How to play Californication by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Californication by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers is the international hit song from their 1999 album of the same name. Bolstered by the return of guitarist John Frusciante, the album Californication and it’s title track became their most successful release. Featuring a distinctive arpeggio intro, an interesting range of chords and contrasting rhythm parts, Californication is a great tune for electric guitarists.
Chords: Am G C F Fmaj7 Dm Dm9 G7 F#m Dmaj7 D B5 D5 A E (fifteen different chords - wow!)
Pick or fingers? Plectrum mostly but you can hybrid-pick the intro (play the pick on the lower notes and middle, or ring finger for the highest notes). The rhythm parts are plectrum strumming style.
Acoustic or Electric guitar? Californication is an electric guitar tune. It will work on acoustic steel-string but will sound best on electric. For nylon-strings the intro works well fingerstyle but the chord sections lack the bright Pop tone of the recording.
Rhythms: Californication has well shaped sections with distinct rhythms ; part of what makes it a worthwhile song for guitarists. Following the intro is a rhythm section on Am and Fmaj7 that uses a semiquaver - quaver strum pattern. This needs a steady acoustic-like style played with strict alternate strumming. The chorus includes some dotted quaver and tied strums and is a good example of rhythm phrasing that is unique to an individual song ; you need to follow the chart closely to get the effect of the original recording. Whilst the song overall is in the key of A Minor, the solo section is in F# MInor / A.
Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 : To learn more about the chords and rhythms used in Californication see pages 8, 10, 12 -13, 15, 17, 19 - 20, 28 and 31.
Need a bit of help?
Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 is the perfect companion for our song guides- it is specifically designed to help beginners speed up their chord changes, master their strumming patterns, and many other techniques.