Master that Riff! “Bombtrack” by Rage Against The Machine (Guitar Lesson)

Mark McGuigan is back on Guitar Pro’s blog with a new video and tablature to teach you how to play the riff “Bombtrack” by Rage Against the Machine.

In the intro to Bombtrack, you will discover the joys of palm muting where your hand must be positioned close to the bridge to mute the strings whilst taking care to avoid completely blocking the strings. Since the tempo is relatively fast, you will also need to use alternate picking. Start slowly to emphasise cleanliness then gradually accelerate tempo watching out for the string trill.

Make sure you play slowly enough to understand and memorize the subtleties of the rhythm.

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“Riff Bombtrack.gp”
(click on the image to download the Guitar Pro file)

About Rage Against The Machine

The song “Bombtrack” was released in 1992, off the self-titled debut album by Rage Against the Machine (also known as RATM or just Rage). The album cover is an authentic photo of a Buddhist monk who burned himself to death in the heart of Saigon in 1963. The monk Quang Duc (Thích Quảng Đức) sacrificed himself to protest against the anti-Buddhist repression made by the Vietnamese Prime Minister at the time. This cover reflects the state of mind of the band: Anarchic, rebellious and revolutionary. These guys use music as a vehicle for social activism. In the Bombtrack title, Zack de la Rocha expresses how the upper classes and the government oppress the people: “Landlords and power whores, on my people they took turns”.

Musically, the RATM album is more heavy rock than rap, with incisive riffs from Tom Morello and screams from Zack de la Rocha (“Freedooooooooom yeeeeeeaaaah”).