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By Billy Roberts and popularized by Jimi Hendrix, “Hey Joe” is 1960s rock standard that has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. In October 1966, Jimi Hendrix recorded “Hey Joe” for his first single with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Their version became a hit in the UK and the Jimi Hendrix recording is still the best-known version of the song. It is is listed as No. 201 on Rolling Stone magazine’s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

“Hey Joe” works well in Open D as its intervals are close to those of a guitar in standard tuning. My version of the tune doesn’t refer directly to either the vocal melody or to any specific performance by Hendrix or any other artist but does use a few of Hendrix’s licks and phrasing for the most iconic parts of the song. Like Bach’s Goldberg Variations, “Hey Joe” is a chord cycle theme and variations piece and my variations should spark your own ideas for improvising on this rock classic.

Open D Tuning

Strings     6   5     4     3      2     1 

    D    A    D    F#   A    D

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