What Nobody Tells You About Playing Little Wing

[00:00:01]Hey, YouTube people.

[00:00:04]>> [music] >> Wow. Uh, hey, just uh, welcome to another one of the quasi-daily extemporaneous visits here on the YouTubes. Um, I did have one of my Reverend Gristle ST guitars up here in three-tone sunburst, but that one has sold. I've signed that and it's going off to its destination.

[00:00:30]Uh, [snorts] we have more uh, in route.

[00:00:33]We sold quite a few of them this morning, actually, which is awesome. So, I just grabbed this guitar which was sitting around. This is a um, a Japanese made, I think they call it the JV modified '60s modified strat. Uh, and I bought it over at my buddy's place, Cream City Music.

[00:00:52]>> [music] >> It was used. I think I got it for $800.

[00:00:57]>> [music] >> But, I wanted it so I could pop in this loaded pickguard. Fishman makes a loaded pickguard with my uh, signature single width pickups [music] on it.

[00:01:12]It's a good little guitar. Plays great.

[00:01:13]I, you know, I'm I'm getting spoiled by the Wilkinson bridge on my Gristle ST because you can do all your whammy bar splendiferous activities.

[00:01:21]That sucker stays in tune. This one, if I start messing around a little bit, even though I've done all the things that you do as far as making sure that all the different contact points with the string and the guitar are well lubed so that it can pass freely back and forth whether you're bending or using Mr. Wiggles, the whammy bar.

[00:01:38]Uh, although I have a new name for for this, >> [music] >> Mr. Wobbles. We got Mr. Wiggles and we got Mr. Wobbles, which is the harmonic vibrato.

[00:01:48]>> [music] >> I am plugged into my buddy's amp again, the the Blue Fire, cuz it's it was just sitting here ready to go. But, I was thinking this morning um, about something that might be fun.

[00:01:59]Someone had commented, "Boy, it'd be cool if you would do like different Hendrix tunes and so on and so forth." And yeah, you know, I'll do whatever kind of comes to mind, but I thought what would be kind of fun for this video is um you know, I've played Little Wing, I think since my first band or certainly the second band.

[00:02:17]Um I've been doing this song forever. And then I remember I was doing a show years ago, probably damn near 20 years ago. It was during the NAMM show, and uh I was uh my rhythm section at the time that I was doing some gigs with was uh Roscoe Beck on bass, of course, the legendary Roscoe Beck and the legendary Tom Brechtlein on drums, who were of course in Robin Ford's band, but you know, they've their discography for both those sons of guns is crazy. They're still really good buddies of mine, and I uh talk with them on the regular. And uh just saw Tom, as a matter of fact. Just saw Roscoe.

[00:02:54]Anyhoo, uh we were out at NAMM doing some some things. As I said, this is damn near 20 years ago, I think. And um there was a guy, I believe he was I think was it Dal Booth? I think I can't remember.

[00:03:09]Uh it was somebody. It was somebody in the Robin Ford sphere that was doing some marketing work for um Xotic Effects pedals. And at the time I was using I was really enjoying that EP Booster. And then at Wildwood we were using the BB Preamp for uh the gain option when I would play the early days of uh the Wildwood videos, uh I played through a uh blue uh Hot Rod Deluxe amp in the clean channel with like a BB Preamp. I think I was first it was an OCD pedal.

[00:03:41]Uh because they wanted um they wanted me to play through and anybody else who came through, they wanted them to play through an amp and a pedal that anyone could get. And so that it wouldn't be some mystical uh ingredient that was making the guitar sound one way or the other. It was just plain ordinary stuff that anyone could get. Um and at that point I I got that BB preamp and I was using it in conjunction with the uh the EP booster, which you know, it's it's a different flavor from what the Gristle King does, which is a clean booster and an overdrive. The overdrive on the Gristle King is a lot more gets a lot more viscous, I think, than the BB preamp.

[00:04:17]But they both sound great. Anyway, the long story short is this individual uh was booking a um kind of an after-party or after NAMM party um for Xotic Effects and uh booked us, the trio, me, Roscoe, and um Top Rack Line kind of last minute to be a part of the show, which was at the Lighthouse uh in Hermosa Beach. It was a cool old club. That's where that great I mean, a lot of jazz players have played there.

[00:04:46]There've been records over the years, but one that stands out to me is the live record that Grant Green did there with his funky or aggregation uh that was recorded at the Lighthouse.

[00:04:55]So, it's pretty cool to be playing there. Anyway, so we were put on the bill and it was and unbeknownst to me, well, we we found out as it got closer, it was uh Kirk Fletcher uh his band was playing and then it was uh the great Eric Gales and then we were playing. So we got there having a good time. Eric Gales plays and of course he's Kirk Kirk Fletcher plays and he's great. He's always great.

