Song · 1989
Higher Ground
- Artist
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Released
- 1989
- Guitar
- John Frusciante
- Riff
- Funk rhythm
What makes the part famous
The techniques to work on to play it, each in one sentence.
Riff
A short, catchy figure repeated through the song: the part everyone recognizes first.
Funk rhythm
Tight sixteenth-note strumming, muted strings and short chords, locked to the drums.
The scale of the Higher Ground solo
Here the guitar plays mostly solos and riffs. On the recording's isolated guitar, the studio picked out the notes that come back most: they sit in this scale, the box where you look for the phrases by ear and improvise.
- Tonic
- E
- Scale
- E minor pentatonic
- Position
- Fret 12, or open position
Positions in standard tuning, to play along with the record.
Automatic analysis, checked by hand against the song's known key. No tab here: the scale tells you where to look, your ear finds the phrases.
Analyze your own recording
Record yourself playing it, or upload a version you have the right to use: the studio isolates the guitar and finds the chords, tempo, strumming and fingerings, with a fretboard video and a PDF.
Same guitarist
Same techniques
More famous parts that take the same work.
No lyrics or recordings here: just the titles, to help you pick what to learn. Titles and names belong to their respective owners.