Written by American songwriter Billy Roberts, ‘Hey Joe’ has been covered by many artists, but perhaps most famously by the Jimi Hendrix Experience under the watchful production of Hendrix’s manager, Chas Chandler. Jimi’s famous guitar intro has been stripped back for this Debut Rockschool arrangement, giving an opportunity to explore the powerful E minor open position riff. The pairs of strings need to ring clearly, and you will then need to adjust your fretting-hand position for the full six-string E major chords in bars 2 and 3. From section A (bar 4), the main chord progression is shown with partial chord shapes (using four, five and six strings). It is important that only the tabbed open strings are played here – for instance, you will need to ensure the open A (fifth) string doesn’t ring out underneath the C major chord in bars 4, 8 and 12. Careful positioning of your picking hand will help to achieve this.