It's reader's choice. With these companion pieces on Chili dive into our red-hot lesson or kick back and enjoy a good — = ee - aed ey Noe ee eee eee ee ee ee eae Creare inci eer cet rier en ener tents ee ee era Te eer ee oe Ceara erat eee area oe ere eee ee eet tc ne sac ne Coto)HESEE Pepper John Frusciante, you can ei fee grab your guitar and yarn. Our suggestion? Both, of course. Photoaraphy by Neil Zlozower i y gg Ceres rn ee anette ne eens Coe ee a ere aL cer tee teas eee eT een Coe Cee enon a ees ne eet tence tie| What mioht you play to Kickoff an improv famwith Flea and Chad? Wel, ji could be anything A ot oftimesies 2 chore progression [Fig 1], oF just some inove. Aroundlthe tinewesvere writing Hy ‘helvay Id awaysbecoming inwithchord rogressionslike that—onesthat havea ea, ‘pen, “human sound tothem, Something lke that mightend up being asection io song. Sutsometimes those things don’ go anywhere; they just go into the a. And sever temteinberanytiing unlessi¢Sacbing vejuirbeendoing. 59 Tusea taperecone: ‘oto econ ees, What kinds of foundation do players need te getunder thelr belo ia order to Improvise rhythm parto wot? Tome I think igs important ifyou'rein any ven modo, toace the whole nork ea one thing. The important thingis not the cele pattem i: that those are the notes yes ‘ould bo playing a any given timo. ele imporanttorememberthenotesthat arent properako havea place—sehetherit pass. “ngnoves gracenotes orjustthis dissonant [2-tone thing. Once you see it that way, playing chorrs mskes a lot manesense |) ttcefinitalystariswith understanding things like /th, sth, and L1th chords— chords with aletofnumbers behindthem, And tsimporcantto recognize that, much ‘of te time, a chord with five or si lt ferent) notes init won'emakesensewhen you hearit by sel, That wasmy mistake growing up, because ie only cliptd buok Thad was Ted Greene's Chore! Gennistry would heat all uiese leaky chotds en understand, “this chord is alle ‘th because its got these intervals in iy” bu didate know how ae them in context So | apent « lot oF time looking ae shoot musie studying music by peoplewho use thoos interacting chorda like Burt Racharaeh, Rlton John, and the Beatles Whon you open up the canghoaks andl seethey'reusing something hesices minor | | anémajor chords. youstar toses the way vyouican usethose chords, For instance, I saw an E79 chow ia 2 iuleron the Hoofsongbook anda eales song, Ifyou play F719 hy asl, its kinds dissonant. ut hen yo go fom 10 Amn [Fig. 2. itmakes alo: more sense. By see ing the similarity of the way itwas used in Dotiskuctlons.ended up usingisthac way insompethingmyseltTherearealso chords thal Sound kinicla messy whien you play them by Uremselves(Fg-34), Tat ikea ‘and D chord combined. KS youd tw go € Cine? (Fig, 9B) fron that. 1 Uke using hatdsthat aves many tervals to ther tha they become kind fa washy texture, notceally something ornebody would | | and now esnedy what 30 ‘Youve mentioned in Intersiowe that you. (82 GUITAR ONE « gutaronemag.com «JANUARY 2002 20 An ast Cm ee a ‘ T iy ie Ut Ai? Donald Chadd Amai7E. erty ‘A Mixolydian A Major ADerian A MinorJOHN FRUSCIANTE Way that would be impossible to figure ost. Yeah, [used chord shapeslike this Fig 4 for some things, where if was learning tof the recor! Iwould never assume the person ws doingrhat.