Creator Area
Sign in Creator Area

Foo Fighters - The Pretender - Guitar Tab

Practice Studio

Foo Fighters - The Pretender - Guitar Tab

Sections · Loop · Speed · Metronome

Not in tune?

SECTIONS

Select a Loop

Start of your loop
End of your loop

Speed Control

Speed
100%

Tools

BPM
Key A minor
Foo Fighters - The Pretender guitar tab video
Mr. Tabs
Mr. Tabs Top Contributor
YouTube: 1.1Msubs 729Kviews
Creator Page →
PLAY WITH BACKING TRACK
·
–50¢ 0 +50¢
· Tap to start

Your browser will ask for microphone permission.

Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace album cover
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
2007 4:29
Listen on Spotify
Foo Fighters Hard Rock 2007 A minor
Capo Advisor 0 A minor · Original key

The Pretender

"The Pretender" by Foo Fighters is the lead single from their 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. It ranks among the band's most commercially successful tracks, peaking at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100. For electric guitarists, it offers a compelling mix of clean, restrained verses that explode into high-gain, power-chord-driven choruses, making it an excellent study in dynamic contrast and modern rock rhythm guitar technique.

  • Only two Foo Fighters songs, 'Learn to Fly' and 'Best of You', outperformed 'The Pretender' on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • The song runs approximately 4 minutes and 29 seconds, giving guitarists extended time with its dramatic clean-to-heavy transitions.
  • 'The Pretender' was the first single released from Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters' seventh studio album.
Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Chris Shiflett's Telecaster Deluxe with dual humbuckers provides a brighter, more cutting lead tone than Dave Grohl's darker semi-hollows, creating essential tonal separation in Foo Fighters' layered recordings.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Chris Shiflett uses Les Paul Standards live for their thick humbucker output and sustain, matching the band's preference for guitars that push tube amps into natural saturation without pedal-based distortion.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Les Paul Custom's thick body and potent humbuckers deliver the compressed midrange and sustain essential to Foo Fighters' heavy, saturated crunch when paired with cranked Mesa/Boogie and Marshall amps.

Gibson ES-335
Guitar

Gibson ES-335

Dave Grohl's signature DG-335 semi-hollow body produces warm, chimey overdrive on cleaner parts and thick midrange on heavy sections, becoming the sonic foundation of Foo Fighters' studio and live sound.

Gibson Explorer
Guitar

Gibson Explorer

Grohl's white 1980s Explorer delivers aggressive humbucker tones and extended upper range, providing the raw power and cutting presence needed for the band's louder, more distorted passages.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The JCM800's legendary crunch and natural tube saturation perfectly complements Foo Fighters' philosophy of tone-first guitar-and-amp combinations, delivering the heavy, responsive drive heard throughout their discography.

Recommended for You

Play with Backing Track

Play with Backing Track

Solo (Backing Track)

Solo (Backing Track)