How to play drums like Dave Grohl
For someone who hasn’t played drums full-time in nearly 30 years, Dave Grohl remains one of the most revered and influential drummers of all time. Largely thanks to the punishing rhythms he unleashed as a member of Nirvana, Grohl became the true heir to the John Bonham throne in the 1990s. In the time since, Grohl has grown more diverse with his approach to the drums, but his hard-hitting signature style has always been a trademark.
Like most kids, Grohl started by hitting pillows and banging on pots throughout his suburban Virginia home. After trying to contact Bonham through a makeshift seance, Grohl found an easier approach to learning music: listening to bands. After a few drum lessons failed to pan out, Grohl became completely self-taught, relying on the knowledge that flowed through hardcore punk acts like Naked Raygun and Circle Jerks.
Grohl had a distinct advantage at his disposal: he was just a short bridge crossing away from Washington, D.C., the epicentre of hardcore punk in the 1980s. At venues like the 9:30 Club, Grohl saw how punk rock provided an outlet for a rambunctious teenager like himself. There wasn’t anything like a guaranteed future in it, but it seemed like more fun than being an accountant.
Although punk rock proved to be Grohl’s major guiding light, it wasn’t the inspiration that helped inform his drum style. Neil Peart and Stewart Copeland helped Grohl gain dexterity and control in his playing, while funk acts like The Gap Band and local D.C. go-go groups like Trouble Funk exposed Grohl to groove and swing. Even the occasional reggae hits of the Bad Brains helped diversify Grohl’s approach to the drums.
But if you want to play like Grohl, there’s no mistaking what you need to do: play hard and play loud. Bonham is an apt hero, especially when you see how many rhythms and stylistic signatures Grohl borrowed from the late Led Zeppelin drummer. Bonham’s iconic triplets incorporate hits from the bass drum, rack tom, and floor tom can be heard all over Grohl’s own drum parts, especially if you key into songs like Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘No One Knows’ and Them Crooked Vulture’s ‘No One Loves Me & Neither Do I’.
When it came to his Nirvana drum patterns, Grohl used his knowledge of guitar riffs to inform his playing. Drums tracks like ‘In Bloom’ (originally written by Chad Channing) and ‘Scentless Apprentice’ have hooks built into the rhythms. Those songs, in particular, show off another Grohl signature: the flam. By hitting a drum with both sticks at the same time, Grohl crafts a much more impactful sound.
Pure speed and aggressiveness are must-haves when trying to play like Grohl. Good luck getting through breakneck rhythms like ‘Breed’ or ‘Everlong’ if you haven’t built up your stamina first. Grohl also prefers to use heavier drumsticks for maximum impact, making his quick reaction time even more impressive, considering the extra weight he’s carrying in his hands.
Grohl has also benefitted from forward-thinking studio techniques that have given him a sound that is almost impossible to replicate. If you’ve tried to play the intro to ‘My Hero’ and have gotten frustrated, that’s because it’s actually two different drum patterns overdubbed on top of each other. If you can’t figure out how Grohl gets that signature dry sound on ‘Songs For the Dead’, it’s because Grohl recorded the drums and cymbals separately in isolation. These recording techniques help explain why Dave Grohl sounds so unique: he’s willing to try different configurations and techniques to reach a sound that works best.
That kind of evolution from a drummer into a songwriter and arranger is something that shines through in his drum tracks. While Nirvana and early Foo Fighters songs show Grohl pounding away, later drum performances like his work on Them Crooked Vulture’s debut and Killing Joke’s 2003 self-titled album show a more nuanced approach from Grohl. The monster bashing is still there, but when there are more elements to consider, Grohl is able to step back and be more judicious.
Some quick hits that haven’t been mentioned yet: in pretty much every Nirvana fill, Grohl hammers out quarter notes on the bass drum that gives the fills more drive. He also had his hi-hat and cymbals placed remarkably high up in his setup during the Nirvana years, something that caused him to presumably hit harder. We also have to mention the “loud-soft” dynamic that was Nirvana’s signature: check out Grohl’s work on ‘Lithium’, ‘Come As You Are’, ‘Rape Me’, and ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ for more of that.
In terms of equipment, Grohl was usually a TAMA man during his Nirvana years. However, since destruction was always in the cards, Grohl often swapped different pieces of equipment and different drums into Frankenstein kits just to have something to play on. His signature sound includes a deep and thuddy bass drum tuned low, a gigantic rack and floor toms for extra impact, and a smaller-than-normal snare drum (8 by 14-inch steel snares were Grohl’s primary snares of choice). Grohl’s more of a Drums Workshop man these days, with his cymbals being mostly 20-inch crashes and a 24-inch ride.
If you have the strength of an elephant, the dexterity of a cheetah, the speed of a sprinter, and the ear of a good musician, you might be able to imitate Grohl’s drum style. But more than anything else, Grohl always looks like he’s having a hell of a lot of fun bashing away at the drums. If you need a guiding light for beginning your journey to sound like Dave Grohl, do yourself a favour: let loose and have some fun. That’s what Grohl’s drum hits are really all about.
