Rage Against the Machine – Killing in the Name Of

Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello is one of my all time favourite guitar players. He’s one of the few guitar players capable of being absolutely individual and wildly experimental but still able to come up with something instantly accessible (Nick Zinner of The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs is another that comes to mind).

This riff is a good example of that combination. Take away the whirls and squeaks, and it’s actually quite a convention riff. It contains many of the same note moves as Day Tripper. Both make use of moves from minor 7th to root, and from minor 3rd to major 3rd. Harmonically speaking, there aren’t any notes in this riff that aren’t in Day Tripper. It’s a great trick to take something so recognisable (formulaic even) and make it seem completely new.