Unit 4: Won't Start

Section A Part 1

First up, take a look at the Guitar Tab section for the full tab, as it will be your reference throughout the unit. Notice the clear "Section A part 1" (for example) markers to help you work through the videos in sync with the tab.

Section A Part 2

We can now continue that first riff, as we develop it a little further. This is once again a great songwriting and riff making tool - Take a core idea, and then change it up a little each time to develop it further. In the second half of the riff we start to play around with a D Dorian vibe so include the 2nd and major 6th, which in D is the E and B note. The scale would look like this:

This gives the piece a slightly darker, more minor feel than just the straight-ahead pentatonic, which would be:

So, let's just take a quick look at those updated scale shapes, built around the pentatonic boxes 3 and 4 in the Fretboard Diagrams

Remember that this would be a long way from Frusciante's thought process... but we wouldn't be good guitar educators to ignore it! Our aim by the end of this lesson is to build the whole riff from the A section and start to get it on loop. Remember that we're really focusing on that chunky strumming and getting the core groove bang on!

Section B Part 1

Let's now move into the second section of the track, where we shift from hard-hitting strumming to rapid cross-picking! The basic progression in this section is:

We're going to be using some pretty tricky picking in this section, as shown in the tab. Let's focus on those two chords F, and G in this lesson. We're using the C shape CAGED chords, aligned with the pentatonic box 4, as shown in the Fretboard Diagrams

That's the core part of the theory sorted, which means it's time to focus on that picking and the tab. We are using a cool little flick within each of the pentatonic shapes before moving to the next chord, which is classic Frusciante, even at these speeds! Dion guides you through the whole thing in the lesson and your task is to get those two chords, with the picking and flick, moving nicely at a slow speed.

Section B Part 2

In this lesson, we will be working on the final chromatic riff in Section B. Notice from the chord chart that we are playing the F, G, F, and instead of going back to the G we use a chromatic run down:

This is to lead us back to the D and uses these notes found in the Fretboard Diagrams

So, your focus is now to get the whole of the B section together, separately from the A section, and at a nice comfortable speed. Accuracy is the key here guys!

Lead & Structure

We're in the final lesson! It's been an epic journey and we have one lesson to put this whole thing together! It's a unique situation, and a true testament to Frusciante's rhythm skills, that this is the first time we're going to speak about lead guitar in the course! It's just a little overdub, but we wanted to draw some attention to it so that you can get a feel for the kind of lead playing Frusciante works with when he chooses to add a lead bit.

"His lead playing is simple, melodic and absolutely zero frills!"