Under The Bridge tab by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Tabs (Ver. 2)

Song: Under the Bridge
Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Album: Blood Sugar Sex Magik

This should be fairly accurate. It’s not as involved as the other versions out there,
but I think that it sounds closer to what John is actually playing.

Riff 1:
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|-3----------3---------------2--------------------------------------3h5p3--------------------------------------
|-------2-------2-----------------------3-----------------------2---------2---------------------3--------------
|----4-----4-----------------------4-------4---4-2----------4-----4-----------4/6-6--------4-------4---4-2-----
|-5-----------------4-2---------4-----4------------5-2--4/5---5---------------5/7-7-----4-----4------------5-2-
|-----------------------5-4--2-------------------------------------------------------2-------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
--------------3-------------------------------------------------------3h5p3---------------------------------------|
---------2-------2-----------------------3-----------------------2----------2---------------------3-------3-------|
-----4------4-----------------------4-------4---4-2----------4------4-----------4/6-6--------4-------4------4-----|
-4/5---5-------------4-2---------4-----4------------5-2--4/5---5----------------5/7-7-----4-----4------4------4/7-|
-------------------------5-4--2--------------------------------------------------------2--------------------------|

Riff 2:
|----7------------4-5-------7--9--5-------7--9--4-5-------7--9--5----7~-|
|-9--7------------4-5----9--7--9--5----9--7--9--4-5----9--7--9--5----9~-|
|-9--8-------9----4-6----9--8--9--6----9--8--9--4-6----9--8--9--6----8~-|
|-9--9--9h11-9-11-6-7----9--9--11-7----9--9--11-6-7----9--9--11-7----9~-|
|-7--9--9h11---11-6-7----7--9--11-7----7--9--11-6-7----7--9--11-7----7~-|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------7~-|

Riff 3:
|-------7-----------------------4-5-5h7p5----------7------------------------5-5-----
|-9-9---7-----------------------4-5-------5--9-9---7------------------------5---5---
|-9-9---8-----8h9p8--------9----4-6----------9-9---8-----8h9p8--------9-----6-----6-
|-9-9-X-9-X-9-------9-9h11-9-11-6-7----------9-9-X-9-X-9-------9-9h11-9-11--7-------
|-7-7-X-9-X-----------9h11---11-6-7----------7-7-X-9-X-----------9h11---11--7-------
|-----X-7-X--------------------------------------X-7-X------------------------------

-------7-----------------------4-5-5h7p5----------7------------------------5-5----7~-|
-9-9---7-----------------------4-5-------5--9-9---7------------------------5---5--9~-|
-9-9---8-----8h9p8--------9----4-6----------9-9---8-----8h9p8--------9-----6------8~-|
-9-9-X-9-X-9-------9-9h11-9-11-6-7----------9-9-X-9-X-9-------9-9h11-9-11--7------9~-|
-7-7-X-9-X-----------9h11---11-6-7----------7-7-X-9-X-----------9h11---11--7------7~-|
-----X-7-X--------------------------------------X-7-X-----------------------------7~-|

Riff 4:
|----X-X------------X-X-11-11-11-11-----------X-X-X-X-------|
|-10-X-X-10--9-9--9-X-X-12-12-12-12-10--10-10-X-X-X-X-play--|
|-11-X-X-11--9-9--9-X-X-11-11-11-11-11--11-11-X-X-X-X-that--|
|-11-X-X-11--9-9--9-X-X-------------11--11-11-X-X-X-X-four--|
|-9--X-X-9---7-7--7-X-X-------------9---9--9--X-X-X-X-times-|
|----X-X------------X-X-----------------------X-X-X-X-------|

Riff 5:
|-----X-X-7-7-X---------------------4-5-5h7p5--------X-X-7-7-X-X-----------------------5-5-----|
|-9-9-X-X-7-7-X---------------------4-5-------5--9-9-X-X-7-7-X-X-----------------------5---5---|
|-9-9-X-X-8-8-X---8h9p8--------9----4-6----------9-9-X-X-8-8-X-X----8h9p8--------9-----6-----6-|
|-9-9-X-X-9-9-X-9-------9-9h11-9-11-6-7----------9-9-X-X-9-9-X-X-9-------9-9h11-9-11--7--------|
|-7-7-X-X-9-9-X-----------9h11---11-6-7----------7-7-X-X-9-9-X-X-----------9h11---11--7--------|
|-----X-X-7-7-X--------------------------------------X-X-7-7-X-X-------------------------------|

Riff 6:
|------------------------------------------|
|-5-5-5--5-5-5-5-5--3-3-3--1-1-1-1-1-play--|
|-6-6-6--5-5-5-5-5--4-4-4--2-2-2-2-2-three-|(also played 4 times under the "Under the bridge downtown
|-7-7-7--5-5-5-5-5--5-5-5--3-3-3-3-3-times-|is where I drew some blood" part)
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|

Riff 7:
|-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12--10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|
|-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9---8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-|
|-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|
|-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9-------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Riff 8:
|----------------------------------------0---------------------------------------1h3p1---|
|-5-5-5--5-5-5-5-5--3-3-3--1-1-1-1-1-0h1---1--5-5-5--5-5-5-5-5--3-3-3--1-1-1-1-1-------1-|
|-6-6-6--5-5-5-5-5--4-4-4--2-2-2-2-2----------6-6-6--5-5-5-5-5--4-4-4--2-2-2-2-2---------|
|-7-7-7--5-5-5-5-5--5-5-5--3-3-3-3-3----------7-7-7--5-5-5-5-5--5-5-5--3-3-3-3-3---------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
The above riff’s played twice just like that and two more times after that with slight variations.

The song ends on an A augmentedA chord. If you’re retarded and don’t know what that is, either give up guitar now or look below.
|-0-|
|-2-|

Under The Bridge tab

When released as a single in 1991, “Under the bridge” was Red Hot Chili Peppers final step into mega success and stardom. As you can see in the Under the bridge tabs below it starts off in D major and shifts to E major after the first chorus. With heavy rotation on but radio and music television the single and song soon entered the Billboard Hot 100 peeking at number two.

The song is still a hit on some radio stations and has been certified platinum a long time ago. The slow intro on guitar is inspired by a David Bowie song while the E major seventh chord technique is from a song by T-Rex. You can see in the Under the bridge tabs that this is a song that start off slow and grows all the time until the end. Kiedis first sang wrote the lyrics which are about his old drug habits and about losing friends. He then sang the words to the rest of the band who spent the next days trying to find the right chords and melody. The song stayed in the US charts for half a year.

Other versions of Under The Bridge

Alternative guitar chords and tabs for Under the bridge acoustic by Red Hot Chili Peppers