By Raph_PH - DownloadParis170618-102, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94163990
Intermediate
Beginner
•Learn the chordal and rhythmic approach behind some of the Foo Fighters' most iconic songs.
•Create jangly chords that use ringing open strings.
•Develop a deep appreciation for grungy dissonance.
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Flyin’ Lessons
Let's start with the two chord grips shown in Ex. 1. Grab a garden-variety open E chord using your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers. This fingering allows you to move the shape up the neck while leaving your 1st finger free to grab the root note on the 6th string while letting the two highest strings ring out. Like a barre chord, this voicing can be slid up and down the neck. This fretboard strategy was a favorite move of Rush's Alex Lifeson and it's no secret that Dave Grohl is an unabashed Rush fan.
Play through Ex. 2 to get a feel for how Grohl appropriated this cool chordal trick to enliven such Foo tunes as "This Is a Call" and "Learning to Fly." Remember to keep your hand in place and let each chord ring throughout the entire measure's arpeggio.
Ex. 2
Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly (Live At Wembley Stadium, 2008)
Octave-ate
One recurring sonic weapon in the mighty Foo Fighter arsenal is the use of sliding octave shapes which are often played against open 6th- and 5th-string drones. Familiarize yourself with the two octave fingerings in Ex. 3. The first involves a two-fret stretch and the second uses a three-fret stretch. I recommend using your 1st and 4th finger for both.
Once you have these in your muscle memory, have a go at Ex. 4, which pits the shapes against droning open strings, turning what might've been an otherwise pedestrian E to A change into a melodic riff with major 6, major 7, and major 9 color tones. You can use either all downstrokes or alternate strums to help catch the vibe of the pre-choruses to "Everlong," the chorus of "Best of You" and "My Hero" or the main riff of "Learning to Fly."
Ex. 4
Foo Fighters - My Hero (Reading + Leeds 2019)
(Odd) Times Like These
One compositional tactic Grohl seems to have mastered is the use of tension and release. More specifically, the juxtaposition of a disjointed dissonant part against a harmonically/melodically satisfying one. This is often accomplished with a highly syncopated or odd-metered rhythmic attack or the deployment a harmonically ambiguous chord voicing such as the Dm7(no 3rd) in Ex. 5 which can be slid up or down chromatically for added angst.
To hear these techniques in action, listen to the opening chord salvo and 7/4 groove of the soaring intro of "Times Like These," or the brutal rhythm guitar fisticuffs during the verses of "All My Life." Then play through Ex. 6 to see how they can be easily applied. When listening to the recorded example, notice the guitar is silent on beat one of the 7/4 measure leaving the bass to sound the downbeat, creating an evocative "call-and-response" effect.
Ex. 6
Foo Fighters “All My Life” on the Howard Stern Show
Colourful Chord Shapes
The Foo Fighters' 1995 eponymous debut album—which was essentially written and recorded entirely by Grohl—proved that he was more than just an exceptional drummer, but it was 1997's follow-up The Colour and the Shape that solidly established them as one of the great rock bands of their generation. Not surprisingly "Everlong," a song from that release, has gone on to became the band's "de facto" anthem. In order to deconstruct this modern rock masterpiece, you'll need to be in drop-D tuning, which requires lowering your guitar's 6th string down a whole step (making its tuning D–A–D–G–B–E, low to high). Most of the chord shapes during the song's verse are some variation of the standard-issue D5 shown in Ex. 7.
Slide it up to the 9th position while extending your first finger for a partial barre of the bottom two strings to sound the Bm(sus2), then slide it down another whole step to the 7th position while lifting your third finger to grab the A5.
Once you've mastered these three basic variations, use them in several positions to play through Ex. 8. Although not a note-for-note transcription, playing this example with downstrokes should put you in the ballpark for sleuthing out the inimitably iconic intro to "Everlong."