[00:05:18]Um and I was playing through his Super Reverb. I don't know what kind of secret sauce he put on that Super Reverb, but it sounded immensely great. But prior to that and between um uh Kirk playing and and us, there were Eric Gales went up and he played and it was awesome. But my my favorite thing about Eric Gales, he's a stunning lead guitar player. There's just no question about it, but his chordal game is is my favorite, right? I mean, when he does his chordal thing because things the way that they're laid out uh left-handed but strong right-handed.

[00:05:50]He just does some really beautiful chordal things.

[00:05:54]And my favorite thing about the night which I which I took away and have used uh ever since was the substitution chords that he added to Little Wing, right? And [snorts] um I don't remember exactly what he did. I just kind of did it by ear and added my own chords. But then we jammed on it like um a year later at NAMM Eric and I sat down at some booth. He was playing and the guy from the the booth I think it was uh John Page Guitars. They handed me a guitar.

[00:06:22]Jam with Eric. I sat down and said, "Let's do that arrangement that you do of Little Wing." So we did.

[00:06:27]Uh and I believe I got the chords correct.

[00:06:29]Um so I wanted to show you that because it's kind of fun. So of course Little Wing and I like to put Mr. Wobbles on just because it sounds good.

[00:06:38]>> [music] >> So of course Little Wing, you know, I do it you know, if I'm just playing it's uh my version of it cuz you know, Hendrix played it different every time. Then of course you have Stevie Ray Vaughan who did it and copped a feel in another different way. And now you've got every person at every jam known to man uh has done the song kind of to death but it's such a beautiful song and it's still fun to do. So what I like to do is I do like a little version of uh kind of the Jimmy-esque version and then I add in these extra chords. So of course the original chords, you know, >> [music] >> A minor >> [music] >> A minor >> [music] >> B B flat major A minor >> [music] >> G >> [music] >> And then up to C, up to D.

[00:07:46]>> [music] >> Okay, now if I add up that was kind of a a simplified version of what I would do if I did it uh Jimmy like. You know, I might do it a little more.

[00:07:59]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Now that I'm going to the Air Gails version, we'll go into the to a whole kick to an F [music] 13 back to E minor. And I might do this E minor nine.

[00:08:44]D over F sharp G G [music] sharp diminished, [singing] A minor 11, B minor [singing] 11 A over C I'm going to call this a D 13 over >> [music] >> E flat to an E minor 11.

[00:09:11]To an F nine.

[00:09:12]>> [music] >> So let's do that in time so you can see.

[00:09:18]>> [music] [music] >> B minor >> [music] >> I might do like a B flat 13 there, then to an A minor.

[00:09:39]>> [music] >> C.

[00:09:41]>> [singing] >> Now, instead of making this G major, we're going to do a G13.

[00:09:46]F13.

[00:09:47]>> [music] >> To a uh a C dominant seventh.

[00:09:52]I like this one. [music] Then up to the E.

[00:09:57]>> [music] [music] >> I got that kick to E minor.

[00:10:06]So, what I like to do now is I go between the two. Like the next course I might go >> [music] [music] [music] >> That chord right there, actually took that from a Jane Fonda workout video years ago in the '90s when Jane Fonda had those workout videos. Let's be honest, Jane Fonda was hot, regardless of what you think of her political affiliation. She's a good-looking woman.

[00:10:36]Anyway, so she had those uh exercise videos and uh my wife had the the VHS tape or whatever. And that's, you know, this planet you know, and all of a sudden I hear this chord.

[00:10:48]I was in the other room, I was like, [music] I'll be stealing that. So, in E here I got the I got the dominant seventh.

[00:10:56]I got the ninth [music] there, so I had G string at the 11th fret.

[00:11:01]Uh we got the uh minor third there uh on on the B string note at the eighth fret and then on the 10th fret >> [music] >> I got the flat seventh again.

[00:11:17]With the E in the bass.

[00:11:19]Kind of a [music] cool chord. Anyway.

[00:11:21]Uh pretty yummy. So, I'll go in between those two. And then you can do like a a little thing with, you know, the melody where you're going >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> I don't know what that was. It's kind of fun though. Anyways, you get the idea.

[00:13:24]That's just some kind of fun substitution chords you can do uh for a little wing. I'd call it gristle wing. No, I don't know. I don't I've I've never said that. But, it's just kind of fun one to play.

[00:13:36]Um And you can play over the changes a little bit more, which is kind of fun.

[00:13:41]Um again, it's one of those tunes where you got to kind of pay attention to the changes. It's like, yeah, you can you can um Like, if I'm doing, you know, >> [music] >> So, E minor pentatonic and G major pentatonic are the same scales, right?

[00:13:59]Just starting on a different note, right? So, you got, you know, >> [music] >> or So, for that whole first business, you >> [music] >> G major >> [music] >> You can still stay E minor um pentatonic that whole time.

