Red Hot Chili Peppers - Black Summer - Guitar Tab

Black Summer

2022 3:52

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About Black Summer

E minor sits at the heart of "Black Summer," and that tonality shapes everything about how the guitar feels under your fingers: open, resonant, and slightly brooding. Red Hot Chili Peppers built this track around John Frusciante's return to the band, and his playing here blends clean melodic lines with subtle rhythmic chording in a way that rewards careful attention to both hands. The picking hand in particular needs to stay controlled. The way the chords breathe between phrases is just as important as the notes themselves, so resist the urge to strum through without listening to the space. The lead work uses the E minor and E natural minor scale across the neck, so it is worth mapping those positions before you try to piece the solo together. If the transitions between the verse groove and the chorus voicings give you trouble, use the Practice Toolbar to loop those sections slowed down until the movement feels natural rather than rushed.

• The song is built around E minor, making open-string voicings and first-position minor scale runs especially useful reference points for learning the parts.
• John Frusciante's guitar work layers clean rhythmic chording with melodic lead lines, so practise both roles separately before combining them.
• The chorus-to-verse transition is one of the trickiest moments for rhythm accuracy, and looping it slowed down on the Practice Toolbar will help lock in the feel.