D# or Eb? Why it matters

Eb or D# C minor C min C- triad

A Quoran asked whether it matters to call the middle note of a C minor triad D# or Eb

D# or Eb? Oh, yes, does it ever matter.

Read my answer below. It is comprehensive, yet as always I like to give you shortcuts and immediately usable tricks.

You can skip straight to the tricks and shortcuts

That said, I highly recommend you do learn the basics I mention here.

It is so much easier to grasp this rather than it is to reinvent the wheel each time one of these chords comes around!

Enjoy! And if you are a bass player, put this on the fretboard and learn the shapes and fingerings that go with it. It is a magical combination!

Read Ariane Cap’s answer to Why does it matter whether I call the middle note “D#” or “Eb” when writing a C minor chord? on Quora


To learn music theory on the fretboard targeted for bass players, enroll in my course – it tells you everything you need to know to:

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Sweet Emotion: Bass Intro (Talking Technique)

Sweet Emotion Bass Aerosmith

 Bass Intro

The iconic Aerosmith song “Sweet Emotion” boasts a killer bass line.

And because the bass starts the song – you must do it convincingly straight from the very first note with a consistent feel and at tempo! No margin for error, as all eyes and ears are on you laying down this exposed intro!

Check out the Aerosmith live version:

Here is the PDF with the Sweet Emotion Bass intro and all the exercises!

There are many live versions Aerosmith did that are different including some that were  played with a pick. I am presenting the original version of this song as iconified in the 1975 album Toys in the Attic.

By all means, make it your own with some stylistic tweaks, but for goodness sake, go practice this line! It is a killer technical exercise and nails rhythm too! Plus, it may come in handy during your next dance set! Nothing like this tune to get people out of their seats and on to the dance floor when they hear that epic intro!

Here is a gem for you: Watch Steven Tyler show Tal Wilkenfeld how he wants the line for this particular show. It’s slightly different than the original, which is likely what Tal was familiar with. Pro that she is, watch how she immediately pivots to what the boss asks: https://youtu.be/C2wUsLGYZ-w?t=31

Here is the original post of my Sweet Emotion Talking Technique on notreble.

Do you like Talking Technique? There is a new episode coming out next Monday! Make sure to subscribe to the talking technique newsletter on notreble!

I regard this Talking Technique similar to the Sting Groove Workshop in that it uses a song to teach you technique. And theory! Triple whammy I say 🙂

Enjoy!

Ari

To learn more triple whammy exercises of technique, theory and songs, check out our course.

Music THeory for the bass player courseBass by Marleaux

Cab by RevSound

Strings by Dean Markley

Mix by Wolftrackaudio.com

Music is often mysterious… (Breaking the rules)

melodic minor Ariane Cap breaking the rules

It’s a fair question… after all, we learn to identify which key a piece of music is in, and we carefully think about functions of chords… there are all these rules in music theory and then it seems music itself breaks them left and right.

So, why do some notes stray from the family and color outside the lines?

Enjoy!

Read Ariane Cap’s answer to Why some pieces in a given key signature have notes that don’t belong to the scale of that key signature? Aren’t you supposed to only use the keys from the scale? on Quora

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