Sweet Emotion: Bass Intro (Talking Technique)

by Ari • 14 Mar 2019 — 2 minute read

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

Take a shot at the Riff in Chick Corea’s Spain

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

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Groove enthusiast and learning nerd.

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Hi. I'm Ari.

As a bassist, I have toured/played/recorded with a variety of rock, Jazz, and funk bands, I have worked with some incredible producers (Keith Olsen) and musicians (Paul Hanson, Muriel Anderson) and I toured Brazil with Stu Hamm as a duo.

As a bass teacher, I have taught at London Bass Day, Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, SBL, Truefire, notreble… I even ran my own music school for a few years before gigs took me back on the road.

One thing to know about me is that I teach because I am absolutely fascinated with the learning process. And I am obsessed with helping others realize their musical potential.

When I started playing bass, I excelled very quickly because I had an amazing teacher who taught me using a powerful method. This method transformed my playing so quickly that I passed a bunch of high-level university auditions and even tested out of entire classes at university even though I had been playing for only a very short time.

That’s what, many years later turned into one of my books, co-written with Wolf Wein, called “The Pattern System for the Bass Player”. I created entire systems of learning based on some of these ideas and wrote books and created courses together with Wolf. Our bass books have sold over 30,000 copies and garnered rave reviews.

I started teaching online in 2009 and have embraced technology as a powerful learning tool since then, never losing sight of the importance of providing feedback and personalized guidance to learners.

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Sweet Emotion: Bass Intro (Talking Technique)