We all know Dave Grohl fulfilled most drummers’ hidden dream: become a frontman. Yes, he has been leading the Foo Fighters to the top of the charts and rocking arenas around the planet for the past 20+ years singing and playing guitar.
How has his journey as a drummer affected him as a composer, guitar player, and singer? Is he an underrated, crucial piece of the alternative rock puzzle? Help me discover just how much of an undervalued killer rhythm guitar player Dave Grohl is.
Table of Contents
Drummer’s Chops on a Six-String Instrument
We all know what role drummers play in a band, they’re the rhythm section, the engine propelling the band forward. The drum kit is usually based on three very distinct-sounding pieces: snare, kick drum, and cymbals.
But what happens if you apply the same idea to a rhythm guitar section? Well, you could potentially think that the lower two strings on the guitar are your kick drum, focused on the low frequencies. Then, the fourth and third strings can be your snare, focused on the midrange. Finally, the higher two strings on your guitar can be your cymbals.
That is exactly what Dave Grohl explains in the clip above. He sees the guitar as a rhythm instrument capable of creating all the sounds he needs when sitting behind the drum kit.
But how does this change his approach as a guitar player? Moreover, does this make him a better guitarist?
Well, in this interview from 1999, Dave says that every guitar player should have, at least, a basic understanding of drumming (and vice versa). This is because there are more chances of creating a rhythmic piece that can sync in with the kick drum and create groovy guitar riffs.
If you pay close attention to Dave’s right-hand playing, you’ll notice his downstrokes are completely in sync with Taylor Hawkins’ drumming.
Dave’s Philosophy Behind His Choices
Dave Grohl didn’t just wake up one day being a rockstar filling stadiums. He’s got a past as a drummer and as a multi-instrumentalist to back up his words.
Perhaps, most of us remember the skinny dude with the long hair banging the life out of the skins behind Nirvana’s bombastic performances. Some other, younger people, might have seen him first screaming at the microphone while banging his Gibson Trini Lopez to a legion of screaming fans.
Well, that path Dave took from a very young age has been backed up by a personal philosophy; embracing imperfection and taking chances. Yes, Dave believes in taking chances but he also believes that the small mistakes people make while playing or the shortcomings of their talent spawn creativity and take artists to unknown sonic ground.
Moreover, Dave Grohl believes that the juxtaposition of different music styles such as grunge and disco is not only possible but potentially groundbreaking. Here’s the man himself talking about “ripping off” disco music to make Nevermind with Nirvana.
But let’s go back to the guitar. This philosophy plays a key role in the development of his underrated capabilities as a rhythm guitar player. He struggles to make the imperfection sound intentional and pivots between perfection and the raunchy, sloppy, rocking carelessness found in Punk Rock.
But taking it one step beyond, you can clearly see how, in this video, Dave’s right hand plays the middle two strings of the bar chord every time that Taylor plays the imaginary snare on his knee. Furthermore, in this scene, you can see three legendary drummers (Butch Vig, besides being a stellar producer is the drummer for Garbage) following the perfect synchronization between the drum fills and the guitar parts.
Also, you can see Dave Grohl’s multi-instrumentalist dexterity playing the riff on his guitar and then also going for the drumming part with Taylor following him. This means not only that Dave is a hugely underrated rhythm guitar player but also that his knowledge of rhythm and drumming makes the Foo Fighters a better band.
Other Superb Rhythm Guitar Players to Check Out
Dave Grohl isn’t the only rhythm guitar player you should check out. On the contrary, there’s a legion of players out there making musical history with a tight rhythm and a great sense of team playing. Let me list some for you so you can continue this learning path with more examples.
They’re not just rock players, but players you should check out from a plethora of music genres.
- Bo Diddley
- Nile Rodgers
- Brad Whitford
- Malcolm Young
- James Hetfield
- Keith Richards
- Albert Hammond Jr.
- Neil Young
- Joe Strummer
- Bob Weir
- Cory Wong
Is Perfection the Death of Rock and Roll?
There is a big difference between “cool” and “perfect”. Yes, a guitar part or the section of a song doesn’t need to be perfect to be cool. In fact, according to Dave Grohl, “The current focus on perfect metronomic time really detracts from the overall feel of a song.”
In this vein, what Dave does is try to go against the pursuit of perfection as much as he can.
In my opinion, it’s this approach that makes Dave Grohl a hugely underrated rhythm guitar player. Yes, this idea cascades from the philosophy at the base of Dave’s approach to music. He’s not after the perfect tempo or the right fill; he’s a groove master, a groove seeker, a man on a mission to find the “cool” rhythmic element in any composition and put it down on tape.
I don’t know if Dave Grohl is the most underrated rhythm guitar player in rock music, but he sure is among the best. That said, as long as he continues to chase rocking coolness instead of perfection, I think we have a good dose of righteous rock and roll waiting for us in the coming years.
The Bottom End
Music can be roughly divided into three elements: rhythm, melody, and harmony. No element is more important than the next. Me, perhaps you, and most of our guitar-playing colleagues tend to focus on melody, chops, scales, lightning-fast fingers, and complex chords and leave the rhythm section for the bass player and the drummer.
Well, it’s time we focus on the third piece in the puzzle and learn how to have a better sense of rhythm and lock in perfectly with the kick drum.
Are you ready to create your best riff yet? Pay attention to the rhythm hand, and become a better player today.
Happy (rhythm) playing!
