Several years ago, Rage Against the Machine guitar star Tom Morello created his 26-video MasterClass online instructional course teaching students the riffs, rhythms and solos that made him one of the most unique and innovative axeman of the past 30 years.
You might think that the guitarist’s young son, Roman, now 13, would have jumped at the chance to bypass all that and take part in private, in-the-flesh lessons from his famous father.
Turns out, he needed a little coaxing to learn one of his favorite songs, and it involved walking away from his gaming screen for short intervals and picking out a few notes at a time. It was a slow process that ultimately led to Roman learning the entirely of a Led Zeppelin classic.
Speaking with The Australian (sorry, there’s a paywall), Morello recounts how it all transpired.
“The crazy part about it is I’m now kind of used to it,” he says. “At first, it was a thrill; he’s a little kid! He’s 13 years old, and he has a kind of moxie that I didn’t get ‘til I was in my late 20s.” (As Guitar Player has previously learned, Morello performed in a high school band with Tool’s Adam Jones, but didn’t hit his stride with the electric guitar until he was in college.)
“But now he’s just another guy in the band who I can count on," he adds, "and that’s the part that is pretty trippy."
Morello explains that Roman initially had zero interest in the vast array of guitars lying around the house. During the extended COVID doldrums, however, he was able to strike something of a bargain with his son.
“I knew that he was a fan of some classic rock, and he liked Led Zeppelin, so one day during lockdown, I said, ‘Can you take five minutes away from playing Fortnite, and I’ll teach you the first three notes of ‘Stairway to Heaven?’
"He said, ‘I’ll give you four minutes.’ So I taught him the first three notes, and the next day I said, ‘Hey, give me another four minutes. Let’s learn the next thing.’”
And so it went, little by little, bit by bit.
“He was six notes in, and on the third day he asked me if he could learn the next notes,” Morello continues. “That was really building those early successes; not biting off more than we could chew, not starting with something boring like scales or even tuning the guitar. It was just like, ‘Here’s a song you like. Let’s play that song.’”
Morello acknowledges that his son didn’t start with the easiest song in the world, but they finally got to the end.
“And then he wanted to learn the solo to that,” the famous Whammy Pedal wizard explains. “I just thought, ‘Let’s run before we walk,’ and long before he knew the names of any chords, I taught him improvisational soloing. So I’m now the rhythm guitar player in the household. I just play some chord progressions, and he shreds over it, and that’s how he got it started.”
When he’s not in school, Roman has been joining dad on tour and on stage. Back in 2023, Morello shared footage to Instagram of his son rocking out during a Rage Against the Machine soundcheck on the band’s breakthrough hit, “Killing in the Name.” Roman’s guitar of choice was the same 1982 Fender “Sendero Luminoso” Telecaster that his father used on the original recording.
Morello wrote in the caption, “Upon our Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction I’d like to say thank you to all the Rage Against the Machine fans who over the course of 30+ years have been the heart and soul of the music. One of my favourite memories is my son Roman (who became a fan on tour) rocking Killing In The Name with Tim & Brad at a soundcheck in 2022. I have such love and gratitude and appreciation for all our fans who continue to be an inspiration, generation after generation.”
Late last year, Roman again joined his father onstage – at the Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, California, and several weeks later at a Wayne Kramer tribute show at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles.
And to think, it all started with three notes.
In other news, Morello is busy organizing Black Sabbath’s star-studded reunion concert, which takes place on July 5. The guitarist recently told us how he got the group’s original lineup together for the show,
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