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Creativity Quote by Dave Grohl

"I taught myself how to play the guitar, I taught myself how to play the drums, and I kind of fake doing both of them. But drumming comes more natural to me, and it just feels better"

About this Quote

Grohl’s genius here is how casually he punctures the rock-myth of effortless virtuosity. “I taught myself” sounds like the classic origin story, the lone kid grinding in a garage. Then he undercuts it with “I kind of fake doing both of them,” a line that turns authenticity into something closer to stagecraft. It’s not false modesty so much as a redefinition of skill: the performance is the point, and “faking” is just another word for making it work.

The subtext is deeply Grohl: competence built from obsession, not conservatory credentials. Coming out of the hardcore scene and later fronting Foo Fighters after being Nirvana’s drummer, he’s always been positioned between roles. The quote reads like a self-portrait of that in-between identity - guitarist by necessity, drummer by instinct. “Drumming comes more natural” isn’t a technical claim; it’s a bodily one. You can almost hear the difference between thinking through chords and letting rhythm take over.

Context matters: rock culture worships the multi-instrumentalist, but Grohl refuses to romanticize it. He frames his versatility as improvisation, a working-class creativity that values feel over purity. The final punch - “it just feels better” - is a quiet manifesto. Not “it’s better,” not “I’m better,” but it feels better: art as a physical truth, and the only credential that actually sticks.

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TopicMusic
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Grohl, Dave. (2026, January 15). I taught myself how to play the guitar, I taught myself how to play the drums, and I kind of fake doing both of them. But drumming comes more natural to me, and it just feels better. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-taught-myself-how-to-play-the-guitar-i-taught-150397/

Chicago Style
Grohl, Dave. "I taught myself how to play the guitar, I taught myself how to play the drums, and I kind of fake doing both of them. But drumming comes more natural to me, and it just feels better." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-taught-myself-how-to-play-the-guitar-i-taught-150397/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I taught myself how to play the guitar, I taught myself how to play the drums, and I kind of fake doing both of them. But drumming comes more natural to me, and it just feels better." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-taught-myself-how-to-play-the-guitar-i-taught-150397/. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.

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Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is a Musician from USA.

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