{ didn wan codo things that were obvious, because I played like that on BioodSigar and Californication. ‘A moment ago you stressed the impostance ‘olbeing ate “o'see the whole neck us one thing" How would you recommend people {99 about leaning the eck that ineroughly? Well guess the and scl Keepingin nind:heimportaat thing Fgnoxth sealepottem or howfaet you canpiek tbuthowthove notes rlateto cach othorand ‘what imorvale are boing wad. Some songs ay contain corsa bare hat eall for major sc vy i o practice scales Gh, and swith chor changeit may suddenly become a minae 6th, Or mayhe something. goesfrom 4 majorehont ina minorchordwsth the same tonic Fig. 5) Kor the frst enor, & Mixalyzlian (ig. 6A) would fit nicely. And thereetuallyno thin the chord. solts prety ‘meh up for grabs; you could make estat ‘major ifyou want (Fig.6B..Anifor the minor chord, 'mnot playinga 6th jn the chord}, so themode up for grabs, ol Figs. 7A-B) The ‘whole point is tat tose chords ve dictating what ows can be played over them. Alot of people, when they fist learn scales Viale a Wap: They'e only capable of play (Fac TOA=C] 0 AMES + (Raa e-itirorenagzon dem (2-2) (Fig 198] e-fiiarenenancen Jee 2-39) ereereee =e DU eeu Ors C eum ce Uns ree Co Ae NacNeGuitar Concepts Godin Guitars are crafted in Canada ard “assembled by hand In New Hampenir wnm.godinauitascon thom straight up and down, Yeah, kno: Youreally haveco think ia terms ot interval. I's been years since I puacticed scales, butwhen asa teenager used to do things kei: I'yeu'rin A Doran, practice going up ant everytime you switch tothe next stsingl all Uie way up the nook Fig. 8, Wsasoimpontanttonotihiakofsealeshapes asbringjubt one thing tey cove thei mde relationships. One da, practice G Avolan, thinking: "nes, major 2nd minoreayperfect 4h, perfect ith, minor Gt, aninor 7H" ig. 9A Thenex day playthacamegroup ofecale shapes.thinkingafthem ae Darian, sothat every Intervals differant "50, major Bh, tinot 7h, root. major2nd, minor ae, por fect th, perfec th” IFig. 9B. That wold be ‘agood way tokeen ialvein your head. Taleo thinkifywurejustscarting playingsealesalnng ‘one TOA\ ishelpful Also, playing nls Pig. 10B) is zuvd. Or you ean play sds tis way (as 0ths, Fig. (Cl, as oppesed to right nest © exch othe, You vce 10thsin “Sear Tissue” and some tunes on your first solo record, ‘NiandraLa'Des. Having wo notes that are kind of far apart from each otter isa fun thing to do. Just playing ull chond (ig.114] sone thing. But Hyouplaythis(Pig. ALB) itereates depth and nisndofthytin-enestiing becomes the bass ‘Arm, and theotherbecores the sae, sort & Flat Five X. 111/36" nae wats 21/4" Selo 2U-Fet Neck overvood Fingereoars enoveny neck A Sta Wo Solid Fame Maple Top ‘oan Huroucers The Fal Fe Xadds ‘Custom £9 and Sat Fanscconsof Its also a good way of plying by yourself ‘andl being entertaining I dhnk thts probably Wty started doing ton acoustic lta 2 ToL ‘chord shapes out of note pala, moving them ‘along the neck. T might improvise something using different ‘ths Fig. 12|-majorand minor6ths on theD ane! Bstrings. with scmeopenstiings. Fs good tobeabie co goal oertheneckidiatonically| sand se he wey hei Onethinglivs! thous otis pickachonl shape and play tall the way up the neck, always fiting iio the scale. You could doit with 7b chords (Fig. IBA), cr anything (Pig. 138), There, Tm just tying to play some kind ofsth chord ‘You implioé a C-6-Am pregroscion using {Othe moment ago. To further demonstate hhow you den'thave to just” on tho same ‘chore, could you give us aiferent take on that progression, using the type of Hondix- tke accemparimantyou used on certain Bloossugir songs? (Ohayltg. 14. But Ldorit do thatstyteas much Anymore just because 1 don't want 10 keep Fepeating myself. Hather than just the ‘uiplets thing referring ohiseaonencafthe Cohord) lately 've been trying 1 think of Lncerestingg notes to-add to choxds (raforing ohne treatment of Ar (S34 eo Sifainensecon so sare Riese] ‘ke doing this (Fig. 15, @s oppose! to this Fig. 19B)"Whea Iwas frst in the band, ident think Fa realy Aguredt out that ype of fot hand damping yet. You learn tata otf listening (6 ol reggae music. Those guitar ‘layers ore lhandy ever pressing down allthe way with thet fet bis Fy. HAs good forfunk,coo |g. 164], 1’smot ofapercussive thing, because the nates dont resonate ara iweallattack