Little Wing
Track Your Progress
Little Wing by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Little Wing is a Jimi Hendrix composition from Axis: Bold as Love (1967), celebrated for its lyrical, vocal-like guitar melody and delicate, color-saturated imagery. Stevie Ray Vaughan, a devoted Hendrix admirer, gives the piece a blistering blues-rock interpretation that preserves the original's soaring melody while weaving in Vaughan's signature legato phrasing and expressive tone. Vaughan's version became a staple in his live shows and studio work during the 1980s, contributing to the song's enduring status as a masterclass in how blues-rock guitar can sing with a human, musical voice. The result is a track that many players use to study tone, taste, and melodic storytelling on the guitar.
SRV's take is renowned for its singing legato lines, lush double-stops, and a tone that sustains with breath-like nuance. The arrangement balances Hendrix-inspired lyricism with Vaughan's fearless blues vocabulary, turning a graceful melody into a powerhouse showcase of phrasing, dynamics, and tonal control. Its cultural impact lives on in lessons and performances as a touchstone for how to bend, sustain, and phrase a melody with emotional clarity while maintaining blistering technique.
🎸 Want to know the techniques, practice tips, and lesson details? Scroll below the lesson!
What You'll Learn
In this lesson you will learn how to navigate the song's signature melodic lines and accompanying chord textures: the fluid legato lines that ride above a blues-rock groove, the precise double-stop voicings that imply full harmony, and the subtle use of dynamics to evoke Hendrix's mood. We'll break down the main motif note-for-note, then show how to connect it to arpeggiated chords, practice the tricky bends and vibrato, and finally put it all together with a guided play-through that emphasizes tone, phrasing, and musical expression.
Intermediate; prior experience with legato phrasing (hammer-ons and pull-offs), clean tone control, and a basic understanding of blues-rock chord shapes will help you master the arrangement.
🎸 Techniques Used
Practice Tips
- 💡Start slow with a metronome; learn the main motif by itself before weaving it into the full arrangement.
- 💡Experiment with tone: a clean Strat tone with a touch of reverb helps the singing lines to ring through without getting muddy.
- 💡Use careful dynamics: play the melody softer in the verses and bring out the double-stops and bends in the contrast sections.
More Stevie Ray Vaughan Tab Lessons
Want More Lessons?
Subscribe to DadRock Tabs on YouTube for free guitar and bass lessons every week!
Subscribe – It's Free!💬 Comments & Ratings
Loading comments...