Kim Deal has talked about how a lot of modern bassists have trouble with her tracks, because they couldn't bring themselves to do something simple, over and over again, 'just' because it sounds really good.
Have you seen the movie from Anaïs Prosaïc called "The Lost String"? A full movie about Marc Ribot, worth the watch. www.lahuit.com/en/content/marc-ribot-lost-string
A Marc Ribot video by Eric? Always makes my day! PS: Tom does love his secondary dominants for "turnarounds" - one song that immediately comes to mind is Temptation
@@EricHaugenGuitar Yeah do temptation! Hope that video will be as great as this one. I also really enjoy keeping the tab for this song at hand while practising. The way how you talk about Marc is really funny btw, like how you call him sneaky and catching him with "what he's doing" haha, fits the mysterious vibe of this song.
When I was a young 13 year old (the year this album came out) guitar player I fell in love with Real Gone because of the overall tone of this album. Years later I stumbled upon Marc Ribot music and had an a-ha moment understanding why I love that album.
Terrific lesson. Not only is this one of my favorite songs but I also learned a lot about how to use little bits of each chord shape and attack them in different ways. It clicked for me in the chorus when I saw how easily and subtly you can move between the Am, Dm and E7. Thanks!
Hoist that Rag has always been, not only my favorite Ribot guitar track, but my favorite Tom Waits song. It is a masterclass in guitar melody and groove. As you mentioned, how tight he stays within the progression is insane. Put your guitars down is correct man. I wish you lived close to me or, at least, I wish I knew you. We have very similar taste in music and guitar players. Cheers man, I absolutely love your channel.
I keep coming back to this lesson. I think playing just the triads instead of the full chords is genius. The whole music theory rabbit hole opened here when I realized the chord only needs those three at a time. And I feel like switching between chords like that is just really clever, and has better voice leading.
Here’s one I’ve been waiting for! I taught myself it badly in the wrong position on the A, D, G strings. And you are right about the classical training; his teacher was Haitian guitarist Frantz Casseus, who blended classical with Haitian folk music. :)
Hey you might be right! It very well could be up at the 9th position - I haven't had the chance to actually watch Marc play it up close, so I can't be sure :-)
I don't listen to a lot of Tom Waits, but I've listened to this song hundreds of times. Something about that solo is addictive and sounds deceptively simple (since it does stay within just a few chords and isn't particularly fast) but of course the magic of it is just how complex and thoughtful it really is. Great lesson, look forward to attempting it!
This is my third or fourth time watching this video, today I’m actually going to sit with my guitar and learn this. Thanks for doing what you do. You have amazing taste in tone and music in general. Cheers!
Hey man! I just wanted to pop by and say that your RUclips channel has been a huuuuuge help to me. I'm a songwriter (owing a big debt to Nick Cave and Tom Waits), and I've been teaching myself guitar so I can write my own guitar parts. Your videos cover a bunch of my favourite guitarists, and you've really helped me develop an understanding of how they write
Yes! The dark lords! Let's not forget Leonard Cohen too - I don't know where I'd be without their contemplative & gloomy poetry. They got me through high school!
Eric Haugen Johnny Cash can come too. As an aside, do you do session work? I’m low-key hunting for the right personnel to help with some recording next year, and your style is kinda perfect.
Sweet....baby......JESUS! Man, you nailed it. Seeing this has brightened up my Friday. I can’t wait to get home and tackle this beast. Have a great weekend buddy. Thanks!
Eric Haugen I’ve got the serpentine run down note wise. I’m struggling with the feel of the busy syncopated bits. It’s not all it my brain yet so I haven’t got the confidence to attack it like you do so it sounds disjointed and weak. I’ll get it in the end it’s just going to take awhile. The Ribot lessons you do are first class. I love the Ribot style ones you compose yourself they are so dark and nasty. I feel I’m going to need to purchase your tab for this one. Thanks for this one brother! 👍
Man, it’s really interesting to analyze stuff that Ribot plays cos it almost always feels like he doesn’t think like this at all. It seems like, just like you said it, he’s just messing around. Always rhythmically great and to me it seems that if he finds something like the F E in the “riff” he keeps hitting it. Am? F E! Dm? F E! E7?? F E! This song in specials is closer to the Cubanos Postizos stuff. Congratulations, mister profesor, you always get it.
The sloppy nature and the raggedness of his playing on seemingly all of his work with Tom Waits is more a result of the limitations Tom placed on recording / tracking. You were never gonna get more than two cuts with Tom. He didn’t want it clean and pristine - he wanted that dirge and grit. There is an excellent book by the venerable Sylvia Massy “Recording Unhinged” that has an invaluable nugget of insight into Tom’s “direction” if you want to call it that, to his players. Joe Gore who recorded the Goin Out West guitar track in 1 cut on the fly upon his first meeting with Tom - said this is what Tom told him (something to this effect / paraphrasing not word for word): “Hey man I really dig what you’re doin there and what you’re goin for but something’s still off - it’s like what you’re doing there is sitting outside the car splattered across the windshield.. and inside the car ya got ma and pop and kids all hollering and singing flyin down the road and you’re splattered across the windshield.. and we need to get ya in the back seat with brother sister ma and pop one big happy family singin down the highway” He would get it down in two cuts - the vibrato cut and the distorted riff part cut back and forth in the mix So Marc, who is a Muso player that knows his shit- trying to nail the solo on Hoist that Flag was never gonna be anything but sloppy in one or two cuts
I'm still working on Jolene, but this was beautiful. The repetition on itself is lovely, the pattern, but when you have a window to leave it and put something that doesn't follow the pattern, the song comes alive all the more ( @0:49 ). Lovely, as always!