Ex. 8
Stacked and (Un-Stacked) 6-Strings
Although the Foo Fighters are a quintessential rock band in many respects, something you won't really find in their music is gratuitous guitar solos. Instead of fretboard gymnastics, Grohl's 6-string co-conspirators ( Chris Shifflett since 1999, and Pat Smear since 2010 who rejoined after touring with the band during their earliest incarnation) generally focus on adding complementary melodic lines voiced on the high strings. This less-is-more approach is demonstrated in Ex. 8—a single-note melody articulated against an open-high-E drone.
While this melodic phrase may sound pleasant enough on its own, it really springs to life when layered on top. You can hear this juxtaposition on the repeat of the audio example or you can check out the general technique in action on Foo Fighter essentials like "Everlong" Monkey Wrench," "My Hero," and "Walk."
Foo Fighters - Everlong (Live At Wembley Stadium, 2008)
Grace Notes
After being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past year, the Foo Fighters can rightfully take their place alongside the great hard rock bands of all time. And like many of the all- time greats, The Foos are equally adept rocking out on acoustic steel-strings as they are when cranked through high-gain stacks. One particularly poignant acoustic moment from the album Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace is the instrumental "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners" which was inspired by two miners in Australia who requested an iPod loaded with Foo Fighters songs be sent down to them during the rescue mission after the mine they were in collapsed. (They were eventually freed unharmed, and met up with a visibly moved Grohl who played the song for them personally.) This full-throttle fingerstyle excursion revolves around rapid open-string hammer-ons and pull-offs like those in Ex. 9, and was originally recorded as a duet with guitar virtuoso Kaki King.
Ex. 9
Foo Fighters Sydney 2018 - Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners
When it comes to great songwriting, Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters are arguably the standard-bearers of modern rock. Hopefully this deep dive into some of their compositional techniques will not only give you a greater appreciation for the band, it'll inspire you to incorporate new ideas into your own writing and playing.
Jet Pedals MCX
If space is a consideration, this compact 3-button setup could be the answer. It's designed around eight banks, each with a unique identifier that gives up to five presets per bank. It can be powered via USB or a standard 9V power supply.
$190 street
jetpedals.com
Behringer FCB1010
Express yourself with this full-featured controller that houses a pair of built-in expression pedals along with 10 assignable control pedals. It can send five program-change commands simultaneously.
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behringer.com
Morningstar MC6 MkII
Inside this modestly sized box sits a powerful MIDI control station that offers 30 banks of 12 preset slots, two omniports with TRS MIDI out, and a robust online editor.
$229 street
morningstarfx.com
Rocktron MIDI Mate
With three different modes (bank, instant, and controller), this slender MIDI controller allows multiple program changes on different channels. The fully editable setup can arrange presets in a setlist order, change settings on the fly, and send phantom power via MIDI.
$219 street
rocktron.com
RJM Music Technology Mastermind LT
This rugged MIDI controller can store up to 768 presets via 16 different pages that can be totally customized. Each of the seven buttons have a multi-color LED, plus it offers support for expression pedals.
$399 street
rjmmusic.com
Matthews Effects The Futurist
This 4-button controller is a compact way to handle a smaller stash of pedals. The accompanying online editor allows for deeper programming and the unit is expandable up to seven buttons.
$230 street
matthewseffects.com
Singular Sound MIDI Maestro
A sleek unit made of anodized aluminum that features customizable labels for each of the six buttons. You can have 10 active pages per preset and it works directly with Beat Buddy and Aeros Loop Studio.
$299 street
singularsound.com
Source Audio Soleman
You can easily end the tap dancing by utilizing one of the unit's three modes: scene, setlist, or panel. It can also control DAWs, virtual instruments, or plugins via the USB/MIDI interface.
$249 street
sourceaudio.net
Meloaudio MIDI Commander
This 10-button controller can run up to 40 hours via a pair of AAA batteries. It's compatible with a wide range of MIDI units and houses two power modes. Includes six host modes to work directly with JamUp, Bias FX, Kemper, and more.
$160 street
meloaudio.com
Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro
Recalling the days of Bradshaw-designed rigs, this expansive, roadworthy controller offers 12 switches for patches, can process up to eight devices, and gives you stompbox-style control over your rig.
