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Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘Stretch’

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This little-known song was recorded during sessions for the band’s 1995 album One Hot Minute and appeared as a b-side on the ‘My Friends’ single. It’s one of Flea’s finest recorded lines from this period in the band’s history and is great fun to play.

Flea plays a fingerstyle funk groove throughout this track, a line which is based around a repeating two-bar riff. As with most of Flea’s lines, there is a huge amount of variation in the part, and his sixteenth note-based open string fills are of particular interest.

When learning this piece, you might find the following courses (all included in the monthly subscription cost) useful:

A transcription (with TAB and without) is available for this course. To download it, please visit the Free Stuff page.

This course is 1 HOUR & 11 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. ‘Stretch’

This video is a demonstration of the song performed on a 1966 Fender Jazz Bass strung with new stainless steel Rotosound strings.

2. Course Overview

This video contains an overview of the song and the challenges it presents, as well as offering some advice on choosing the right instrument and tone for a piece like this.

3. Intro

This video covers the four-bar intro, which establishes the main bass groove. This section also features a fantastic bass fill which leads the song into the first verse.

4. 1st Verse

During this section, Flea continues to play the line that was established during the intro. However, there are many fills and variations to consider.

5. Chorus

This lesson covers the chorus sections of the song. For the most part, this relatively simple line is played the same each time around.

6. Re-Intro

This video demonstrates the re-intro section, which follows the first chorus. There is a lot of repetition here, but some new fills and variations to get your teeth into.

7. 2nd Verse

Flea once again plays the established bass groove here but adds many new variations. This lesson also covers the transition fill at the end of the second chorus.

8. Middle 8

Flea’s line during this section is much simpler than the main bass groove, but his use of chord tones, slides and chromatic passing notes is worth studying.

9. Re-Intro

This video covers the four-bar re-intro section that is played after the middle 8. As before, this section features some great licks played off of the open strings.

10. 3rd Verse

This video will show you how to play the third verse of the song. Once again, the line is based on the established bass groove, but with more variations and fills.

11. Outro

This final video of the course covers the long outro section of the track. This part of the song is based on the same bass groove, but with further variations.