Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge - Guitar Tab

Blood Sugar Sex Magik (Deluxe Edition)

1991 4:24

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About Under the Bridge

Few songs reward careful fingerstyle attention the way "Under the Bridge" does. The opening guitar figure, played by John Frusciante, is one of the most recognisable clean-tone arpeggiated passages in modern rock, and getting the right-hand technique smooth enough to sound effortless takes real work. The song sits in E major, which means the open strings ring sympathetically if you let them, so focus on clean fretting and deliberate finger placement to avoid unwanted muffling. The chord shapes shift through some less common voicings, and the transitions between them are where most players stumble. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop those changes slowed down until your fretting hand moves without hesitation. The outro section builds into fuller strumming and a layered feel that asks you to shift gears dynamically from the delicate intro. Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote a song that looks simple on paper but exposes any sloppiness in your picking hand immediately.

• The signature intro uses a clean arpeggiated fingerpicking pattern, so right-hand consistency and even tone across strings are the first things to nail.
• Chord voicings in the verse and pre-chorus include some extended shapes that are not standard open chords, making smooth transitions the main practice challenge.
• The song is in E major, letting open strings ring naturally, but sloppy fretting will cause buzzing, so slow practice with the Practice Toolbar is highly effective.