$430 street
voodoolab.com
Photo by Kara Sheridan
Two Feet's success is an example of what can happen when a guitarist with a vision embraces technology. Dess was making complete songs with just his Strat, a janky microphone, and Ableton. His recipe—impeccably phrased, soulful guitar solos over heavy 808 drumbeats, and breathy vocals—sounds simple enough. Yet, it's unique for an accomplished guitarist who was accepted to Berklee College of Music on scholarship to fuse bluesy guitar lines with thumping electronic beats made with drum pads. For Dess, that was mostly out of necessity: He couldn't jam with a bassist and a drummer in his apartment.
The phrase "electronic music" can be polarizing. It's a bunch of different things with infinite subgenres, but the first type of artist called to mind might not be a multi-instrumentalist who started playing guitar around age 7, spending his teen years playing in jazz and blues ensembles. The musical touchstones and influences Dess cites—Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer, Clapton, Hendrix—reflect a burgeoning blues hound, but also a 6-stringer who spent a fair amount of time chasing the tone dragon. Dess also plays piano, bass, and produced all of his early EPs, as well as his first two LPs: A 20 Something Fuck (2018) and Pink (2020). He largely made this year's release, Max Maco Is Dead Right?, on his own, but the new Two Feet album, coming in late 2021 or early 2022, will have production assistance from Geoffrey Hufford, aka Huff, who is the keyboardist/drummer in Two Feet's live band.
Two Feet - You? (Live)
At the end of high school, Dess got serious about his future in music. "I just thought of going to college, and then what would I do after college? I had some weird sort of break with reality for a second, where I was like, the only thing I really want to do is try to make music," he says. "So, I ended up focusing on that. Obviously, I'd played since I was a little kid, but I didn't ever really think this was what I'd end up doing, because everyone would always say it's impossible, you know, it's all luck or whatever, so it kind of turns you off from trying."
He decided Berklee was where he wanted to go. "My dad was like, 'We can't really afford that,'" Dess recalls. "So, I thought, I'll try to get a scholarship. I saw this video of this guitarist—Jon Gomm, 'Passionflower'—where he does this tapping, crazy guitar thing and I was like, 'I'm going to learn that.' I didn't even really play acoustic guitar. So, I went out and got an acoustic guitar, I fitted mics inside it, and I practiced, practiced, practiced." Dess ended up getting a scholarship but dropped out a few months into the first semester. "I got there and hated how regimented it was. It felt like they were trying to teach everyone there to become teachers rather than musicians. I realized I didn't need to be there to do what I wanted to do. It felt like a waste of time."
"I was obsessed. It's all I played—B.B. King, Wes Montgomery, or Buddy Guy and stuff like that. I didn't ever practice anything else but blues."
It's clear now that all Two Feet needed to craft songs was his Strat and a computer. His roots are as a blues-guitar player, although he was reluctant to say that's exactly where he lands today. "It's sort of a big mix. It also has a lot of rock in it, so it's not purely blues," he says. "I think when I was younger, I would've said that. I was obsessed. It's all I played—B.B. King, Wes Montgomery, or Buddy Guy and stuff like that. I didn't ever practice anything else but blues."
Now, his influences run the gamut. The day of our interview, he was finishing up a mix for the artist Grandson. Throughout the pandemic, he's been listening to Sam Fender, Fred again.., Harry Styles, and the Strokes. The title track to his second album, "Pink," is an homage to Pink Floyd. "I love David Gilmour, and that song has a Pink Floyd tone to it," Dess says. "That's why I named it that." Two Feet's early EPs include songs that are basically accompanied guitar interludes, such as "Quick Musical Doodles," and "Felt Like Playing Guitar and Not Singing."
