Riff Rundown

Difficulty: Intermediate

Where to Find This Song - The Colour And The Shape track # 11

Release Date - May 20, 1997

The Band -
Dave Grohl - vocals, lead guitar
Nate Mendel - bass
Taylor Hawkins - drums
Craig Shefflet - guitar, vocals

The Bio -
Formed in Seattle, The Foo Fighters emerged as a hard-hitting solution to the more pop-friendly sounds of the mid '90s. Dave, being the drummer from Nirvana, began the band by himself, and actually recorded all instruments for the first three cd's that they had with the help of bassist Nate Mendel. The song that you will be learning has been performed both with electric guitars and acoustics, and the acoustic version is absolutely wonderful. Try this song with both and see which you like more. Dave has been known for saying that he writes ALL the songs that he has performed with an acoustic guitar so that he could never miss the opportunity for a new song. Drummer Taylor Hawkins used to be in Alanis Morisette's band when she was at her peak, but soon joined forces with HIS idol, and now frontman, Dave Grohl. Dave was also known for defending Nirvana's music both in and out of court, and was the one who ended up beating out Courtney Love for most of Nirvana's music rights. In turn, he and bassist for Nirvana Krist Novoselic took back what was rightfully theirs - their own music.

Main Riff

This song is in drop D tuning. In drop D tuning the low E string is tuned down one whole step to D. To tune your guitar to drop D tuning, first make sure your tuned to standard tuning. Then you'll want to tune your low E string down two steps to D (we drop it down one step, hence the name). See the picture below. You can use the audio clip below to tune your low E string to D for drop D tuning.

You should use all down strokes when strumming this riff. Let each note ring (don't palm mute it!).

It's pretty fast at 152 beats per minute. The uneven alternating between mid to low strings in the strumming pattern is real tricky. In other words it's easy to play it wrong if you're not careful!

The song itself isn't too difficult, but the timing is. One thing to notice when playing this riff is that the entire song is based around power chords. You will never really change positions of your fingers. Since the song is in dropped d tuning, Dave is able to get a very heavy sound using power chords. With all the riffs, keep in mind that you will be leading with your 1st finger, almost like a dance. Allow your 3rd and 4th fingers to follow, keeping them on the higher strings. Notice also that at the end of the riff, you will be going back to the second set of power chords that you played in the beginning. You will only be playing 3 chords. At the beginning of the measure, you will be playing the "A" string with your 1st finger on the ninth fret, with your 3rd and 4th fingers on the natural "D" string and the "G" string on the eleventh frets. When you change to the next chord, all you have to do is move your 1st finger to the ninth fret on the dropped d string. Then of course you will move all of your fingers in the SAME position as they are now to the fifth and seventh frets.