Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench - Guitar Lesson

The Colour And The Shape

1997 3:51

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About Monkey Wrench

"Monkey Wrench" opens with one of the more satisfying rhythm guitar moments of the late 1990s: a driving, palm-muted riff in B minor that locks in tight with the drums and gives the whole track its coiled, urgent feel. Foo Fighters built the arrangement around that kind of relentless rhythmic momentum, so your right hand really earns its keep here. Getting the palm muting consistent across the faster passages is the main challenge, and a lot of players rush those sections before they are truly solid. The pre-chorus and chorus open up with bigger, fuller chords that demand clean shifts from the tighter verse work, so the transitions are worth isolating. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop those chord-change moments slowed down until the movement feels automatic. The outro is a particular workout, pushing both picking stamina and left-hand accuracy at tempo, so build up gradually rather than jumping straight to full speed.

• The main riff is rooted in B minor and relies heavily on palm-muted alternate picking, making right-hand consistency the core technical demand.
• The outro section pushes picking stamina hard, so practising it in short looped segments at reduced speed is a practical way to build up.
• Tone-wise, a medium-gain crunch with a tight low end suits the rhythm guitar parts well, avoiding excessive distortion that blurs the muted attack.