Two Feet's Gear
Bill Dess, aka Two Feet, shows his support for Britney Spears while channeling a Strat solo at the 2019 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
Photo by Josh Brasted
Guitars
- Fender American Professional Stratocaster customized by Paul Nieto with 1950s-era single-coils, Seymour Duncan humbucker in middle position (olive green)
- Fender American Stratocaster (Olympic white)
- 1980s Fender Strat (red)
- Martin D-42
Amps
- Fender Twin Reverb
Effects
- Boss HM-2W Waza Craft Heavy Metal Distortion
- Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
- Hotone Skyline Eko Digital/Analog Delay
- Dunlop Cry Baby Classic Wah
- MXR M300 Digital Reverb
Strings and Picks
- Elixir Strings with NANOWEB Coating, Light (.010–.046)
- Dunlop Tortex Picks 1.14 mm
The shifting dynamics and contrast between the guitar melodies and dropping bass beats is part of what draws you into a Two Feet song: The high/low elements he blends work extremely well together. Or as Dess put it, it's like "a mini genre within a genre." Dess is an alternative-rock artist who builds around electronic music. There was already a community of likeminded musicians building this genre on SoundCloud when Dess came on the scene in 2016.
"At the time, none of it really had blues guitar. It was sort of MGMT-ish, or trap beats with alt singing on it. My bandmate Huff always makes fun of it. He says in a joking, insulting way: 'You created blues-trap music.' I guess that's what I would call it. There was no one who sounded like that before "Go Fuck Yourself" came out. There was no blues guitar with the saw bass pad and the 808 drums. There was no one doing that."
"Sometimes it's easier to rip your shirt and look weird and pretend like a different person so you can get out of your own head and so you can get up there with a lot of confidence, like you're acting."
His latest album, Max Maco Is Dead Right? is an evolution in songwriting for Dess. The concept album was born out of finding ways to cope with fame and anxiety and was inspired by Dess' own inner struggles.
"Max Maco is this character I would get into when I would get nervous," says Dess. "We really, really quickly went from 200-cap rooms to playing in front of 30 thousand people in Mexico. You're standing on the side stage. You see this massive crowd of people, you hear the cheering, and you're freaking out because you're really nervous.
Two Feet on playing guitar: "Most of the time I have to close my eyes and hear and feel, and it just creeps its way up through me. Not even thinking really. It's hard to describe but at the same time it's the simplest thing in the world."
Photo by John D Gray (@itsnotpork)
"Sometimes it's easier to rip your shirt and look weird and pretend like a different person so you can get out of your own head and so you can get up there with a lot of confidence, like you're acting. I created characters in my head for myself before we went onstage. It was part of the entertainment and I think the fans catch onto that, that you're doing something in that moment."
Dess created his Max Maco alter ego during Two Feet's opening spot on Panic! at the Disco's "Pray for the Wicked Tour." The transition from unknown opening act to finding a groove on the road was rocky, Dess admits, but he recalls a moment when everything changed.
TIDBIT: Two Feet's latest release, Max Maco Is Dead Right?, is a concept album based on a character that Bill Dess created and would pretend to be in order to calm his nerves before going onstage in front of big crowds.
"The first few shows were really tough since the music is so unrelated. Why would Panic! at the Disco fans like my music? Then we get to Montreal. We were having a hard time, and it was really cold—so cold we couldn't even go outside. We meandered onto the stage, like 'Oh god, another one of these, everyone's going to be sitting and confused as to what this Brooklyn-heavy sort of sound is.'
"We started playing and the crowd started getting more energetic and more energetic, and I started feeling it in my chest. Then we started playing 'I Feel Like I'm Drowning.' For the first time in my life, 20 thousand people turned on their phone lights and lighters and were swaying. When you're onstage and it's pitch dark in an arena and everyone's swaying their lights, it looks like outer space—it's the most insane thing from the stage, and you're also playing and singing. That happened and it turned the whole tour around. That was one of my favorite memories from my career so far."
At home, Dess is constantly working on new material. He currently has about 30 unreleased songs and is working on a film project, in addition to collaborations and mixes for other artists. "I can't go a day without sitting and writing music," he says. "I'm a total workaholic."
TIDBIT: Bill Dess has several answers about where his Two Feet moniker came from. One is about hearing this quote on Jerry Maguire: "There is an insidious disgusting monster that walks around the earth on two feet and it's a human."
