Musical style

Techniques
Kiedis provides a range of vocal styles while singing. His approach of spoken verse and rapping (the primary characteristic of his vocals up to Blood Sugar Sex Magik) complemented with more traditional vocals have helped the band maintain a relatively consistent style. Nevertheless, as the group has matured, the vocal sequences present in albums ensuing Californication have drastically reduced the number of rapidly sung verses. By the Way only contained one song which remained true to the rap-driven-verses and subsequent melodic choruses. Kiedis' more recent style has been obtained through coaching throughout all nine of Red Hot Chili Peppers' albums.

Hillel Slovak's style was heavily blues and funk based. Early replacements, including current guitarist John Frusciante, based their style significantly on Slovak's. However, Frusciante has brought a more melodic and textured sound to more recent albums such as By the Way and Californication. This contrasts with his previous abrasive approach in Mother's Milk, as well as his dry, funky and more docile arrangements on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Dave Navarro brought an entirely different sound to the band during his tenure, with his style based on heavy metal and progressive.

Flea's bass style is an amalgamation of funk, psychedelic, punk, and hard rock. The groove-heavy, low-tuned melodies, played through either normal finger style or slapping (popping and slapping), have contributed to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' signature style. While Flea's slap bass style was prominent in earlier albums, later albums (post Blood Sugar Sex Magik) have more melodic bass lines. In some live performances Flea has been seen to use an alternative slap bass style where he hits the strings on his shins. [citation needed] He has also used double stops on Don't Forget Me, Blood Sugar Sex Magik Hump de Bump and Snow ((Hey Oh)).

Chad Smith's in-the-pocket style of drumming adds space and allows Frusciante and Flea to add melodies to the beats and grooves more effectively. He actively employs rapid successions of the bass drum - often following Flea's fast bass lines - with only one bass drum pedal. This is evident in the song The Greeting Song, where in the main riff Smith's bass drum mimics Flea's bass accents. In addition, a song like Give It Away demonstrates his in-the-pocket drumming that places focuses on the groove over flashiness. However, Smith is known to play flashy fills during the band's live performances.[citation needed]

While Kiedis is the lead vocalist for the band, Frusciante often contibutes backing vocals and two part harmonies to various songs. He sang lead on the chorus of such Blood Sugar Sex Magik songs as The Power of Equality, Funky Monks, Breaking The Girl and The Righteous and the Wicked. His falsetto is used frequently, particularly on By the Way and Stadium Arcadium, though it was also used on Blood Sugar Sex Magik on the songs If You Have to Ask and Under the Bridge. Frusciante shared lead vocal duties with Kiedis on Knock Me Down from Mother's Milk, and has solo spots on songs such as Dosed and Desecration Smile. It has become a tradition that at some point during a Chili Peppers concert John performs an unaccompanied cover song, usually a hit from the 1960s or 1970s, or one of his own solo songs. Such songs include Tiny Dancer by Elton John, How Deep Is Your Love by The Bee Gees, Maybe by The Chantels,I Feel Love by Donna Summer, For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her by Simon and Garfunkel, Runaway by Del Shannon, Will You Love Me Tomorrow? by Carole King, See Emily Play by Pink Floyd, SOS by ABBA, The Metro by Berlin and various songs from his solo albums.