Hottest Deais, SHREVE AUDIO we tuy and trade thelr a red Pee eee eta Dig Body Jazz and Hollow Body Guitars in stock and ready to rook Seis at ae Hu650 Les Paul Gothic Pracice, write, or fam ‘wth this Srp, Tons of new and || vintage Gibson guitars available Check out our website or call us tol freell Super-coot un Peetu STARTING AT ONLY $99.00When did you get into playing single-note | {unk nes using a fingerstsle approach? ike dis (Pig, 17121 board Hillel used to do ste tie guess Iso myn 40 | ‘my own version |Fig. 18). Lately, Ivo been fingeipickingmonebecsuse ve been listen | ing to folk mesic WotHike Stevleye Span ani Fairport Convention. so Tve ieee ing more cemplex sta fy esl pea that work nour eeor ears get al | || the scales and foundation together? Tean'stresi enough how imporsantitwes, Understanding the way modes work and ‘the way harmony works within thecontext ‘of modes is infinite; it’ not at all limiting When I was 20yeurs old, iit me lke a ton of bricks that no musi is ewe good. because ot naw ailieult itis play, howit looksonthe neck or how eomplexitis. But ean usexnowtedgent meory tomy acvan- tages it gives me the abbey to ascimitace ‘nuisie ito my head, break it down, ancl tum icInto something ican usein my own way. People like Chatles Mingus, Carle Parker, Igor Stravinsky, oF Miles Davis? Theirknowledge of taeorydidethurethem Invany way. [feel very. confident that Hinking aliout nisie rom a thetaretical standpoint doesn't get in he way of me patting my soul into Ie Take Your Project to a Pro. j Coorreee Tena peer oe ts Phos PC. Ail the pro-level tools you need to record, ediit and mix your music, Allin one simple, affordable software ‘Package. Just plug-in, and hit Goes eg eee tie CA a re hee re ea eter eens Bote eo ea et ere a are cate cuca ea ae pec tea Ce You cen rey 97Fir enough, But for thos of you without sila with ho atime blot vesoaroun Sorel ag h td Dene {Eh hos agen tree ena Ing wm away by & Chis erformanceat [Exon neConterand pecomingaabid SiC fn 19yearaldoredigy scl ie conofehuliadtamed panscandane-i10 stig olnedhsavorte ban, lacingorg | inmantertitelSonk tote Cane wa dng overdose. Fusciante hid rever Leva in aban below bathe adapted {Gu aa fi in psec his azn py aldedwiolenewainenson'othePepp |. davewan panksfunk and helped them | trea teu othe MV mamsteam ah the smash albums Mother's QIK und Door Bu then, Un night {ic'seaiy-00s fan Puslanebecane Gitsloued el brupy ofthe band, ess tha mbt the were toto Read ile tucy auld wi a muslng-door UineLoliayale eieeare vient || ones be Tneup of ultemtely mcompaibie guitars ave Novara of Jane's (nose notably Addiction, who stuck around just long. tough to playen 195% One ox Minute Aoprosced tinaseiante retreated (0 his Hollywond home. where he became a recs for neat seven years. spendingis 198 GUITAR ONE « gutaronemas.com Ce eur days palnting, recon inaccessible sel allunis, iting shox 0 rles,andcultivatingaheroinhabitexteeme tentouih to stivck William Bucroughs: Te sees Fruscianee would have to faseinatingty med a sswnfiom thedrug-elated deathsoinotonly his predevessorSlevakbut alsohisgooditiend River Phcenix who orenlosedacollycoods Viper Room while atendirg a rascance gig in 1963), yet he brought the same single ‘minded degiestion to hig addiction that he hhad once brought to his nse, Su: afer an larming antics in ua LA, weekly depiced hhim as a toothless, pockmarked, wrathiike junkie lierally on the verge of seat hs con: Zemel fits staged what wis thank 2 profoundly successful intervention Frusciante madeatiemarouné thatwas ath ingshortot mimeslous Hassist Fea, who ha remained else fo the former Pepper (ey foceasinally payed together in aside projec called the Three Amoobas, with ox-Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkits), can vince the cleaned-up Frusciante to rebin REE which hal