His go-to tool is an olive green Fender Strat, which he plays unplugged at home when writing music. But his favorite guitar is one of the first guitars he ever got—an early 1980s red Fender American Stratocaster, which he's now retired from the road. On the advice of his tech, Paul Nieto, Dess replaces his Strat pickups with vintage standard single-coils from the 1950s, because "the newer ones are wound really tight and buzz too much," he says. "I replaced the center pickup with a [Seymour Duncan] humbucker so I can have that more sustained rock tone for it."
Dess has dozens of pedals, but his live pedalboard stays about five stomps deep. "One of my favorites is a Boss Heavy Metal Distortion pedal," he shares. "It's amazing for when I want to go into a David Gilmour–type thing. I usually use it in conjunction with my classic Tube Screamer. And then I have this tiny little mini delay pedal [Hotone Skyline Eko]. It's the size of an apricot, almost, and it has the most simple settings ever but it just sounds so good. I find a lot of delays sound computer-y and too digital-sounding, and this one has this great natural sound. I've used that for years; I have like 30 of them."
Starting out, Dess toured with a big Marshall stack, but when he started playing bigger shows, he switched to a Fender Twin Reverb. "You hook up to PA system, so it doesn't matter how big the amp is, unless you want it for looks or something," Dess says. "The Fender Twin sounds great with my guitar, it's easy to take onstage, easy to set up, and it's not too complicated, so that's what I use on tour."
One development Dess didn't anticipate is that his music would gain a carnal reputation. He says one of his most "mainstream moments" came when Chart Data released a Top 10 list of artists people have on their "Sex Playlists," which included household names like Drake, the Weeknd, and Ariana Grande. "I was number 9 above Party Next Door," he says.
Two Feet's live band performs as a trio, which includes Bill Dess on guitar and vocals, Geoffrey Hufford on keyboards and drum pads, and Matt Swain behind the drum kit.
Photo by John D Gray (@itsnotpork)
The interesting part about that is, Two Feet's lyrics are not literally suggestive, though many of his songs document the pain of relationships, heartbreak, betrayal, and making mistakes.
"If you use pure statistics, I must be making sexy R&B music [laughs]," he says. "I never looked at it like that. I just tried to make stuff I thought sounded cool and I guess it comes off that way.
"I was analyzing myself the other day. I cover in a lot of songs: the passage of time, existential stuff, and large amounts of relationships and personal stories, lyrically. I don't think a lot of them are the sexiest lyrics. There's not too much of that in the lyrics. I think when people are talking about the 'sexiness,' it's more just the way everything sounds—smoky and dark and bluesy guitar."
His sound is also resonating with the jam-band scene, likely owing to his skilled phrasing, bendy solos, crystalline Strat tone, and a knack for writing melodic hooks on the guitar.
"I can't go a day without sitting and writing music. I'm a workaholic." —Bill Dess
Photo by Shervin Lainez
The ups and downs of becoming a person people recognize on the street, paired with the stress of touring and being a sensitive human, contributed to a difficult time a few years back when Dess took a break to tend to his mental health. But in 2021, he's more ready than ever to get back on the road. With three full albums, and a fourth on the way, Dess has plenty of material to draw from as he readies his live show. He's dipping into more stripped-down performances with just an acoustic guitar, which is a newer approach for him, and writing more traditionally on an acoustic.
"This new album is way more guitar heavy than Max Maco was," he says. "I change what I want to do all the time."
So, is Max Maco dead now? "I don't want to give too much away but he might be around again," Dess offers.
And with a little more experience under his belt, what does it feel like being onstage now?
"All I know is time passes very differently. An hour set sometimes feels like 20 minutes. Most of the time, I have to close my eyes and hear and feel and it just creeps its way up through me and that's how I start improvising and not even thinking. It's hard to describe but at the same time it's the simplest thing in the world."
Two Feet - Digital Mirage (Official Full Set)
Two Feet (Bill Dess) performs a socially distanced streaming concert with his live band in 2020. Two Feet's guitar approach is crafting melodies and soloing on his Strat while the beats drop around him. Check out a tasty example at 4:20.