Oct 2009 30
“How to play guitar like JF” feature from MusicRadar
Two days ago, MusicRadar, the kind people who brought us the now-legendary podcast interview with John in January and got him to answer questions from one scarecrow and five humans, have published a helpful article for musicians titled "How to play guitar like John Frusciante".
Richard Barrett, a Total Guitar contributor, provided a 2-minute instructional video to go alongside the whole article and four tab examples: simple rhythm guitar, rhythm guitar with embellishments, simple lead guitar and distortion solo. As usual, there was a lot of praise for John's work included, so...what are you waiting for? Go and have a look now!
Well, this guy has not got the style here at all … JF does not really play Barre Chords that way, try looking at his own lesson on ‘Under The Bridge’ found here or on youtube. I teach Guitar for a living and I love what JF does on a guitar … at first I thought he was not too hard to copy … but the things that he plays can sound simple but to play it yourself, with the same feel can be tricky. Hats off to anyone who can play ‘Snow’ at speed with the Cd all the way through and without error … it sounds easy, but the way the notes fall on a guitar it’s nothing but a hand cramp!. The biggest thing I got from JF was blocking of the strings with his fretting hand so he could keep there percusive edge when playing. The man rules … great feel … not to over techinical for it’s own sake. Great Player.
Well said. I play with mainly Barre chords as my hands are too small to play like John. however in doing so, i struggle to play what he plays as he expains on the link you mentioned. The muting thing is also very impressive. The magazines tell u to play Cant Stop by picking the notes, whereas john just strums the rhythm whilst muting the strings he doesnt want to sound. Alot harder than it looks!
DoctorZod says what every Frusciante’s fan who plays guitar should think, if you wanna learn playing how to play like John, just look at and listen to John playing music ! Those kind of stuff could be helpful in some way, but actually all those music teacher are far from John’s style and approach of the guitar… All those lessons sounds “flat” . So thanks to all those guitar magazines which are trying to spread some good music ! But if you wanna learn some John’s type of playing , listen to him directly !
Apologies for my typing! Have had few drinks!
Yeah! I totally agree. This guy playing know nothing bout Johns style of playing. The rhytmhand for example is completely left out in this video. The very foundation of everything he play here is bad. It’s a “I studied some guy named John Frusciante for 2 hours and came up with this” kind of tutorial.
Those who can’t figure out John’s way of playing and want to have notes (a lot better than here) should take the advice and by a reliable songbook.
You’ll learn about his way of using chords, the rhythm, the licks and the combination of different interacting guitars to create a wall of sound.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say the guy knows nothing of John’s playing. I was actually quite surprised at how well he captured the vibe that John evinces with his chord progressions and choice of notes to play in a solo. John has a real distinct sound not just from the way he plays guitar, but from the overall impact of his chord progressions and melodies, there’s a distinct vibe to it always — and I think that that guy in the tutorial captured that.
But anyway, I agree with DoctorZod on the idea of John’s stuff sometimes seeming simple but actually being difficult to play. Take “Scar Tissue,” for example. It’s really hard to strum the chords in the chorus in the same rhythmic way that John does, bouncing on that C chord for just the right amount of time, and fleshing out the highs and lows of the D minor the right way. John’s strumming patterns are beautiful, and you completely take for granted how difficult they are to play until you try them. And that’s really my favorite part about John as a guitarist. I love his emotion and soul, but the best thing for me is just really listening to the subtleties of his strumming patterns. They are just amazing.
I’ve been looking for this exact information on this topic for a while.