recently pated vans with Navarro. This estoration ofthe classic Chilis lUneup brought about a major comeback for the once-foundevirg group, with 1999 18, inlcn-seling Califoricctton, ‘Okay: that brings us up to date. hile the Januar 2908 Peppers upward trajectory from the prover bial ashes continues apace with ther ates ‘massive rock opus, By the Way, Frusciante ‘now 2, seemsbetter equipped te hanclesuc ‘cess thistime aroune)'leday at Swringhouse he ramblesa bit mostlikey trying ta fit as mach puitar dialogue as possible inia she scant Amount of rehearsal cow ped fo ths interview), But isomnerwise cd, othe rock Sye Barrett Skip Spence/ Brian Wilson-ike tot savant Ie often made out tote Helonkshiealty, io Clearly the laste yess of tal sabi heathy eating (tod when ordering his organic takeout lunch h ‘asks for exia sea veges yoga precrce have worked wonders for him He comes acioss us i fescely ncused ma ‘who is finally sume of his footing inthe band he join when be wasstil prcieallya hoy. jut fee) more confident about molding viv even position inthe band ino whatever ‘want ito be,” muses Frusciante. “Inthe pas There things tha were more thekindo" things that thought the Chil Peppers should play Nowy I ee the ban where Lmoldand shape and expand myrole tobewbaeiwantittobe—whether thatmeans Uusinga modular synthesizer, or playing pana ‘ora slockenspiel orthe harpsichord, doinga bunch of guitar rerdubs, or wning beaut si Ashtanga| |_JOHN FRUSCIANTE ‘ebordal things, ust dowhatever want 9 do now, and everybody likes it. chink more tn terms of what ean Go thal would be interes Ing with this group of musicians, rer tan ‘what ean do that would be cool for the Reet Hot Chil Peppers: Frusciante has certainly come a long way kom the days when he wastauted toneanny Ile Sovak impeessioniat. But be inlets thatapung Slovek’sstye was never his 1'Ltell you honestly what happened 441've been spending a lot of time furthering g of chords on the guitar, so it got to the point where | felt that in order to truly see chords clearly, | was going to have to learn them on the piano.9? my understan 10 play like Ile And tre second 106 tohave a porfactkind of grooy When 1joined, Iwanted tofindmyounstye Fles. And uairtentianally, becsus nd be my own galtarst, bt Fell nina susie back niel was behind 1 | myseinsoafterabouayear./sad, Youkuow — ¢ilfereut dimension 1 his sound anc ensif Liust, Beale AUDIO ca OIGITAL MEDIA ad COMPUTER ANIMATION SECO M ODL Cami n) eres Oa Cr aa me eee caper ht Flea roe ery perenne Sw Peasy ACD Visit us online or pickup the phone and give us a call today! ee ee cee ae Peed ald, fewith all my il Duil and basically ixerduced hin wo rock nus so playing lke Hillel was the only place to stat really if vas ever have myoion syle ‘with Fleas playing, Most neople we one person they ge! lke that life; Flea’s had ttvo, mostly because asa dedicated myself to copying other people’ siyles, and when | choscto copy Hills ste, I cidit ratty well Then was able to buld that styie intoanew musical vorabulavy formyself and Heatsplay ing started changing with mine. It’s been And I’sbeen giowingby leapsand bounds, Though Fruseance humbly insists, "te say’ fing that (1m more responsible than and ‘els just matesmetonk ikeanasshoe, theres litledoubtihat hs sense ofartisic adventure Isangelytesponsinefor HCPsongringshit away fram the tiademark chest-thumping hass-slappingmachismo-rawcotheirfreaky’ styleydays This changein directonhas never bbeon so marked, oso welcome, asit is on 5) riety: Inanit-mexal agewher thairtestos ceroct influence ismoreprominencifin eve the Peppers sve oneal prelctl tekst Stereulypically epee albu of the ecadecareesanditis—alsoironicall finesteflorye.Amellow affairlushly with overdubs and Frusciante’ unexpected keybaarl flourishes, By the Way is sophist ccaed atcimesdownvight