Can't Stop Guitar Lesson

Can’t Stop is one of the standout tracks from their 2002 album By the Way, an album that saw the band leaning more into melodic and atmospheric sounds compared to their earlier funk-rock style. The song was recorded at Cello Studios in Los Angeles, where the band worked with legendary producer Rick Rubin, who encouraged them to balance raw funk influences with a more polished sound… And boy did that work!

So, without further ado, let's get into the lesson. PS. If you haven't already then be sure to click through to YouTube to give the video a thumbs up and comment to let Dion know you're loving the lessons!

Can't Stop Intro Riff

So let's start with the intro guitar riff (of course!). The set up here is that we're working in the key of E minor, and very much using the E minor pentatonic for this riff. However, this isn't just one of those "blast the pentatonic notes" riff… This is a far more considered movement based on the chords. So, the chord progression underlying the riff is | Em | D | Bm | C | which is a i, VII, v, VI progression in E minor.

Knowing that, as you work through the riff you can identify that alongside that clear melodic note, we also have the movement of the chords in the bass note. We go from the E, to D, to B and then to C whilst the high melody note stays the same. This is one of the reasons this riff has stood the test of time… It's just smart! Here is that pentatonic box to consider:

The other reason this riff has been so successful, in my opinion, is to do with the rhythm and the way Fruscuante hits the notes. This is single note strumming at it's absolute best, and Frusciante is the master of this. So we want you to try and consider the riff more like a strumming pattern, and based on that idea, the 16th note strumming pattern looks like this:

So, do your best to match the notes he is playing, as Dion demonstrates in the video, with this strumming pattern idea. It's a tricky thing to do, but so worth it in the long run!

Can't Stop Chords

Outside of the main riff, which rolls through the intro and verses of the track, we have two sections worth of chords to consider. Let's call them the chorus and the bridge. Starting with the chorus, we move to the progression | G D | Bm Cmaj7 |. So something you may notice here when listening or looking at the chord pattern, is that we have some chords "push" into the bar. Take a look at this:

As Dion mentions, the chord voicings don't matter too much, but Dion does like to use E and A shape voicings for the chords as he believes this is likely what Frusciante would have used for this section. Those voicings are:

Moving onto the middle eight section, we are simply coming back to the verse chords, but now playing them in a cool, reggae upbeat style! The chord progression is now | Em | D | Bm | Cmaj7 | and, that's using the following shapes:

As for that reggae upbeat style, we're shifting the rhythm pattern to simply this:(moving to a sort of 8th note strum, rather than 16th note)

Can't Stop Solo Section

Finally, let's talk about the solo! This section is simply awesome, and will push us to make sure our bends are absolutely bang on. The solo is using the E minor pentatonic (box 1 and 4), but the beauty is in it's simple melody. First up, here are the pentatonic box shapes you need to be aware of:

Now then, that two tone bend… It's a tough one for sure, and it may well shred the fingers initially, but it's worth persisting with. Two tone bend equals 4 frets on the guitar. So play the note 4 frets above the one you are bending, to get the pitch, and then try to bend up to that pitch!

There we have it guys! I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, and a massive thank you to Dion for some excellent teaching in the video. Please share with all your guitar friends, and we'l speak to you soon!