TOM MORELLO

Summary: The Mega Riff!

This track revolves around a massive Tom Morello style riff that is so much fun to play and learn. As always with Tom Morello, we also have some very cool techniques to learn that you won't hear any other players playing... Such as the 'helicopter sound' in this track. Ollie takes you through every bit!

FX: The Helicopter Effect & Whammy Octave

The Helicopter Effect is such a cool sound and it's all thanks to a really cool delay setting. Grab yourself a delay pedal and set it so that it has a single delay and very fast. Ollie demonstrates it very clearly, so you should be able to replicate that sound with most delay pedals. You then mute the strings, moving your fretting hand up and down the neck to suggest a change in pick whilst hitting the strings with your picking hand. As for the middle 8 (which Ollie talks about later in the video), the sound relies on a Whammy pedal, which you set to an octave down when you hit the E string notes. Fun fun!

Riff: Em Pentatonic

All the riffs in this track are based around the E minor pentatonic scale, starting in the third shape and playing downwards across the neck, which sounds really cool, and guarantees you get the chunky strings! The shapes he uses are shown below, make sure you relate the notes Ollie walks you through to the shapes below.

Chords: Chunky Chords

The chords are dotted across the track, and a special note should go to the inverted powerchords where you have the 5th in the bass, rather than the root. These are such a great tool that can massively 'beef' up your riffs. All these chords are written out below.

The Solo: Tremolo Picking

This is such a cool sounding solo, and really typically Tom Morello in style! We are fundamentally using the E minor pentatonic shape 1, first in the open position, then up to the 12th fret. Combine that with the same delay we use for the helicopter sound and the tremolo picking, and you have the sound! Here are those scale shapes for you to match up to the notes.

All done?

Congratulations

You've now completed Song Jukebox: Tom Morello and taken a huge step forwards in your guitar playing journey.

Feel free to bask in glory for a while, or go ahead and try another course if you're hungry for more.