The 9-year-old daughter of Octavision guitarist Hovak Alaverdyan is getting lots of attention this week for playing bass over “Tom Sawyer” by Canadian rock band Rush.
A video of Ellen Alaverdyan playing along to the band’s Moving Pictures track has racked up more than 100,000 views in its first week on YouTube.
“This was a huge challenge and learning process,” reads the caption.
The youngster explains that she learned Geddy Lee’s parts after being sent the Tech 21 YYZ Geddy Lee Signature SansAmp Pedal.
Alaverdyan, who lives in Las Vegas, reportedly only started learning to play the bass guitar last August.
“Ellen was basically born into music. Almost every day I was playing my acoustic guitar for her when she was only a few months old,” recalled her musician father, in a separate video. “About a year ago, Ellen asked me if she could try one of my guitars without even knowing that it’s not a guitar, it’s a bass. I said ‘Yeah, sure, go for it.’”
So far, there has been no public reaction to Ellen's performance from Lee. (It's not clear how long the video will remain online, either, given that it uses not only the full Rush track but the band's trademarked logo.)
Watch Ellen play on “Tom Sawyer” below: