Nirvana · 1991 · drums by Dave Grohl
Smells Like Teen Spirit
From Nevermind. Intermediate · Straight · rock
Tempo
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Feel
- Straight
- Tempo band
- 90–120
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
"Work up to it" opens the tempo trainer at 87 and climbs to 117 in steps of four every eight bars. Members get the climb; everyone gets the click. "Play the groove" opens the beat itself in the Groove Lab.
What the drums do
Four bars of guitar, then the drum entrance every drummer has played at least once: the four-count on the snare into the flams and the crash. The verses drop to a bare, quiet beat on the ride bell; the choruses go wide open with sixteenth-note snare fills. The hard part is hitting the choruses as hard as Grohl without rushing them.
Intermediate: Needs independence, a feel, or fills you have to learn.
Dave Grohl
- Read the Dave Grohl feature →Who they are, how they play, and what to listen to next.
- Dave Grohl's drum rig in the Rig Vault →The kit, snare, cymbals and hardware, era by era — look for the 1991 setup.
- Log the sessionNote the BPM you got it clean at, and next time starts from there.
More Dave Grohl songs
All 7 Dave Grohl songs at tempo →
- Come As You Are120
- Lithium123
- In Bloom79
- Heart-Shaped Box101
- Everlong158
- Monkey Wrench174
Songs at about 117 BPM
Practise these together: one click, several songs.
- Aja117
- Late in the Evening118
- Bleed115
- Vicarious115
- Destination Unknown121
- Sussudio121