Thanks Trevor! This one took 4 EVA took figure out! Mainly where the repetitions are, and then where the diversions are - very clever maneuvers indeed!
Super content, Eric. I recently listened to an interview with Marc - apparently he didn't know he was supposed to soloing! Part of why his part goes on for so long...
Oh wow, that was fascinating, creative, musical, unusual .. pure genius !! Definitely going to 'try' and wrap my little brain around this one. Thanks my friend.
I'm a little late to the party on this one, but AN ENTIRE SECTION OF MARC RIBOT LESSONS??!!! I was looking for this sort a while back and didn't have of luck. I'm blown away that you did not just one, but over 20. I was already digging the music theory lessons but you my friend have achieved GOAT status this time. (Could I sound more hyperbolic?) Just VERY excited to sit with these and absorb the wisdom.
Please do a cover of this in all your own way and in all of Marc’s own way. All of your own ways. Go ham. Fall up those stairs friend we wanna see/ hear it!!
So well done! Thank you. I read somewhere that this 'solo' was actually not designed as a solo, but that it was just an 'ordinary' background rhythm part that Tom later cut out and put up front during the mixing process... No scientific proof for the statement, but if this 'solo' is indeed Ribot only casually doodling around in the background, you only realize what a mighty guitarist he is. If you have any idea how he plays that burning solo in 'Underground' on Big Time, I will be eternally grateful (again). Best!
Yeah that makes sense! It sounds so off the cuff and free - I could totally see madman Tom splicing it together after Ribot went home for the day! And good idea about the Underground solo - that’s a burner!
@@EricHaugenGuitarTo proceed with the fire metaphor. Apparently Tom asks his musicians to play 'like their hair is on fire'. When an interviewer once asked him whether that is also what he advises Ribot to do, Tom answered: 'Marc's hair is always on fire.' A good thing it is. Aside from that, I liked how you ended the lesson on 'Hoist that rag" with 'No problem'. Very funny. You got plenty of fire in your hair as well.
@@EricHaugenGuitar I don't know a great deal about him, I have just always loved this song. Nice to see some of the thought and musicianship behind it. BTW love your tone.
Thanks Robert! I've been playing around with a 2-camera lesson portion. I like it - so when I want to discuss some overarching principle not directly attached to the fretboard, you can see my face now :-)
@@EricHaugenGuitar ahh, that works - I actually didn't notice that but now that you mention it at 4:27 I catch the dissolve working the seamless magic!
Ahhh! Man you a pimp! Def one of my top 10 solos! And I've been sloooowly getting my way to the ribot game for years now! Lol Thank you for hipping us to the game! Been hoping someone would do this for years
Excellent video. Excellent course work, and excellent performance. Absolutely solid. The busy notes borrow from classical music, with ornaments being a solid part of the genre. I was going through some Bach and Liszt sheet music yesterday, that I cannot and will never play, and it is striking how much is implied ornamentation. There are still arguments about the correct one, three, or five first notes of Tocatta and Fugue in Dm. In trad music, which this solo is based on, the ornaments are quite Spanish. There is an insane, wonderful, soulful tradition specifically of highly ornamented guitar music. I know you know that part, I just mention it due to completeness. 🙃 A fascinating look at ornamentation, in some ways similar to this solo, is to look at crabs and rolls in gaelic music. Spanish classical guitar music is highly influenced by gaelic structures, which were then passed to english, scottish, welsh, and irish music. If you pick up a copy of Goes then listen to the Chieftains take on the same tune, it is astounding the lack of information from the sheet music. Matt Malloy on Boil the Breakfast Early is a wonderful intro. Awesome record, and it should sit next to Waits, Dark Side of the Moon, Peppers, and all of the greats. In summary, excellent excellent work. I can get nerdy about stuff, and it is with the utmost respect. Love your choice of guitar and amps, I am a fender man myself. Tele all the way :D. Cheers my friend!
Thanks Eric, I have just been enjoying a bit of Fat Man Blues and Songs of Resistance. Thanks for leading me there. In this song I love the B7 to E change.
I love that song, I have been heavily influenced in my own playing by guitarists like Blixa bargeld, Marc Ribot, Robert Fripp's Bowie sessions, a lot of discordant and awesome guitar playing!
those ribot videos are just brilliant Eric. Your whole channel really. This rhythm guitar part intrigues me in terms of rhythm. are we dealing with a 2/2 beat? cheers from Montreal
Anyone can read and write well, but still not pen a masterpiece. No amount of practice imbues the guitarist with the ability to write licks that sophisticated. Either you got it or you ain’t! Ribot’s a rare talent.
