Tom Morello Says Randy Rhoads Was The Principal Influence On Him Considering The Harmonic Minor
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello opened up about how he learned the names of the scales he was using in addition to the terms in the music theory through a book named ‘The Guitar Handbook,’ in addition to revealing that he sees late guitarist Randy Rhoads as the principal influence when it comes to the harmonic minor.
As you may know, there is a term named ‘minor scale’ in music theory, which refers to three scale patterns, the natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale, rather than just one scale just like the major scale.
There is a famous book named ‘The Guitar Handbook’ in which there is a complete guide for guitar players consists of everything from simple chords to advanced improvisations in addition to a chord dictionary including terms such as ‘harmonic minor.’
During a recent interview with Guitar World, Tom Morello revealed that he did not know scales and solos have names each of their own before reading ‘The Guitar Handbook.’ Apparently, Morello figured nearly every term on his own by playing them which is the hardest way he could possibly choose.
In addition to this, Morello revealed that he looks up to the late guitarist Randy Rhoads when it comes to the harmonic minor since the way he played it has always looked and sounded appealing, according to Tom Morello.
Here is what Morello said:
“There was a brilliant book called The Guitar Handbook which really helped flesh out some music theory for me, especially in terms of knowing what to call the scales I was using.
I had figured out 86% of it on my own just from jamming so of course, I was very surprised to find out that the feel and scales of different solos actually had names.
For harmonic minor, I would say Randy Rhoads was the principal influence for me. He had one foot firmly planted in this classical minor key, almost violin-like proficiency, and another in flat-out blues jamming to the nth degree. That always appealed to me.”
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