept the momentum of the song going.

Instead of being satisfied with simply playing chords alongside the bass and drums, Hendrix adds dozens of little embellishments. These embellishments give his music a kind of driving momentum. There’s always something neat and complex going on beneath the surface…To create these flares Hendrix was often breaking up his chords into smaller pieces. He would play part of a chord and let it ring out while embellishing a small melody on the rest of the chord above.