Oh yeah! Marc's one of those guys you can recognize his personality immediately - a very rare thing on guitar! You can work and work and work to sound "unique." But true originality can't be contrived - it just sorta happens! I hope I get there one day!
Sounds like a fun night! Generally I steer folks away from Mustangs or Jaguars if you're a full-size human. I'm 5 foot 7, so the short-scale doesn't bother me too much. But I will say, the fretboard gets crowded past the 10th fret.
Eric Haugen yes, ever since I saw Blixa Bargeld play one of them in Berlin I've covetted a Jazzmaster. Ah Blixa, now there's a man who knows a thing or two about killer tone
It's my pleasure! This one really sheds some light on Marc's thinking process - how he sees the chords, and uses rhythm to drive the whole thing - so smart!
This great video has been up for a while and has a lot of comments, so someone may have mentioned this already. If that is the case, please bear with me (or simply ignore me) as I go on a nerdy (and lengthy) rant. Basically, this is my educated guess as to what might have been going through Ribot's head when sculpting this solo (and the rhythm parts of the song, for that matter). In essence, he seems to have been thinking about Cuban music and a stringed instrument called the tres. Ribot's guitar voicings on this track seem to rely heavily on the work of Cuban musician Arsenio Rodríguez, and I would be willing to bet that Ribot specifically wanted to emulate the role played by Rodríguez' main instrument, the Cuban tres. The Rodríguez influence should come as no surprise as Ribot has been know to play and record quite a lot of his stuff with Los Cubanos Postizos. As Eric Haugen says, 'the whole song just about takes place on these three strings' (denoting the d, g and b strings) and although the tres has six strings, they're tuned in three courses (i.e. sets of two strings tuned in unison or an octave apart, usually G-g-c-c-e-e). This means that the intervals between the strings of the tres are the same as between the d, g and b strings on a guitar. Additionally, when the guitar is fretted on the 5th fret (the main position of this song, as pointed out in the video), the notes are the same as the open strings of the tres. Now, the courses on the tres are spaced rather far apart because the role of the instrument isn't really to play chords where two or more strings are struck at the same time, but rather to play (partial) chord arpeggios and lead notes. This same technique is employed by Ribot in his approach to both the rhythm and solo work on this track. As is shown so brilliantly in the video, about 90% of both the solo and the rhythm parts (not counting the occasional blues excursions) are made up of chord arpeggios, the remaining 10 % being mainly G-sharps leading up to the A, Fs leading down to the E or something like that. Without being an expert on Cuban music, this seems to be a prototypical feature of the musical landscape which Rodríguez and many other Cuban acts inhabit, and it seems particularly typical of the role played by the tres -- even down to the string intervals and, consequently, the chord shapes. Ribot would have an intimate knowledge of these things given his affection for Rodríguez' music, and the whole thing is probably just Ribot doing what he does best: Borrowing and re-appropriating elements from other musicians, especially ones that usually fly below the radar of the mainstream. This is an art-form rather than a crime and every worthwhile musician does it (albeit rarely as elegantly as Ribot). In short: His work on 'Hoist That Rag' emulates the playing of Arsenio Rodríguez in more or less the same way that much of his other work with Tom Waits emulates the jagged staccato playing that Fred Tackett contributed to 'Swordfishtrombones'.
This is ace!.... the perfect song to attack after a month away from my guitar.... coincidently was watching a doco on my flight home that had a cameo from Marc.... 'Carmine Street Guitars'....good watchins
Brilliant - thank you! Your beautiful Mustang, reverb, and repetition remind me of early West African electric guitar sounds, eg Bembeya Jazz National around the 60s/70s. Separately, any chance of taking a look at The Day After Tomorrow?
Eric, thank you so much for doing this, it is probably my favorite guitar solo full stop. I had worked through the beginning myself but lost the plot along the way. I always heard those notes you are doing by hammering up from the harmonic minor as a slide. Do you hear that at all? Maybe he does both?
Great lesson. Most players under appreciate the value of repetition.
True! It's amazing how much Marc can get out of one cool syncopated idea!
Kim Deal has talked about how a lot of modern bassists have trouble with her tracks, because they couldn't bring themselves to do something simple, over and over again, 'just' because it sounds really good.
Free Bird.
This video is a true YT gem.
Marc Ribot is my absolute fav. Always a thrill when you decide to work on his stuff.
Truly a prolific and unpredictable collaborative genius!
He's done so much stuff, and it's all different, and yet you can still hear his "Marc!"
Have you seen the movie from Anaïs Prosaïc called "The Lost String"? A full movie about Marc Ribot, worth the watch.
www.lahuit.com/en/content/marc-ribot-lost-string
I have - and I love it!
Sure thing.
Ribot has been my hero since I was 15!
Me too! Ever since I heard 'Rain Dogs,' and then saw 'Big Time.' He and Tom are the reason I kinda got into Jazz!
A Marc Ribot video by Eric? Always makes my day!