[00:14:25]E Dorianish, if you want, G major G major and A Dorian, same thing, right?

[00:14:32]Uh when it gets to the B, you can stay in E minor pentatonic, but you can also have a little fun here.

[00:14:43]>> [music] >> Now, you could do a quick when it goes to that B flat there, you do like a quick B flat major pentatonic.

[00:14:54]>> [music] >> E minor [singing] E minor A minor there or C major pentatonic >> [music] >> G >> [music] >> You can go right over those chords if you want, C >> [music] >> D major pentatonic To this, we're going to add >> [music] >> I can do kind of like an F uh nine with a sharp 11 arpeggio.

[00:15:30]>> [music] >> Ooh, back to E minor.

[00:15:37]>> [music] >> Little Chet Atkins thing.

[00:15:41]>> [music] [music] >> Do like a All right.

[00:15:55]>> [music] [music] >> Find those chord tones if you want or just kind of go >> [music] [music] [music] >> There, I'm just kind of I have my bridge floating, so I'm just using my palm to kind of do a pre-bend.

[00:16:28]>> [music] >> When I'm playing a Tele, I'll just actually physically pre-bend them down here.

[00:16:32]>> [music] [music] [music] >> That's one of my favorite chords. It's actually an Allan Holdsworth chord or I took it from Allan Holdsworth. So, you got your flat seven, your flat nine, your 11, and then your ninth up here.

[00:17:04]If you want to make it dominant seven, just move your third finger from the minor third.

[00:17:09]>> [music] >> Do a dominant seven.

[00:17:12]It's fun stuff, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:17:14]It's fun stuff for the kids.

[00:17:17]Uh there going to have a little gristle wing.

[00:17:20]Um There's a bunch of little Hendrix tunes I like to mess around with.

[00:17:24]Um you know, this is more of the mellow or thing, but sometimes the mellow or Jimi is is great. You know, if I'm doing like a >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Oh, after. Sorry.

[00:18:15]No B-flat. Do it again. So, F >> [music] >> B-flat D >> [music] >> G E to the F.

[00:18:40]And then my B11 or E11 [music] minor 11 sus.

[00:18:47]>> [music] [music] [music] >> That That's a cool tune. That's that Hey Baby Land of the New Rising Sun. And it goes into that. It's like just A minor, G >> [music and singing] >> uh G major, F major to a D major.

[00:19:16]So like A minor [singing] and it goes >> [music] >> or like A minor natural minor there once we get to the F or F major. But then when it goes to the D, you got to kick that sixth.

[00:19:29]>> [music] >> Go up to that kick that third of the D.

[00:19:34]So that's a tune you can stay in you know, A minor pentatonic or >> [music] >> But you can also >> [music] >> mess around. And then Jimmy, every other it's like it's not determined when he does it, but occasionally he'll go instead of just going A minor, [singing and music] G major, F, D.

[00:19:57]So I thought it'd be kind of cool like every other one do the thing where he goes >> [music] >> G major or [singing] A major >> [music] >> C sharp major, >> [singing] >> D, F.

[00:20:17]>> [music] >> And then the chorus.

[00:20:22]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Oh.

[00:20:51]>> [music] [music] >> And then off to the races you go.

[00:20:59]Anyway, some fun little Jimmy-isms for your smoky day here. It is I don't know where you're at, but it seems like the whole northern part of the United States is being covered with this this Canadian wildfire pus that's coating everything. Uh last night um we had a firefly in the house and my wife was mortified because they're an endangered creature.

[00:21:23]And she just loves the wild and those little lightning bugs or what we call them um um fireflies.

[00:21:29]And so I saved the creature. I grabbed a little piece of paper, scooped it underneath. It was still kind of blinking. I went outside. I left the piece of paper outside. It flew away. So today I was going I between the garage and the house trying not to breathe in the the toxic mong.

[00:21:44]Uh I saw that piece of paper. So I grabbed it.

[00:21:47]And when I went inside the house, the the piece of paper was folded in two.

[00:21:51]When I unfolded it, the side that was facing up, facing the world, was like orange and then the bottom was white. So that's what we're breathing in, folks.

[00:22:02]Isn't that fun?

[00:22:04]Sweet sweet fun.

[00:22:07]Little friendly reminder, don't don't toy with Mother Nature because she will squish the out of you. Am I right or am I right?

[00:22:15]Mother Nature.

[00:22:16]>> [music] >> Mother Nature [singing] going to squish the out of you, Mother Nature.

[00:22:25]What you going to do, [singing] [music] Mother Nature?

[00:22:30]Squish the out [singing] of you.

[00:22:32]Whoa, squish the right out of you.

[00:22:34]Thanks, Mother Nature. Folks, I hope you're having a good day other than breathing in toxic fumes and we'll see you soon. Bye-bye.