gongeouspop (check ‘out "Dosed,”a goosetump inducing voce! duet between Frusciante and frontman Anthony Kiedis), proving that “Under the Bridge" and Californication high points lke "Seat issue” wero no flukes, The perennially shirtless, face-pulling, sock-dentning, frat friendly Peppers, who once seemed far too ‘macho and leddlsh for a sensiive soul like Frusciante, have offchlly grown up, andl its Faisciantes widescreen wsion that’ helped Sune: oer (Gtd-school fans may grumble at By the ay/sreativelackof tanced-up party anthems ‘and bad-bey bravado, LUCRHCPSs passion for gonro-straddling eclecticism hasnt dimin. {sted they're simply finding new geares 1» stradile, since Herding rap and rock ist ‘extely esh orrevolaianiaryanynnane KSI Jknack forreinvention tharputsthe Chis inan clitevatspory with Madonna, 112, and the sin llalyenlsteeredDBeastieDoysasone ofthe few acts emerge inthe early tomide0s that s still elevant in 2002,“I'sabvays been thephi losophyoftheband, which hey made clear -mewhen lined that theideaweste dosome thingdiflerentand notjstropeat what they danebelortFruscienteexolans "When weierehwarsing, we play plenty rhuns inings nt Stull butthey dor seem asenettingtons the stuff tharg sbsusisthe stiff hat Sve what wie dane before, dhatsoundls nest fous" [During the 14 months that the Peppers were painstakingly ocorcing By the Way at legendary Sunset Strip hideaway the Chateau Marmont. Frusclante dabbled wih allsors uf new Meas, meaty of which steamed front his recent fascination keyborats wich gun prominently on the album. “Tvebeen spenc jn lt of time furtheringmy understanding ‘ftchord on the guitar, soit got co the point ‘where I fele that in onder to truly see chords Tes going o have to learn the Here's to another year of profound audio bliss 44\t was very important to me on this record to be very disciplined about not showing up at the studio and playing my automatic blues riffs.77 the piano,” he reveals, “But more important Torrie as my riodulaesyniesizes, whichis erat way 10 len bout sound. Fos me, soul wits ve super ‘and Califrnicaon. But on By the Way’ was alotoffn for meto explore: that side of my thinking again, because when Dwasalitlkid, Lsvas really ino ef lice Andy Summers, Wi ‘unimportant on lo n Cuceatullo, and Boa Advian Belew Frusciante als cies Vind Reilly (of obscure post-punk Manchester cutie the Duratt Cole in) and Siouxsie & the Banshees gui arists Jen MeGeoch and John Valentine Canes influences this time around. Ye ncofthe guiteriss helistened to throughow themaking of By she eywhohadasigniican’ ‘on hisplaying was Michael Rotherof70s Kratrock duo Neu!"Hemade these wonder falsols that arebrilian,” Frusciante gushes, "Hopiles onatonofguitars, coinghar monies with each other, with beaut, sim pplemslodlies and chord changes Frasesantesalorementioned keyboards role models "Un uusalturu, Was importan' Forme ac my soins nor eon trom the rua nents ofthe guitar heroes tat Tze up on, hae begins. “So rather than use people as my ‘models whoare actully favorke gular, like Este Glapton and jimmy Page wanted w ly anexperiment for this roca to use oy Utesizer players sel ty te iorporate is Uta Twas hear au electron ceeards a, rneladiesin mysoles Sot gure out Autechre ‘or AphexTiwin arKrafwerkemeladies Iwaslis: tening alto early electronic mais, Ike the Tuma League's sti records, OMD' fies wo records. and Heaven 17, Those reall wore my whole mocel forthe typeof soleing that do an this record. 