PS: Tom does love his secondary dominants for "turnarounds" - one song that immediately comes to mind is Temptation
Oh yeah that one's on my list!
@@EricHaugenGuitar What key are the roosters crowing in on Temptation?
@@EricHaugenGuitar Yeah do temptation! Hope that video will be as great as this one. I also really enjoy keeping the tab for this song at hand while practising. The way how you talk about Marc is really funny btw, like how you call him sneaky and catching him with "what he's doing" haha, fits the mysterious vibe of this song.
When I was a young 13 year old (the year this album came out) guitar player I fell in love with Real Gone because of the overall tone of this album. Years later I stumbled upon Marc Ribot music and had an a-ha moment understanding why I love that album.
Yeah! He's truly a unique and multi-talented artist!
His sound is his own, and yet he can adapt to a wide variety of situations!
Habe a listen to Ribot with John Zorn's Masada project 👍
Terrific lesson. Not only is this one of my favorite songs but I also learned a lot about how to use little bits of each chord shape and attack them in different ways. It clicked for me in the chorus when I saw how easily and subtly you can move between the Am, Dm and E7. Thanks!
Just dropped into say: The tab/standard notation for this one is great. Thank you for your efforts and work. (:
Thanks man!
This guitar solo is living rent free in my head since 2006
Hoist that Rag has always been, not only my favorite Ribot guitar track, but my favorite Tom Waits song. It is a masterclass in guitar melody and groove. As you mentioned, how tight he stays within the progression is insane. Put your guitars down is correct man. I wish you lived close to me or, at least, I wish I knew you. We have very similar taste in music and guitar players. Cheers man, I absolutely love your channel.
Thanks Stuart!
Yeah, the Waits/Brennan/Ribot combo has yielded some of the most special music in the world! At least to me, and folks like me :-)
All time greatest guitar solo, thanks for the lesson
I keep coming back to this lesson. I think playing just the triads instead of the full chords is genius. The whole music theory rabbit hole opened here when I realized the chord only needs those three at a time. And I feel like switching between chords like that is just really clever, and has better voice leading.
Yeah!
We can move so much easier when the chord chunks are smaller!
Here’s one I’ve been waiting for! I taught myself it badly in the wrong position on the A, D, G strings. And you are right about the classical training; his teacher was Haitian guitarist Frantz Casseus, who blended classical with Haitian folk music. :)
Hey you might be right! It very well could be up at the 9th position - I haven't had the chance to actually watch Marc play it up close, so I can't be sure :-)
I don't listen to a lot of Tom Waits, but I've listened to this song hundreds of times. Something about that solo is addictive and sounds deceptively simple (since it does stay within just a few chords and isn't particularly fast) but of course the magic of it is just how complex and thoughtful it really is. Great lesson, look forward to attempting it!
The long awaited Hoist that Rag
Yeah! It took some time to meticulously sort out the patterns - where the repeats are, and where it deviates!
@@EricHaugenGuitar well you made a lot of folks happy :)
This is my third or fourth time watching this video, today I’m actually going to sit with my guitar and learn this. Thanks for doing what you do. You have amazing taste in tone and music in general. Cheers!
My favorite Ribot solo. Thanks for breaking this down!
Yeah! This one's up there for sure - he's got so many killer tracks!
Hey man! I just wanted to pop by and say that your RUclips channel has been a huuuuuge help to me.
I'm a songwriter (owing a big debt to Nick Cave and Tom Waits), and I've been teaching myself guitar so I can write my own guitar parts. Your videos cover a bunch of my favourite guitarists, and you've really helped me develop an understanding of how they write
Yes! The dark lords! Let's not forget Leonard Cohen too - I don't know where I'd be without their contemplative & gloomy poetry. They got me through high school!
Eric Haugen Johnny Cash can come too.
As an aside, do you do session work? I’m low-key hunting for the right personnel to help with some recording next year, and your style is kinda perfect.
I've been wanting to learn this so for sooo long. Thanks!
It's my pleasure James!
This one took a while to figure out - the rolling syncopation, and then the branches off are tricky!
Always one of my favorite guitar solos - great choice !
Thanks!
Yeah - this is a great one by Marc - one of so very many!
Sweet....baby......JESUS! Man, you nailed it. Seeing this has brightened up my Friday. I can’t wait to get home and tackle this beast. Have a great weekend buddy. Thanks!
You'd be surprised how quickly it comes together!
Except for that serpentine run near the end - it's simply a couple of clever shapes!
Eric Haugen I’ve got the serpentine run down note wise. I’m struggling with the feel of the busy syncopated bits. It’s not all it my brain yet so I haven’t got the confidence to attack it like you do so it sounds disjointed and weak. I’ll get it in the end it’s just going to take awhile. The Ribot lessons you do are first class. I love the Ribot style ones you compose yourself they are so dark and nasty. I feel I’m going to need to purchase your tab for this one. Thanks for this one brother! 👍
I purchased your tab. Now I know where I am! It’s so easy to get lost in this one!
Thanks for this! I don’t play guitar or a musical instrument but I love Tom Waits’ music and this song. The melody is beautiful….
