John Frusciante

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Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists

Red Hot Chili Peppers survived 5 guitarist swaps, and each one shook up their sound. Here’s how the band’s guitar style evolved with each personnel shift – and what you can learn from them, too

By Jamie Hunt published

From Hillel Slovak to the second coming of John Frusciante, we trace the RHCP funk-rock sound through five guitarists

John Frusciante and Steve Vai perform live

John Frusciante’s guitar teacher once told him he wasn’t a good guitarist – so he learned to play like Steve Vai: “No-one was going to say that to me again”

By Michael Astley-Brown published

The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar hero recalls being criticized because he couldn’t play the blues scale fast enough: “It was about the worst feeling I could imagine”

Prince

From Prince to John Frusciante via Cory Wong: learn the rhythm approaches of the pop-funk masters

By Steve Allsworth published

Hone your rhythm chops with examples in the style of the players who took funk in new directions

Guitarist John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers performs at Allegiant Stadium on April 01, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Does John Frusciante have a signature Fender Stratocaster in the works? Here’s the truth

By Michael Astley-Brown published

After sightings of a replica ’62 Strat prototype and some special deliveries from Fender, the Red Hot Chili Peppers rumor mill has gone into overdrive – we got the real story from Frusciante’s guitar tech

Justin Hawkins and John Frusciante

Justin Hawkins explains why he thinks John Frusciante is overrated

By Matt Owen published

In his podcast, The Darkness guitarist discussed why he gets “nothing from John Frusciante’s guitar playing” – and why he thinks no good rock 'n' roll has ever been played on a PRS

Josh Klinghoffer onstage with Jane's Addiction

Josh Klinghoffer thinks Red Hot Chili Peppers were making “cooler music” with him: “I was shocked when I heard their new record”

By Matt Parker published

The guitarist says he doesn’t want to badmouth his former band, but the experience of hearing their latest recordings with John Frusciante was “tough”

John Frusciante stretching his fingers

John Frusciante gets struck with cramp, forcing him to stretch his fretting fingers in the middle of a blistering live solo

By Matt Owen published

The 53-year-old succumbed to cramp despite having one of the most intense warm-up routines around, which includes plenty of finger strengthening and a Sous Vide cooking machine

John Frusciante and YouTuber Paul Davids

John Frusciante says this YouTuber’s mindblowing theory on the secret to his Scar Tissue sound is... dead on

By Matt Parker published

The Red Hot Chili Peppers man says Paul Davids’ idea about his Scar Tissue tuning is absolutely right – he just didn’t know he’d done it

John Frusciante

Watch a 17-year-old John Frusciante shred like a hair-metal guitar hero in newly unearthed footage

By Michael Astley-Brown published

One year before he joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frusciante could be found tearing up the fretboard of a Kramer-inspired SuperStrat with two-hand tapping, blinding legato and Floyd Rose whammy bar squeals

Flea and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

John Frusciante says he views bass as the lead instrument in Red Hot Chili Peppers: “I see each song as being like a bass solo where I'm there to support it”

By Matt Parker published

Frusciante and the band have been discussing their connection in a rare full-band interview on 60 Minutes

John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers performs at Mt Smart Stadium on January 21, 2023 in Auckland, New Zealand.

We finally have a good look at John Frusciante’s gigantic new Red Hot Chili Peppers pedalboard

By Michael Astley-Brown published

A newly posted photo gives us a closer look at the guitar hero’s all-encompassing pedal picks and choice settings

Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers performs at Nissan Stadium on August 12, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Flea: “Basslines take on a different type of melody with a pick”

By Nick Wells published

The Red Hot Chili Pepper explains the origins of his more melodic pick approach

[L-R] Nita Strauss, Steve Vai, Sophie Lloyd and John Frusciante

The 10 best guitar solos of 2022

By Jonathan Horsley published

As voted for by you, and featuring the lead guitar skills of Nita Strauss, Sophie Lloyd, John Frusciante, Polyphia, Steve Vai and more, here are the solos that lit up your year

John Frusciante performs with Red Hot Chili Peppers at Nissan Stadium on August 12, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee

John Frusciante to release new electronic album in 2023: "After a year and a half writing and recording rock music, I needed to clear my head"

By Jackson Maxwell published

Produced by Frusciante himself, the album will be released – in two separate formats, with two different track lists – early next year

John Frusciante

Rhythm and lead guitar lessons you can learn from John Frusciante

By Martin Cooper published

The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist borrows from the best and puts them through his unique filter. Here we take a look at his Hendrix-esque rhythm and fuzzed-out Strat soloing approach

John Frusciante performing live

John Frusciante nearly abandoned his Eddie Van Halen-inspired guitar solo: “Doing that solo was a mind f**k”

By Matt Owen published

Frusciante’s EVH-esque effort on Eddie was the last solo he recorded for Red Hot Chili Peppers' mammoth studio session, and the guitarist admitted he came close to cutting it altogether

Flea (L) and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers perform during the ACL Music festival 2022 at Zilker Park on October 09, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

Watch Red Hot Chili Peppers cover Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit with John Frusciante on lead vocals

By Michael Astley-Brown last updated

The funk-rockers tackled the grunge classic during a recent show at Flea’s Silverlake Conservatory of Music

Guitarist John Frusciante during a concert by rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Estadi Olimpic de Barcelona on June 7, 2022, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Blues? Prog? Floydian grunge? 5 guitar highlights from Return of the Dream Canteen, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most eclectic album yet

By Michael Astley-Brown last updated

John Frusciante lets loose on a record that takes considerably more risks than Unlimited Love

John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers performs during the ACL Music festival 2022 at Zilker Park on October 09, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

Watch John Frusciante channel Eddie Van Halen with a tapping-heavy solo in Red Hot Chili Peppers’ live debut of tribute track, Eddie

By Michael Astley-Brown published

Frusciante’s three-minute solo showcases some of the wildest playing of his career, including two-hand tapping, whammy dives and blazing pentatonic licks

John Frusciante and Eddie Van Halen

Hear Red Hot Chili Peppers pay tribute to Eddie Van Halen in emotional new single, Eddie

By Matt Owen last updated

The track was written the day after EVH's passing, and it's the latest single from the band's upcoming album Return of the Dream Canteen