Aerosmith 7-Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Dude (Looks Like A Lady)

  Dude Looks Like A Lady was a huge hit single from Aerosmith's album "Permanent Vacation" released in 1987. This one always reminds me of the movie Mrs. Doubtfire since it's featured in the movie, and because of that I spent a lot of time learning this song and really getting it down. This song also uses a lot of cool and unique ways of playing power chords, placing them on the upper strings instead of the lower to emphasize the chord hits. The solo licks involve a lot of string skipping and pull-offs, so it helps if you have a really efficient right hand or already have a grasp on hybrid picking. Aside from that, this should be a relatively simple song to get under your fingers, so lets get going!

• Lesson 2: Amazing

  Amazing is a huge classic power ballad from Aerosmith from their 1993 album "Gotta Love It". It's a very big and epic song with an iconic introduction that really showcases Joe Perry's signature style of playing the guitar. The riffs throughout the song are pretty sparse throughout and mostly just simple chord hits. Theres not necessarily a definitive rhythmic guitar part. Instead it makes use of arpeggios to fill out the space, giving the guitar a more ornamental role instead of a solid rhythm or lead part. In addition, it uses a lot of blues guitar shapes and a lot of chord shapes based on having the root on the fifth string to change up the voicing and sound which gives this song an interesting sound and challenge.

• Lesson 3: Cryin'

  Cryin' off of Aerosmith's 1993 album "Get A Grip" is a really big and dramatic song, with an equally dramatic and highly requested music video that also won several awards. It begins with a guitar heavy introduction that emphasizes string bending and tone as the main detail in the guitar playing. A lot of Joe Perry's guitar playing on the verses and chorus revolve around outlining chords with arpeggios which propel the song forward. The band's sound revolved around a "one voice" wall of sound sound similar to how a piano player would play chords. Since it's played with a locked guitar, it has that great classic Aerosmith sound as well that I'll show you how to emulate.

• Lesson 4: Eat The Rich

  Eat The Rich is a popular single off of Aerosmith's 1993 album "Get A Grip" and a fan favorite for their live performances. This song is a great example of that classic Joe Perry sound, revolving around riffs. This song in particular uses pentatonic modes, but he pulls off to open on the lower string to create an almost "walking baseline" sound, which is one of his signature moves. There's heavy usage of power chords and a lot of open strings and double stops that give it a great groove. You'll be using an open string pentatonic position that fits perfectly with pentatonic riffs, so once you get comfortable with this you'll be able to apply it to your playing and really get rocking!

• Lesson 5: Sweet Emotion

  Sweet Emotion from Aerosmith's 1975 album "Toys In The Attic" was actually their first top 40's hit and became a really popular song. It's got a very classic and standard rock feel, shifting between the D and A chords that it's based on. There's an accompanying A minor pentatonic scale that fits into the song in the form of single string riffs. Joe Perry uses chromatic leading tones in his riffs to emphasize the target note, since leading tones provide that moment of dissonance before the resolution. In the solo there's also a lot of sliding double stops which give it a great country-blues feel.

• Lesson 6: Walk This Way

  Walk This Way was released as the second single in Aerosmith's album "Toys In The Attic" released in 1975. It went on to reach the top ten in the billboard charts and really helped to bring the band into the public eye. This song use a lot of single string riffs that are very rhythmic oriented, utilizing the space between the notes as a key element to the phrasing. The intro for this song is very iconic so you'll need to break it down and practice it to really get it down. The verse and chorus are also unique because they use a lot of string skipping, so you'll need solid right hand chops or know hybrid picking to play this song at speed since there's a lot of sixteenth notes. The best thing about this is that it's based around the c minor pentatonic so the pattern is relatively repetitive which makes it easier to learn and get under your fingers.

• Lesson 7: Dream On

  Everybody knows this classic rock mega-hit from Aerosmith, and yet its still so much fun to play. In this lesson you’ll get the inside scoop on all the licks, riffs and guitar parts so that you can play along comfortably to one of your favorite rock tunes!