What’s going on everybody?! Welcome to the first installment of #ToolTuesday where we examine one section or riff, break it down, and discuss all the fun things about it. This week’s track; Hooker with a Penis. As a reminder, the full TAB of this riff can be found on my Instagram; @axeofcreation
The Riff
This riff kicks in at 3:46 and acts as the climax of the song. This riff explodes out of the whisper that proceeds it and is made up of open D (power) chords and jumping up the octave along with a very familiar hammer-on pattern found in Jones’ riffs. It’s commonly seen as one measures of 10/8 followed by one measures of 13/8, though from a guitar perspective, it almost makes more sense to break it down into smaller chunks of 5/8.
Chunks
The way the riff is structured, for me, it makes a lot of sense to break it down into three 5/8 chunks followed by a measure of 4/4. Simple, right? When you can see the riff is this way it becomes a lot easier to perform as well as understand the Meter (time signature). Approaching it in this way is for learning and performance not counting the feel of the overall section. Each 5/8 chunk has only one eighth note which can be felt as the accent or long note. First at 12th position (fret,) then at 8th position, then back to 12th position. The final measure of 4/4 contains two accent or long notes; landing on the 13th fret then the 10th fret.
Landing on the Upbeat
One of the things I love about this riff is the accented Upbeat or Syncopation found throughout. Notice how if you strum (and you should) a nice aggressive sixteenth note pattern (Down-Up-Down-Up) you’ll find all of the accented or long notes are strummed with and Upstroke. Syncopation at its finest!
That’s it for the first edition of #ToolTuesday! The video lesson can be found HERE. Make sure to follow me on Instagram for the complete TABs. Tag me for your performance or ideas for further lessons. As always, let me know what you come up with and I’ll see you next time, peace!