I subscribed as soon as you started talking very good choice for a song to explain it's been bugging me for a while
yay!
Welcome to my chill and informative guitar hang zone!
Unbelievably cool video, Eric. So glad you do what you do. Bravo!
Hey big thanks Nate!
I love how Marc sticks to the changes in those one, without making it sound like an arpeggio exercise!
WOW, cant believe you did this! and absolutely the right song to go into depth with! I love you Eric
Yeah - there's so much going on in that solo/pattern - really great food for thought!
Another masterful piece. Week after week I'm amazed at your brilliant and skillful play. This so reminds me of a number of Carlos Santana tracks.
Thanks man!
Yeah, this one definitely has that Latin/Harmonic Minor feel to it. I love early Santana - so soulful, creative, and perfectly phrased.
Man, it’s really interesting to analyze stuff that Ribot plays cos it almost always feels like he doesn’t think like this at all. It seems like, just like you said it, he’s just messing around. Always rhythmically great and to me it seems that if he finds something like the F E in the “riff” he keeps hitting it. Am? F E! Dm? F E! E7?? F E! This song in specials is closer to the Cubanos Postizos stuff. Congratulations, mister profesor, you always get it.
I agree with your analysis - once he found that little F-E drop, he must've then just attached the other parts of the chord structures. Smart guy!
@@EricHaugenGuitar This is honestly one of my favourite videos un RUclips. Ofcoure I am a big Waits, Ribot fan. Thank you.
Thanks a lot! Started a Waits trio about a year ago, and you've been extreeemly helpful!!! 😁😁😁
Cool!
Minor scales and flat 5s - that's the key to the Ribot thing!
And don't forget the occasional harmonic minor 😉. I also ended up singing for the first time ever, so my work is cut out for me 😉
Great video dude. Marc Ribot is a master of the fretboard, I love the performances he did with John Zorn, simply outstanding!
Oh yeah that stuff is intense!
He's done so much session work - he shows up everywhere, and yet always sounds like himself!
Thank you so much for making this! This is such a unique song.
Yeah! I always love the Ribot/Waits collabs - those two are magic together!
Ribot's heavy handed, even "sloppy" attack starts to make sense when you (I) learn that he is a lefty that was trained to play as a righty.
Yeah! I saw that in a Ribot doc and in some interviews - really shows how what we think of as "limitations" can actually be opportunities!
I'm gonna tell people that's why I suck!
The sloppy nature and the raggedness of his playing on seemingly all of his work with Tom Waits is more a result of the limitations Tom placed on recording / tracking.
You were never gonna get more than two cuts with Tom. He didn’t want it clean and pristine - he wanted that dirge and grit.
There is an excellent book by the venerable Sylvia Massy “Recording Unhinged” that has an invaluable nugget of insight into Tom’s “direction” if you want to call it that, to his players.
Joe Gore who recorded the Goin Out West guitar track in 1 cut on the fly upon his first meeting with Tom - said this is what Tom told him (something to this effect / paraphrasing not word for word):
“Hey man I really dig what you’re doin there and what you’re goin for but something’s still off - it’s like what you’re doing there is sitting outside the car splattered across the windshield.. and inside the car ya got ma and pop and kids all hollering and singing flyin down the road and you’re splattered across the windshield.. and we need to get ya in the back seat with brother sister ma and pop one big happy family singin down the highway”
He would get it down in two cuts - the vibrato cut and the distorted riff part cut back and forth in the mix
So Marc, who is a Muso player that knows his shit- trying to nail the solo on Hoist that Flag was never gonna be anything but sloppy in one or two cuts
I waited so long for this.Amazing job, really beautiful.
My pleasure Marc!
I LOVE the ALF profile avatar btw :-)
@@EricHaugenGuitar Hahaha, i don't even remember when i put it there. Cheers from Spain, awesome work.
I'm still working on Jolene, but this was beautiful. The repetition on itself is lovely, the pattern, but when you have a window to leave it and put something that doesn't follow the pattern, the song comes alive all the more ( @0:49 ). Lovely, as always!
Oh yeah that business from :49 on is killer! That one run alone is worth it!
wow... one of my favorite solos in all of the guitar universe
Yeah! It's up there for me too!
Need more Marc Ribot stuff from you!
Noted!
Finally! Been waiting for this one. Excellent as always Eric.
Thanks Trevor!
This one took 4 EVA took figure out! Mainly where the repetitions are, and then where the diversions are - very clever maneuvers indeed!
Super content, Eric. I recently listened to an interview with Marc - apparently he didn't know he was supposed to soloing! Part of why his part goes on for so long...
Yeah! Someone else told me that - he was just riffin' and BOOM that's the take!
Oh wow, that was fascinating, creative, musical, unusual .. pure genius !! Definitely going to 'try' and wrap my little brain around this one. Thanks my friend.
Good luck! And extra thanks for helping me out on patreon!
Your tone is always so nice.
Thanks Rory!
