Tom Waits's "Hoist That Rag": Marc Ribot Guitar Solo Explained
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ส.ค. 2019
- This solo is a fascinating meditation on chord structures and syncopation in the 5th position. Unlike typical improv, this thing is much more about patterns and repetition, as opposed to melodic evolution. Not to say that it's purely rhythm - it's got a serpentine form that is most definitely memorable as well!
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This video is a true YT gem.
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.
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!
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 :)
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!
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.
All time greatest guitar solo, thanks for the lesson
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.
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!
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 👍
Just dropped into say: The tab/standard notation for this one is great. Thank you for your efforts and work. (:
Thanks man!
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!
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!
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 :-)
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.
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!
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!
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 :-)
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!
Always one of my favorite guitar solos - great choice !
Thanks!
Yeah - this is a great one by Marc - one of so very many!
I found you channel when I was looking for Waits/Ribot breakdowns so I’m delighted you came to just one of their best. I had no idea this was so technically savvy, playing the changes etc. He makes it sound so off the cuff and raw. GREAT lesson, Eric, thank you.
Yeah! That's the genius of Marc - he makes it sound wild and free, even though it's actually quite well thought out!
Wow - what a great video! Love your sound and the explanations - thank you 👍
Inversions and partial chords are a wonderful thing. 🙇🏻
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!
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!
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.
My favorite Ribot solo. Thanks for breaking this down!
Yeah! This one's up there for sure - he's got so many killer tracks!
Fantastic work Eric, thank you
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….
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 TH-cam. Ofcoure I am a big Waits, Ribot fan. Thank you.
Need more Marc Ribot stuff from you!
Noted!
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!
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 :-)
Yes! Big thanks for this one. Great work.
You know it! This was a fun one to work on - so serpentine, so syncopated!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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 :-)
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!
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 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!
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 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!
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!
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!
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 😉
Your tone is always so nice.
Thanks Rory!
Some overdrive, a ribbon mic, and reverb - that's my thing in a nutshell :-)
One of my favorite ribot solos.
Oh yeah totally! And that's saying something - he's created so many great solos!
wow... one of my favorite solos in all of the guitar universe
Yeah! It's up there for me too!
Superb! One of my favourite solos. Off to your site...
Thanks man! Much appreciated!
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!
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 killed it man, bravo!
Thanks Olcay!
Marc is such an artist - working out his stuff always yields new insights!
Hey man! I just wanted to pop by and say that your TH-cam 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.
Thanks for the video! At one time I had this song on repeat in my car. compact disc style
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.
GREAT JOB!
Thanks man!
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!
Love it!
Thanks man!
YES! THANK YOU!!
The dude abides!
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 🙌🏻🙌🏻
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!
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!
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!
Great playing dude.
Thanks man!
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!! 😄
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!
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.
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!
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!
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 :-)
Thank you for showcasing. Waits is a genius, as you demonstrte.
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'.
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!
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!
so good
Thanks Colin!
This is crazy cool/funky solo to work on!
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😂
Great flow
Thanks Dawid!
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!
Thanks!
Thanks Bryan!
Oh man! (A sneaky little one at that) thank you for this Eric.
Ha! Thanks Tiago!
Vive Le Marc!
You should have at least 500 extra plays just from me. Thanks man. You rock
Ha! Thanks so much, Virgil!
Thank u man
My pleasure buddy!
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!
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!
Holy shit! You killed it! \m/ Love!
Thanks Ky!
Sound great Brother
Thanks so much Rune!
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?
There should be a feature where you can hit like over and over, every time you rewatch the video. Pile those thumbs up. (pile those thumbs-up up?)
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!
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?
Hi Eric my friend. Nice Post Thanks for sharing this. ……Kjell 🎸 👍
rock on, Kjell!
God damn you are good. Also Mark Ribot is the man. Stay gold.
Dude thanks so much Monty!
Love Ribot, and love the Outsiders reference!
This seems...familiar. (Psssst- sign up for Eric's Patreon!)
Ha!
I always feel weird asking for money - thanks for doing it for me!
Just subscribed to Eric's Patreon. No other teacher has ever inspired me so much and rejuvenated my love of playing, so it's the least I can do to say thanks!
Yay! Thanks so much you two!
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 🤠
I love guitar, but I’m always drawn even more to Waits’ choices re: percussion.