Bass Around the World #16: Flea's Funk Rock Style Grooves

Flea has such a personality—he is wild! Mixing funk, rock, punk, and psychedelia and slapping as a maniac, he truly makes you pay attention to his playing. His showmanship is out of this world: jumping all around the stage, with erratic movements and headbanging—you can tell exactly where his nickname comes from.    

Regarding equipment, Flea is strongly connected with the sound of Music Man Stingray (in the early days), later playing a Modulus, then his own brand Fleabass and recently introducing the signature Fender Jazz Bass with Modulus and a Lane Poor pickup. 

Lesson time

Let’s take the title track from the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik for a spin.

It is a great example of a few key elements in Flea's style of playing. Starting with double stops in the verses—basically, it's a guitar riff in Am played on the bass as double stops (on the D and G strings). It is quite tricky as its phrasing starts on an anticipated beat, so make sure you’re in sync with the drums.

The chorus bass line is an Em bonanza—grooving hard and playing a crazy sextuplets lick using Em minor blues pentatonic notes (E, G, A, Bb, B, D) high up the fretboard in the 14th position.

The bridge consists of two chords—C and D. Again, we’re using double stops in a combination with passing notes. 

Get your energy levels high up, dig hard into your bass and get that funk-rock flow on the board. Flea’s bass lines are always a challenge and always fun!