This week sees the release of the awesome new Red Hot Chilli Peppers album Unlimited Love and one of the most obvious standout bass riffs can be heard on the tune: Aquatic Mouth Dance.

Flea plays some great 16th note fingerstyle funk with awesome attack in his picking technique. This is a great throwback tune for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers with some vintage Flea funk bass! So let’s have a look at that cool bass intro and I’ll give you some tips on getting it down under the fingers.

Aquatic Mouth Dance Intro Line

Aquatic Mouth Dance is a great funky tune from the Unlimited Love album by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The opening line is a great demonstration of Flea’s attacking fingerstyle technique, ghost notes and syncopated 16th note rhythms.

I’d advise playing with conviction midway between the neck and bridge (over the P Bass pickup position)

Also try building up the line slowly, one or two quarter note beats at a time. Practice counting out the rhythms accurately and pay special attention to the fingering of the picking hand. Take note of the starting finger for each phrase.