'm doing bonds anc slides and things thatone does ina sole but mary ing not to phrase things in that bluos sort of ‘vay twas varyimportant tome on thisvecore tobeverydisiplinedabournot showing the studio and playing my automatic blues riffs, hat what Ive got to do to keep things interesting ormyset | vegortoset limitations :nguhannany Chit epperssangs lyelop from jamsesslons sucha sructured apres seems at cdds withthe feewheet ingbands ete phiosophy. ‘Buc dkars what fs tho jamming somo kind of éirecion to it.” Prasclante stresses, “The other gus defi nitlyjut walk inva pay whatever dey eu like playing but ee! Kin of iy responsi billy win die ong fo eae some Lind of limitation and be conseious ofwhere ilikei too stylistically. [havea picturein myhead and I dont go along with us doing things that dont ftintothet picture, Sohow does hecom ‘municate this picture to his handmates Answers Frusciante: “I don't need to! They ‘understand that Ihave my awn ideas for how Tyvant my payingtobe: Such unspoken understanding is rare atid members, but Eusciante, Hea Kiedis, and drummerChad Smith share such poweetul chemisiry that their jams yielded A total of 28 possible songs lor By the WayUU A NCCE 253-845-0403 Serving You Since 1980 Learn Audio Recording Like Nowhere Else. “ck Aa Do Recor tata ee Snake Ons Dee Ad Nk, Mack Moet tine pasar + Ete eplan ci she : Seip ae oid ‘dDigaeagn 1 Bleu, WANTS, ULTIMATE GUITAR INSTRUCTION * besos include book &cossone “owe * Whites Rrecrded by GT ovis otaducte& award vine, em at S/R aga veoe Ml 2 # 1104 GUITAR ONE « gutaronemée,com “JANUARY 2003 JOHN FRUSCIANTE Prusciante describes thelr comnnunien tion as “very telepathic. Whenever I eel like something should happen, they just dda it nobody ever has 10 tell anybody, Fyerythingjust constantly felisinto place every time we play together. I's a great feeling 'm so lucky ta be in a band with peoples good as Chadand Flea, because thoirstyleslock perfectly wth mine. Ses, there’ a thing about hearing the spaces, iInmusie, whichis kind of whatyou don't, hhavewhenyou playwith someoneyou've never played with before. To you, what’ inside the spaces is implied inthe nates you're playing, hut somebody else could hearcompietely aitierentaccents in those spaces tian wna you're nearing, hecause spaces ae ecinically up fo grabs, But for ome reason, with Chad andiea aname, ft play somesng ia has alot of space iri dhey wil always come In with the eifect aevents, That’ a magical thing, which T guess just canes fivan playing together for along tine.” Frusciante clicks so naturally and inwuitively with hisfellow Peppers, itraust, almost fee like ke neserlef the band in the first place .. right? “Oh no, i fee's very much ike Tied” he maintains “Put | fool closer end mote tight with them than everdid backthen,and knowwchet the only way that could have happened ‘was for meto have left Lalsc havea clar ity now in my brain about what my role isasamasician, and whail'n capable o Lie, I used (0 take so many things for {granted when iteame to technique, but Now | appreciate every little ounce af technique that |hawe When twas 21,1 ‘thought the whole thing was to throw away your eeunyque: enen trejaineatne band abd 1 hadnt played for ve years and ny technique was gone, [worked my head off vo snake 1 back up to par with av it had been before. Arid now that hhaveitbach [don't akeitlorgranted.t'm not going t© misuse itard start plasing scales all over the place on yur records, Dut the fact that I can look at the fret board and see where all the notes a1e— that when T hear Fles play a bassline, itomatirllythesenotesjust come alive for me all seross the fethoard—am so thankful chat {have that.” Surely countless RHCP fans—not to ‘mention Flea, Kies and Smith hismaasi cal soulmates that have welcomed Fruscianse back into tho fold—exe thank ful as well, Legend has it that a teenaged Frusciante once ettended an audition for Frank/appastana bit chickenedout atthe lag minute Ara wile Zappa surelywould have appreciated the boy wonders stag genng talon, tsa genuine siruggltoimag. ‘neFruscante Delnga aul-ume meer at any group other than the Kea Hor Crit Peppers Togetierthetour eftern ust have tht certain agit.