All Along The Watchtower (Lead)

Jimi Hendrix

Quick Reference

This handy chart tells you what every dot in the ActionTab system means. If you don't understand some of them don't worry - we have video lessons that explain them in the members section.

Fretboard & Capo

The fretboard is the area of your guitar where you play

Some songs require a capo. A capo is just a clamp which you can place on any fret. This effectively moves

the 'nut' of the guitar, allowing you to play 'open' chords higher up the fretboard. In ActionTab the capo is represented by the black bar on the left.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Space, K	Pause/Play
Home	Rewind
End	Go to End
	Step Forward
	Step Backward
M	Mute/Unmute
F	Fullscreen
H	Toggle Help
S	Save Settings
R	Restore Defaults
O	Toggle Loop
D	Toggle Delay Start
X	Toggle Light Strings
W	Flip Fretboard
C	Fretboard Color
T	Tablature
N	Normal Speed Window
B	Bookmark Position
,	Set Loop Section Start
.	Set Loop Section End
/	Clear Loop Section

Strumming Hand Dots

Fingerpick

Fingertap

Downstroke

Upstroke (Palm muted)

Pinch Harmonic

Color Codes

Applies to both hands

Thumb

1st (index) Finger

2nd Finger

3rd (ring) Finger

4th (little) Finger

Fretboard Hand Dots

Hold finger here

Bend note down

Bend note up

Hammer On

Pull Off

Slide dot this way

Prepare note

Mute note/string

Harmonic

Vibrato

Open string note (no finger)

Song Notes

The lead guitar for this song is one of Hendrix's finest. He was a perfectionist when making music and this song was dubbed and re-dubbed with various guitar parts until he was happy. Sometimes people expect guitar heroes to simply pick up a guitar and just create / play like this on the spot. That's rarely the case...It takes practice, patience and a little bit of vision!

The lead for this song is full of memorable solo licks - centred in the key of Cm. During the verses, he plays more rhythmically whilst singing, and therefore the guitar parts are played lower down the neck - loosely following the chord progression of the backing guitar (C minor - Bb Major - Ab Major). See the Rhythm guitar ActionTab for more info on that.

Remember that the song is played a half-step lower than standard tuning. So tune each string down by 1 note to get Low Eb - Ab - Db - Gb - Bb - Eb. Use the ActionTab tuner to help you retune.

As a whole, this is a difficult solo and will challenge you for sure. The great thing about it though is that some of the coolest parts aren't the hardest to do. Plenty of high bends in true Jimi style. Just be aware that where you hear some vibrato during those bends, that's where the whammy bar is being wavered up and down. Jimi used the whammy bar a lot in his songs, often meaning he would need to retune between songs onstage.

Also, occasionally we show the 4th finger being used when you could use the 3rd finger instead (like Jimi does). Like here.

Which finger you use is down to you and your finger size. Remember, Jimi's hands were very large so he could easily do 4 fret spreads between 1st and 3rd finger. For some people this is not so easy - so use the 4th instead (the good ol' 1 finger-per-fret rule). On the higher frets (from fret 12 and up), this is less of an issue because the fret sizes are considerably smaller. So 4 fret spreads between 1st and 3rd finger are much easier. You may wish to switch to using your 3rd finger for those parts especially if you find the excessive bending in this song is tough on your little finger.

This is especially true for the outro. Use your 3rd finger and repeatedly pick the high bends. Use your ear to guide you in getting the bends right here.

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