Some overdrive, a ribbon mic, and reverb - that's my thing in a nutshell :-)
Thank you so much Eric!!! I´ve been loving this solo since i discovered this song but never hear what Tom is playing. Now it is all clear.
Yeah! It’s a really inspired solo! Very smart, musical, and artistic!
Eric Haugen created another gem... much appreciated
It's my pleasure!
This one is so great to work on - such good ideas in here!
I'm so excited for this. I love this solo.
Yeah! It's a great one, to be sure! And not too tough to work on, until the 2nd half :-)
Wow - what a great video! Love your sound and the explanations - thank you 👍
you killed it man! and in my humble opinion one of the marc ribot best solos.
Thanks!
Yeah, this one is up there for me too - that's why I just had to take it apart!
Superb! One of my favourite solos. Off to your site...
Thanks man! Much appreciated!
Such a great solo from such a great song. You really nailed it! Enjoyed watching you play this Ribot gem and breaking it down for us.
Thanks for the video! At one time I had this song on repeat in my car. compact disc style
I'm a little late to the party on this one, but AN ENTIRE SECTION OF MARC RIBOT LESSONS??!!! I was looking for this sort a while back and didn't have of luck. I'm blown away that you did not just one, but over 20. I was already digging the music theory lessons but you my friend have achieved GOAT status this time. (Could I sound more hyperbolic?) Just VERY excited to sit with these and absorb the wisdom.
Thanks Jason!
Dave Rawlings, Marc Ribot, Hendrix, Knopfler, Harrison - those are my guys!
Please do a cover of this in all your own way and in all of Marc’s own way. All of your own ways. Go ham. Fall up those stairs friend we wanna see/ hear it!!
I have spent a long time trying to suss this one out. Thank you!
It’s my pleasure! It’s such a clever little loop of a solo!
So well done! Thank you. I read somewhere that this 'solo' was actually not designed as a solo, but that it was just an 'ordinary' background rhythm part that Tom later cut out and put up front during the mixing process... No scientific proof for the statement, but if this 'solo' is indeed Ribot only casually doodling around in the background, you only realize what a mighty guitarist he is. If you have any idea how he plays that burning solo in 'Underground' on Big Time, I will be eternally grateful (again). Best!
Yeah that makes sense! It sounds so off the cuff and free - I could totally see madman Tom splicing it together after Ribot went home for the day!
And good idea about the Underground solo - that’s a burner!
@@EricHaugenGuitarTo proceed with the fire metaphor. Apparently Tom asks his musicians to play 'like their hair is on fire'. When an interviewer once asked him whether that is also what he advises Ribot to do, Tom answered: 'Marc's hair is always on fire.' A good thing it is. Aside from that, I liked how you ended the lesson on 'Hoist that rag" with 'No problem'. Very funny. You got plenty of fire in your hair as well.
Inversions and partial chords are a wonderful thing. 🙇🏻
Finding this a year and a half after it was posted, great stuff!
Ribot eternally fascinates us all :-)
@@EricHaugenGuitar I don't know a great deal about him, I have just always loved this song. Nice to see some of the thought and musicianship behind it. BTW love your tone.
Nice one Eric. I appreciate this lesson (incl. both discussion and demonstration).
Thanks Robert!
I've been playing around with a 2-camera lesson portion. I like it - so when I want to discuss some overarching principle not directly attached to the fretboard, you can see my face now :-)
@@EricHaugenGuitar ahh, that works - I actually didn't notice that but now that you mention it at 4:27 I catch the dissolve working the seamless magic!
@@robertbodle2354 Perfect! The best adjustments are the ones no one notices, but make for a slightly more engaging video!
You’re great, and Ribot has been a hero of mine too but no one was talking much about him. Thanks 👍
Mine too! Ever since I was a teenager and heard 'Rain Dogs' I've been super-into everthing he does!
Yes! Raindogs did it for me too 🤘🏻
Yeah, from then on I was hooked!
Dude. always incredible lessons! Thank you!
My pleasure Scott! Thanks so much!
Absolutely fantastic. Thank you.
It's my pleasure Ian! There's some great ideas in this one!
Yes! Big thanks for this one. Great work.
You know it! This was a fun one to work on - so serpentine, so syncopated!
I really like your choice of Tom Wait songs........great songs and great playing ..
Thanks man!
There's so many great ones to choose from!
A very clever lesson for a very clever guitar solo by a very clever guitarist. Thanx a lot, this is gold !
Yeah! Marc is such a brilliant improviser and composer! The musicality in everything he does is 🙌🏻🙌🏻
One of my favorite ribot solos.
Oh yeah totally! And that's saying something - he's created so many great solos!
Oh nice! I adore that album so much, thanks for posting this : )
Yeah! It's a killer record - I always love when Waits and Ribot get together :-)
That's fucking amazing
Thanks buddy!
This is a great solo to work on - so creative, and so intense!
Fantastic work Eric, thank you
Ahhh! Man you a pimp!
Def one of my top 10 solos!
And I've been sloooowly getting my way to the ribot game for years now! Lol Thank you for hipping us to the game!
Been hoping someone would do this for years
Thanks Sammy!
