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Under the Bridge

by Red Hot Chili Peppers • Lesson #419 • Mar 6, 2022

Video Lesson

Licensed Song Sheet 3 pages

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Editor’s notes

Hey there, friends! Here’s a guitar lesson teaching you how to play a simplified acoustic version of Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers. To make this song easier to play, I’ve moved all chords down one whole-step compared to what RHCP guitarist John Frusciante actually plays. This makes many of the chord shapes easier, particularly in the intro – thus making the song far more accessible to us mortals. If you do want to play along with the RHCP version, you can simply add a capo on the 2nd fret and use the chords I show you.

Timestamps for my full video lesson:

  • 0:00 Preview & Lesson Summary
  • 1:27 Intro Riff (with tab)
  • 9:02 Verse (basics)
  • 14:33 Verse (fills)
  • 18:05 Chorus
  • 21:47 Refrain & Ending

My Beginning-to-End Playthrough (Lesson #224)

Here’s my original video lesson, where I play all sections from beginning to end (showing lyrics, chords, etc). The sheet music I linked above applies to this version, as well as my full video lesson at the top of the page.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Music Video

Here’s the album version of this song as played by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

John Frusciante’s Guitar Part, Close Up

Here’s the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist showing exactly how he plays it. Again, note that in my version I’m playing all chords one whole step lower (e.g. his D becomes my C; his A becomes my G, etc). Still, I wanted to include a link to this version in case you’re curious to see how he pulls it off.

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