Music
The song is known for its use of the "Hendrix chord" (dominant 7 #9) played as the first chord after the introduction. This chord structure was often used in jazz by artists such as Horace Silver in the early 1960s, but was not used in rock on a regular basis. The intro itself is notable for its prominent use of the distinctive tritone interval, also used commonly by jazz musicians. It is sounded when Hendrix plays an E7 #9 (low to high: E, G#, B, D, F##) on the guitar while the bass plays a B flat (and its octave). The guitar solo is played through an Octavia, an effects pedal that increases notes by one octave. The effect was developed by Roger Mayer, an acoustical and electronics engineer, and Mayer claims he made it in cooperation with Jimi Hendrix.
Read more about this topic: Purple Haze
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“How little it takes to make us happy! The sound of a bagpipe.—Without music life would be a mistake. The German even imagines God as singing songs.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“A woman’s two cents worth is worth two cents in the music business.”
—Loretta Lynn (b. 1930)
“I am advised to give her music a’ mornings; they say it will
penetrate.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)