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AMBER MATTICE
Reverb Editor
The guitar is an instrument that has evolved over time with the styles that have emerged. Some artists have even taken it upon themselves to alter how the guitar is played and revolutionized their era of music.
Jimi Hendrix is one of those musicians, and many people today consider him to be one of the best. As a result of this, people constantly try to understand how he managed to come up with the ideas that so many know him for today.
Thomas Millioto, a teacher, Fredonia alumnus, producer and guitarist, gave a lecture on analyzing the art of Hendrix’s music on Nov. 5. The event was free and open to public, and as a result, the audience was a mix of students and interested community members.
“Hendrix’s music is really spread across different generations, different styles of music and different music lovers, because he just played with such emotion, and that’s easily relatable for anyone listening to it,” said Michael Bunny, a sophomore high school guitar performance major.
The lecture demonstration featured Millioto discussing some of Hendrix’s influences, which included a wide variety of music genres such as Delta blues, rhythm and blues and free jazz.
He went into detail about what he believed were Hendrix’s main contributions to music in general, as well as the genre of rock and roll.
Millioto emphasized that he was offering a new perspective on Hendrix and his music and how he managed to create his own unique style.
“I thought it was really interesting when he was talking about Jimi just being, like, the only guitarist who was able to navigate around playing in different modes and styles and using different effects to change it up and keep things interesting and just how versatile of a musician he was,” said Will Jenney, a freshman music education major with a focus in guitar.
Millioto often referred to Hendrix’s songs as a unique metaphor for real events due to his use of actual sounds such as sirens, gunshots and flames that correlated with what a song was about.
One idea presented by Millioto that many seemed enthralled by was that Hendrix played the amp with the guitar. Many usually just think of the amp as an enhancer for the guitar itself, but Hendrix purposefully allowed for the amp to give feedback and create sounds that were not present in music at the time.
The demonstration aspect of the lecture is what really had the audience excited, however. With a guitar in hand, Millioto was able to play bits and pieces of Hendrix’s songs using a similar approach and using the same effects that Hendrix essentially used when performing.
“I’m glad that there are so many people who are so interested in hearing about it. It’s part of my daily perception of music and life and so forth, so it doesn’t seem like something new and special to me,” said Millitoto. “But when I talk to people about this, I find that they often haven’t heard the same music, or even if they have, they haven’t thought about it the same way, and I find that when I do just talk about what seems ordinary to me, for a lot people it’s interesting, and I’m glad to give that experience to them.”
Hearing the chords in real time, the audience seemed to be able to get a better idea of what Millioto meant when he said that Hendrix’s music was all about painting a picture through music and were able to look at his contribution to music in a new way.
“I would hope that [people] would take away an enhanced, enlarged and more appropriate perspective on Hendrix’s music,” said Millioto.