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10 Things You Gotta Do to Play Like Tom Morello

BYMATT BLACKETT May 8, 2014

Although he claims his musical career is based on playing “the same two strings on the same two dots,”Tom Morello isn’t exactly what you’d call a one-trick pony. With his groundbreaking band Rage Against the Machine(as well as his subsequent group Audioslave) he has famously and funkily squeezed a metric ton of awesome riffsout of what might appear to be a limited batch of notes and a caveman-simple rig.

Morello was drawn into playing guitar in his native Illinois by a love of music that spanned Kiss, the Sex Pistols, LedZeppelin, the Clash, and Black Sabbath. He would later be heavily influenced by the technique of Randy Rhoads andthe hip-hop stylings of Dr. Dre. Along the way he graduated from Harvard with a degree in political science, all thewhile practicing and getting his chops together in the billion-note ’80s where it was, as he puts it, “Shred or get off thepot.” And shred he did, with his band Lock Up, which enjoyed a small level of major -label success (though, becauseof the deal they had signed, Morello and his bandmates “could not afford Top Ramen”). Compared to his subsequent6-string work with Rage, Morello’s playing in Lock Up was relatively straightforward, with heavy riffs and melodicsolos (although an early example of his trademark toggle-switch gating shtick can be heard in the tune “Can’t Stopthe Bleeding”). 

Although he had his technique down (thanks to an exhaustive practice regimen at Harvard), Morello didn’t truly findhis voice until he formed Rage in 1991. In many ways, Rage Against the Machine was the right band at the right time.Aside from being one of the originators of the hip-hop/metal hybrid that would rule the airwaves for years, Rage alsoshowed the difference between a group of great musicians and a great band . With his killer rhythm section of bassistTim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk (whom Morello had met when Wilk auditioned for Lock Up), the guy we’ve

come to know and love as the “real” Tom Morello was finally free to rear his funky head. From the get -go, Morello’splaying was a textbook of how to dish out riveting, memorable riffs that are heavy as hell. He did it all with an acutesense of dynamics and an uncanny knack for producing one amazing tone after another. In fact, when the dustkicked up by his explosive guitar parts finally settles, Morello will probably be most remembered for his tones,textures, and timbres.

With a Tele or a humbucker-equipped super-Strat plugged into a 50-watt Marshall JCM 800 and five or sostompboxes, Morello throws down an unending stream of hooks that each embody what he calls “the big rock riff”—riffs such as “Bulls on Parade,” “Killing in the Name,” “Sleep Now in the Fire,” and many others. But Morello’s otherbig contribution to the guitar lexicon has been his incredible ability to create and manipulate bizarre, otherworldly

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