Jimi Hendrix wrote “Manic Depression” in 3/4 time — a waltz — for a rock record in 1967, which almost nobody did. That lurching, off-kilter groove is the whole point: the meter mirrors the emotional instability in the lyrics, and it gives the riff its nervous, falling-forward feel. In this lesson, Marty Schwartz breaks down the tuning, the A major arpeggio at the heart of the main riff, the blues-scale pickup notes, and the unison bends from the solo section.
Tuning: Half a Step Down
Before touching a chord, Marty tunes down a half step to Eb standard. The original recording actually sits somewhere between Eb and standard — Hendrix played it slightly sharp of a true half-step-down — but for anyone playing along, Eb standard is the right call. It was Hendrix’s habitual tuning across most of his catalog, and it gives a single-coil Stratocaster that slightly loose, warm character that makes the fuzz sound right.
For tone, Marty runs a Big Muff fuzz pedal with the sustain only about three-quarters up. The Big Muff is a very aggressive pedal at full blast, so backing it off gives the riff its wooly growl without turning everything into noise.
The Time Signature (It’s a Waltz)
Most rock songs are in 4/4 — four beats per bar. This one is in 3/4, which means three beats per bar. If you’ve ever counted through a waltz — one, two, three, one, two, three — that’s exactly what’s happening here. It changes how the riff lines up against the bar line, and it’s the reason the song feels like it’s constantly tipping forward.
Drummer Mitch Mitchell based his part on jazz drummer Elvin Jones, who played with John Coltrane. The night before the session, Mitchell heard a jazz drummer play a loose 4/4 beat and thought about how to bring that swing into 3/4. The result was reportedly cut in essentially one take, and Mitchell later named it one of his favorite recordings with the Experience — largely because Hendrix gave him room to cut loose.
Get comfortable with three beats to the bar before you try to play the riff up to speed. Count out loud if you have to.
The Main Riff: A Major Arpeggio With Blues Pickups
The riff is built on an A major arpeggio. That means instead of strumming all six strings at once, Hendrix outlines the notes of an A major chord one at a time — root, then the major third, then the fifth — while keeping the open A string as a drone underneath.
Marty starts with a short blues-scale pickup on the A string: frets 5, 6, and 7. Then the same three frets on the D string — 5, 6, 7 — and then the open A. That gets you into the arpeggio figure itself.
The core move from the A arpeggio starts on the root (open A or the 5th fret), slides from the 7th fret up to the 9th on the D string, and then hits the 7th fret on the A string. The slide is what gives it the Hendrix character — without it, the notes are right but the feel is gone.
The same shape then repeats a whole step lower for G: 3rd fret, slide from 5th to 7th on the D string, and 5th fret on the A. And then for E, it comes down further — starting on the open low E, sliding from the 2nd to the 4th fret on the D string, and 2nd fret on the A. It’s the same arpeggio shape, just moved down the neck for each chord.
The Counting Section: Where Most Players Get Lost
The part that trips people up comes after the E arpeggio. Marty is direct about this: when he’s relearning the song, he counts it out loud. The pattern is three of one thing, four of another, and then it shifts.
From the open E, there’s a pickup into a sequence on the A string — 3rd fret, 5th fret, back to 3rd, then 5th again — before switching to the 2nd and 3rd frets on the low E string. Marty counts it: one and two and three and, one and two and three and four and. The “four and” landing is on the E string, not the A. Getting that right is what makes the riff settle correctly back into the groove when it resolves.
After that sequence, it goes right back to the 5th fret A arpeggio — same as the intro — and then over to the D string figure again. The whole thing cycles.
Unison Bends
Marty covers the main unison bend technique from the song’s solo section. A unison bend means you play two strings at once — one note straight, one note bent up to match it — so they ring together at the same pitch. The combined effect is fatter and more vocal than either note alone.
The primary one here uses the B string and G string. The B string plays the 5th fret straight. The G string also plays the 5th fret, but gets bent up until it matches the pitch of the B string. Marty’s tip: check the B string first to lock in the target pitch in your ear, then bend the G up to meet it. When the two strings are in tune, the bend locks.
In the solo, Hendrix moves this same unison bend shape up the neck — 5th fret, then 8th, then 12th, then 15th. He also grabs the G string up near the top of the neck and bends it as far as it’ll go, which is a very Hendrix move. From there he comes back down and cruises through the minor pentatonic. The scale is A minor pentatonic throughout the solo; the unison bend is just the opening motif that launches it.
Chromatic Runs
As the song builds, Marty points out short chromatic runs on the A and D strings that appear between sections. These aren’t part of the arpeggio — they’re filler lines, a few notes moving in half steps that add tension before the riff comes back in. The first time through they’re quick and understated. Later in the song they get longer as the energy builds.
Why It Works
The reason this riff has lasted more than fifty years comes down to a few things working at once. The 3/4 time signature creates a push-pull restlessness that you feel before you understand it. The arpeggios outline the chords melodically instead of just strumming them, so the guitar has a singing quality even when it’s playing rhythm. The open A drone grounds everything even as the chords move. And the fuzz — at three-quarters, not full blast — keeps the tone musical.
All of it is more physical and subtle than it looks on paper. The slides have to be committed. The unison bends have to be in tune. The counting has to be right or the riff falls apart at the bar lines.
Work the arpeggio shapes one at a time, get the A version solid, then add the G and E versions. Once the shapes feel natural, add the slides. Then run it at half speed with a metronome in 3/4 — that’s where the feel comes from.
