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.
Bass by Marleaux
Cab by RevSound
Mix by Wolftrackaudio.com
3 Replies to “Sweet Emotion: Bass Intro (Talking Technique)”
Awesome Ari! I love seeing the way you break this down for us. It shows us how we can obviously use these methods you’ve shown us here on other riffs/tonal material. This is why I love your teaching … you do show us what’s going on, but you also show “why”, and “how” so that we can take these examples and apply them to other things we’re learning. Fantastic lesson!
As a drummer learning bass the rhythm is not hard but breaking down the fingering was a huge help in learning how to play it correctly!
Thanks for all your work for fellow musicians
Jeff
Excellent teaching video, PDF and supplemental videos to support and reinforce the teaching. Well done, Ari! And, thank you for putting this out.