Ribot’s got so much cool stuff to explore - that man is an enigma!
1) I love that guitar, bruh! 2) Nice analysis of Marc's brilliant work!
Thanks man!
I'm always messing around with the Waits/Ribot collabs - such killer stuff!
Excellent video. Excellent course work, and excellent performance. Absolutely solid.
The busy notes borrow from classical music, with ornaments being a solid part of the genre. I was going through some Bach and Liszt sheet music yesterday, that I cannot and will never play, and it is striking how much is implied ornamentation. There are still arguments about the correct one, three, or five first notes of Tocatta and Fugue in Dm.
In trad music, which this solo is based on, the ornaments are quite Spanish. There is an insane, wonderful, soulful tradition specifically of highly ornamented guitar music. I know you know that part, I just mention it due to completeness. 🙃
A fascinating look at ornamentation, in some ways similar to this solo, is to look at crabs and rolls in gaelic music. Spanish classical guitar music is highly influenced by gaelic structures, which were then passed to english, scottish, welsh, and irish music. If you pick up a copy of Goes then listen to the Chieftains take on the same tune, it is astounding the lack of information from the sheet music. Matt Malloy on Boil the Breakfast Early is a wonderful intro. Awesome record, and it should sit next to Waits, Dark Side of the Moon, Peppers, and all of the greats.
In summary, excellent excellent work. I can get nerdy about stuff, and it is with the utmost respect. Love your choice of guitar and amps, I am a fender man myself. Tele all the way :D. Cheers my friend!
Excellent info Jeremy! I know fuck-all about Gaelic stuff - now I'm gonna go check out Matt Malloy!
@@EricHaugenGuitar I can highly recommend ruclips.net/p/OLAK5uy_kPYKMz_py8JKcdfXsMXPVbgtlkmYsRwCA. Titan of the style.
you killed it man, bravo!
Thanks Olcay!
Marc is such an artist - working out his stuff always yields new insights!
Another great video! This is maybe my favourite Tom Waits tune as well - top 5 at least.
Thanks Justan!
Yeah - this one is up there for me as well. Definitely top ten Tom!
Thank you for showcasing. Waits is a genius, as you demonstrte.
Thanks Eric, I have just been enjoying a bit of Fat Man Blues and Songs of Resistance. Thanks for leading me there. In this song I love the B7 to E change.
Oh yeah, I devour any new Ribot I can! There's some great collabs on that record!
Every new vid of your channel is like christmas :D
Aw shucks thanks so much man!
Does that make me Santa? 🎅 or maybe just a helpful elf!
@@EricHaugenGuitar 😂 i dont know....a helpful elf maybe...you 'll need a bigger belly to step into santas boots😂
I love that song, I have been heavily influenced in my own playing by guitarists like Blixa bargeld, Marc Ribot, Robert Fripp's Bowie sessions, a lot of discordant and awesome guitar playing!
WOW! I waited so much to see “Hoist that Rag” solo explained by you! Thank you Eric, now I know what to study during this lazy August!
Yeah! It's too hot to do anything outside - best to stay inside and work on some Ribot :-)
those ribot videos are just brilliant Eric. Your whole channel really.
This rhythm guitar part intrigues me in terms of rhythm. are we dealing with a 2/2 beat?
cheers from Montreal
I know there's some cuban music experts in the comments thread that know more about it!
I still count it as 4/4 but I dunno!
You should have at least 500 extra plays just from me. Thanks man. You rock
Ha! Thanks so much, Virgil!
U are the Man,thank you universe of the collective conscious for putting this out there...hoist that rag!!!
It's my pleasure Haden!
...now I wonder, what Ribot will the universe have me transcribe next?
Great playing dude.
Thanks man!
Hell yeah! Thank you so much!
It's my pleasure Anthony!
This was a really interesting one to get in there and take a closer look at!
Probably one of my favorite bits from Marc. Brilliant lesson, any hope for seeing the solo from “shake it” off the same album?
oooh good idea! That one's killer as well.
Next up, I'm Ribot-izing "New Coat of Paint," but maybe after that!
GREAT JOB!
Thanks man!
Anyone can read and write well, but still not pen a masterpiece. No amount of practice imbues the guitarist with the ability to write licks that sophisticated. Either you got it or you ain’t! Ribot’s a rare talent.
Oh yeah! Marc's one of those guys you can recognize his personality immediately - a very rare thing on guitar!
You can work and work and work to sound "unique." But true originality can't be contrived - it just sorta happens! I hope I get there one day!
Beautifully detailed analysis of something Ribot probably composed in the shower ! Hats off to you both.
Apparently the story is Marc was just messing around with rhythm ideas for the song and Tom said: "THAT! Do exactly that! "
Awesome video. Thank you so much for sharing. How difficult was this tune to play?
I bought the tab for this one Eric. Great great work. I've also had enough Jameson that I might rashly purchase a Mustang :)
Sounds like a fun night!
Generally I steer folks away from Mustangs or Jaguars if you're a full-size human. I'm 5 foot 7, so the short-scale doesn't bother me too much. But I will say, the fretboard gets crowded past the 10th fret.
