Californication

How to play Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers on guitar

Californication is a great song to learn because it has a moody, steady feel that sits well under your fingers and sounds familiar right away. At about 96 BPM, you can focus on clean changes and letting the progression breathe instead of rushing. It feels relaxed but still demands control, which makes it a solid intermediate tune to build confidence with.

You can keep most of this in open shapes, with Am, F, C, G, Dm, D, A, and E available, while F#m and Bm are the harder barre shapes if they show up in your chart. The opening move is Am to F and back again, so watch that switch closely since it sets the tone for the whole song. Make sure your F shape rings clearly, because that change is usually the one that needs the most attention.

Start by looping Am - F - Am - F slowly until the changes feel automatic. Then add the rest of the chord movement in small sections, keeping your fretting hand relaxed and your strums even. Once the shapes are clean, bring the tempo up little by little until you can play it smoothly all the way through.

Use the play-along above to follow each chord change in time with the music, or learn the shapes first with the chord diagrams below.