You’ve seen the video. John Frusciante is wearing an oversized shirt, looking slightly disheveled, and he starts that iconic, percussive scratch. It sounds like a machine gun made of guitar strings. Naturally, you head to Ultimate Guitar or Songsterr to look up can't stop rhcp tabs because you want to play that riff. It looks easy on paper. It's just a few notes on the A and D strings, right?
Wrong.
Most people who search for these tabs end up frustrated within ten minutes. They find the notes—the 7th fret, the 9th fret, the 5th fret—but it sounds thin. It sounds "plinky." It doesn't have that aggressive, funky thud that made the By the Way album a multi-platinum masterpiece. The reality is that the tab is only about 20% of the battle. The rest is a physical wrestling match with your fretboard that most online transcriptions fail to explain properly.
The Secret Sauce the Tabs Don't Show You
If you look at standard can't stop rhcp tabs, you’ll see a sequence of single notes. Maybe it looks like this: 7 on the A string, then 9 on the D, then 7 on the D. If you play it like a scale, you’ve already failed. Frusciante doesn't pick individual strings here. He hits almost all of them. Every single time.
Think of his right hand like a percussionist. He is flailing. To make that work without creating a wall of dissonant noise, your left hand has to be a master of "muting." You aren't just pressing down the note you want; you are using your thumb and your remaining fingers to choke the life out of every other string.
It’s exhausting. Your hand will cramp. Honestly, if your thumb isn't hanging over the top of the neck to mute the Low E string, you aren't doing it right. Most beginner tabs don't emphasize the "X" marks—the dead notes—nearly enough. Those muted scratches are actually more important than the melody notes themselves. They provide the rhythmic bed that makes the riff "swing."
Why Your Thumb is Your Best Friend (and Worst Enemy)
John Frusciante has relatively large hands, which allows him to wrap his thumb around the neck of his '62 Stratocaster. For "Can't Stop," the thumb is responsible for two things. First, it mutes the Low E string so it doesn't ring out when you're swinging your pick wildly. Second, for the G-chord variation in the verse, he actually uses his thumb to fret the 3rd fret of the Low E.
If you have smaller hands, this is where the can't stop rhcp tabs start to feel like a torture device. You might have to cheat and use a traditional barre chord shape, but you'll lose that "snap." The snap comes from the friction of the strings hitting the frets while being partially suppressed.
Breaking Down the Verse Structure
Let’s look at the actual progression. It’s a four-bar loop.
- E Minor: You’re hitting the 7th fret on the A string. But remember, you’re hitting all the strings while muting everything else.
- D Major: This moves to the 5th fret on the A string.
- B Minor: This is the 7th fret on the Low E. Again, the thumb is king here.
- C Major: The 8th fret on the Low E.
Wait, did you notice that? Many versions of can't stop rhcp tabs tell you to play the B and C on the A string (2nd and 3rd frets). While technically the same notes, Frusciante usually plays them on the Low E string during live performances because it allows for a thicker, chunkier tone. It changes the tension. It changes the vibe.
The Gear Rabbit Hole
You can have the perfect tabs and the perfect technique, but if you're playing through a high-gain metal amp, it’s going to sound like a mess. This song requires "edge of breakup" tone.
Frusciante famously used a Marshall Major and a Marshall Silver Jubilee. He’s also a huge fan of the Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion and the Ibanez WH10 wah pedal. For the "Can't Stop" intro, you need a clean sound that has enough compression to pop. If you have a Fender-style amp, crank the mids and keep the gain low. If you’re using a plugin, look for a "Plexi" model.
And please, use a Stratocaster if you can. The "quack" of the bridge and middle pickup combined (position 4) or just the bridge pickup is essential. A humbucker-loaded Les Paul will often sound too dark and muddy for this specific riff. You need the single-coil bite to cut through those percussive mutes.
Common Mistakes That Kill the Groove
Most players rush. They see the tempo and they panic. They try to play the notes so fast that they forget the space between them. "Can't Stop" is all about the "ghost notes."
- Over-picking: Don't try to pick every single 16th note with precision. Think of it as a broad stroke.
- Static Left Hand: Your left hand should be bouncing. It’s a constant dance of pressing down for the note and then immediately relaxing to mute.
- Ignoring the Bass: Flea is doing something entirely different. If you’re trying to follow the bass line on your guitar, you’re going to get lost. The guitar and bass in this track are like two gears that only mesh at specific points.
Mastering the Chorus and Bridge
The chorus is a relief. It’s a standard power chord/octave-ish affair, but even here, Frusciante adds flavor. He doesn't just play boring "5th" chords. He uses "triads" on the top strings. This gives the song that "stadium" feel.
When you get to the bridge—the part where it gets all "spacey"—it’s all about the delay and the volume swells. If you’re looking at can't stop rhcp tabs for this section, you'll see a lot of long, sustained notes. Don't just sit there. Use your vibrato. John’s vibrato is wide and fast, almost nervous-sounding. It adds tension before the final explosion back into the main riff.
The Live Variations
If you really want to impress people, don't play the studio version. Go to YouTube and watch the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Slane Castle (2003). The intro is different. Every time they play it live, John does a "jam" intro. It usually involves him playing around the E minor pentatonic scale with a lot of feedback and heavy distortion before Flea drops the bass line.
Learning the live "intro jams" is a great way to improve your improvisation. It shows you how the "Can't Stop" riff is really just a funky skeleton that you can hang whatever meat you want on.
Actionable Steps for Your Practice Session
Don't just stare at the screen. Grab the guitar.
First, focus entirely on the right hand. Mute all the strings with your left hand and just rhythmically strum 16th notes: down-up-down-up. Do it until it feels automatic. You shouldn't have to think about the rhythm.
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Next, add the "target notes" one by one. Start with just the E (7th fret, A string). Try to hit that note while keeping all other strings muted during your big strumming motion. Once that feels clean, move to the D.
Don't use a metronome yet. Use the actual song. Slow it down to 75% on YouTube. Feel the "bounce." The can't stop rhcp tabs are just a map, but you're the one who has to drive the car.
Finally, check your setup. If your action (the height of the strings) is too high, the muting is going to be incredibly difficult. If it's too low, you'll get too much buzz. A medium action is usually the sweet spot for Frusciante's style.
Stop worrying about hitting every note perfectly and start worrying about the "chug." The grit is where the magic lives. Once you stop treating it like a math problem and start treating it like a drum kit, you'll finally nail it.