Flea's Funkiest Bass Line was Hidden for over 30 years!

It’s one of Flea’s funkiest ever bass parts, and it’s been hiding in plain sight for 30 years, on an album we all thought we knew inside out! Blood Sugar Sex Magik was a game-changing moment for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. “With that album, we really grew into being the band that we always wanted to be,” Flea said to Guitar World in 2011. “It was like we took what was great about us and just gave a lot more depth to the instruments and structure.”

Flea is widely known for playing 4-string basses, but on Funky Monks, he made use of his 5-string Music Man StingRay. Let’s dive into one of Flea’s finest 5-string moments!

After the soaring final chorus, you’re momentarily kept waiting before this stomping funk groove plays in all of its hidden glory. As you’ve come to know, a consistent ingredient in Flea’s musical sauce is the use of short, crisp staccato articulations, which is exemplified throughout this great bass line. It’s a perfect example of his super-catchy and grooving riff-writing style.

Throughout this (slightly swung) jam you’ll find variations on defining funk elements, but for extra ‘stank’ be sure to nail the staccato phrasing throughout. Once more resting on the downbeat, Flea starts with a contagiously funky lick that finally lands on the root on beat 3. He switches to a more minimalist approach in the second bar, following a chromatic walk up from E to F#. Note the interweaving of open D’s in bar 5 as Flea adds variations to the line. Hopefully, playing along to this bass groove will inspire you to keep the funk alive!