Eric Haugen fair enough. I'm 6foot3 so it may be a problem!
Aha! Perhaps a Jazzmaster is the right offset for you!
Eric Haugen yes, ever since I saw Blixa Bargeld play one of them in Berlin I've covetted a Jazzmaster. Ah Blixa, now there's a man who knows a thing or two about killer tone
Oh man! (A sneaky little one at that) thank you for this Eric.
Ha! Thanks Tiago!
Vive Le Marc!
YES! THANK YOU!!
The dude abides!
Thank you!! 😄
It's my pleasure! This one really sheds some light on Marc's thinking process - how he sees the chords, and uses rhythm to drive the whole thing - so smart!
Hi Eric my friend. Nice Post Thanks for sharing this. ……Kjell 🎸 👍
rock on, Kjell!
This great video has been up for a while and has a lot of comments, so someone may have mentioned this already. If that is the case, please bear with me (or simply ignore me) as I go on a nerdy (and lengthy) rant. Basically, this is my educated guess as to what might have been going through Ribot's head when sculpting this solo (and the rhythm parts of the song, for that matter).
In essence, he seems to have been thinking about Cuban music and a stringed instrument called the tres. Ribot's guitar voicings on this track seem to rely heavily on the work of Cuban musician Arsenio Rodríguez, and I would be willing to bet that Ribot specifically wanted to emulate the role played by Rodríguez' main instrument, the Cuban tres. The Rodríguez influence should come as no surprise as Ribot has been know to play and record quite a lot of his stuff with Los Cubanos Postizos.
As Eric Haugen says, 'the whole song just about takes place on these three strings' (denoting the d, g and b strings) and although the tres has six strings, they're tuned in three courses (i.e. sets of two strings tuned in unison or an octave apart, usually G-g-c-c-e-e). This means that the intervals between the strings of the tres are the same as between the d, g and b strings on a guitar. Additionally, when the guitar is fretted on the 5th fret (the main position of this song, as pointed out in the video), the notes are the same as the open strings of the tres.
Now, the courses on the tres are spaced rather far apart because the role of the instrument isn't really to play chords where two or more strings are struck at the same time, but rather to play (partial) chord arpeggios and lead notes. This same technique is employed by Ribot in his approach to both the rhythm and solo work on this track. As is shown so brilliantly in the video, about 90% of both the solo and the rhythm parts (not counting the occasional blues excursions) are made up of chord arpeggios, the remaining 10 % being mainly G-sharps leading up to the A, Fs leading down to the E or something like that.
Without being an expert on Cuban music, this seems to be a prototypical feature of the musical landscape which Rodríguez and many other Cuban acts inhabit, and it seems particularly typical of the role played by the tres -- even down to the string intervals and, consequently, the chord shapes. Ribot would have an intimate knowledge of these things given his affection for Rodríguez' music, and the whole thing is probably just Ribot doing what he does best: Borrowing and re-appropriating elements from other musicians, especially ones that usually fly below the radar of the mainstream.
This is an art-form rather than a crime and every worthwhile musician does it (albeit rarely as elegantly as Ribot). In short: His work on 'Hoist That Rag' emulates the playing of Arsenio Rodríguez in more or less the same way that much of his other work with Tom Waits emulates the jagged staccato playing that Fred Tackett contributed to 'Swordfishtrombones'.
This is ace!.... the perfect song to attack after a month away from my guitar.... coincidently was watching a doco on my flight home that had a cameo from Marc.... 'Carmine Street Guitars'....good watchins
Oooh I'll have to track that down!
Last really good thing I've seen was "Midsommar" - so strange and oddly beautiful!
Brilliant - thank you! Your beautiful Mustang, reverb, and repetition remind me of early West African electric guitar sounds, eg Bembeya Jazz National around the 60s/70s. Separately, any chance of taking a look at The Day After Tomorrow?
My buddy John Westmoreland is a West African guitar enthusiast! I'm actually gonna have him come over a do a lesson when he gets back from tour!
Love it!
Thanks man!
Eric, thank you so much for doing this, it is probably my favorite guitar solo full stop. I had worked through the beginning myself but lost the plot along the way. I always heard those notes you are doing by hammering up from the harmonic minor as a slide. Do you hear that at all? Maybe he does both?
I dunno! Watching Marc, he does both so I took some poetic liberties there 🤠
Holy shit! You killed it! \m/ Love!
Thanks Ky!
Sounds Brill Eric! :) just wondered do you like Mike Landau's guitar playing?
Oh yeah Mike's a classy sideman indeed!
Eric Haugen Mike latest album I can hear some cool Tom Waits vibes and influences ... Marc Robot is cool too and superb playing yourself :)
Thanks!
Now I gotta go check out that new Mike Landau record!
so good
Thanks Colin!
This is crazy cool/funky solo to work on!
Great flow
Thanks Dawid!
Great lesson. You've got me signed up. Where can I find this backing track?
Yay! Welcome Len!
All my backing tracks are available for free if you go to my website listing for the pdf file :-)
Sound great Brother
Thanks so much Rune!