"Scar Tissue" is one of the most famous songs by one of the world's most famous rock bands — but, curiously, the guitar in the song is markedly out of tune. And if you never noticed, don't feel bad, because neither did Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante.
Appearing on Chili Peppers producer Rick Rubin's Broken Record podcast back in December (in the fourth part of an ongoing series of interviews), Frusciante responded to a 2019 video by YouTuber Paul Davids. In the video, Davids argued that Frusciante intentionally tuned his B string flat to make the intervals sound better. Frusciante, however, told Rubin that it was an accident.
"It wasn't done consciously — I just was out of tune," Frusciante admitted. "I guess one of my strings was a little out of tune, and it sounded good so nobody ever said [anything]. If it hadn't sounded good, you [Rubin] would have been sensitive to it — but clearly it sounded good."
Frusciante went on to liken the "Scar Tissue" tuning to microtonal music, in which additional notes are added in between the ones that usually appear in the common 12-note chromatic scale.
"There's a lot of good expression in there, by using these notes that are in between, if they are exactly in between in a precise kind of way," Frusciante reflected. "I guess I was out of tune in a way that really worked, y'know, because that doesn't sound out of tune to me."
Below, watch the video that Frusciante was responding to.
"Scar Tissue" topped Exclaim!'s list of the best Red Hot Chili Peppers songs. Frusciante has a new solo album of electronic music coming out February 3.
Appearing on Chili Peppers producer Rick Rubin's Broken Record podcast back in December (in the fourth part of an ongoing series of interviews), Frusciante responded to a 2019 video by YouTuber Paul Davids. In the video, Davids argued that Frusciante intentionally tuned his B string flat to make the intervals sound better. Frusciante, however, told Rubin that it was an accident.
"It wasn't done consciously — I just was out of tune," Frusciante admitted. "I guess one of my strings was a little out of tune, and it sounded good so nobody ever said [anything]. If it hadn't sounded good, you [Rubin] would have been sensitive to it — but clearly it sounded good."
Frusciante went on to liken the "Scar Tissue" tuning to microtonal music, in which additional notes are added in between the ones that usually appear in the common 12-note chromatic scale.
"There's a lot of good expression in there, by using these notes that are in between, if they are exactly in between in a precise kind of way," Frusciante reflected. "I guess I was out of tune in a way that really worked, y'know, because that doesn't sound out of tune to me."
Below, watch the video that Frusciante was responding to.
"Scar Tissue" topped Exclaim!'s list of the best Red Hot Chili Peppers songs. Frusciante has a new solo album of electronic music coming out February 3.
