Foo Fighter’s mega hit is indeed an amazing song, containing all the qualities you hope to see in your songs — catchy, heartfelt, infectious, groovy, and unique. But here we’re going to focus on the art of setup. A song is made up of many sections and one should always set up the next, so that the audience will keep listening, keep experiencing that gratification of a well-setup arrival of a new section.
- Start the vocal melody low in the range, so that the song has somewhere else to go/build up to.
- Call-and-response in the pre-chorus is led by the guitar first, setting up the responses by the voice — an unusual usage, but really attention-grabbing.
- Each section features a down/down/up structure in terms of the direction of the melody, and that final up serves as the setup for the next section. This creates a sweet, satisfying sense of resolution when the next section finally arrives.
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Thanks for noticing our music. This was a great analysis of the Foo Fighters classic. Well articulated and easy to understand. The good part…..I learned something! Thanks. Martin Payne. Drummer and song writer for Bold Kelly.
You’re welcome Martin, and thanks for the comment. Keep in touch!