OK, so in another thread discussing the bass line of Miss American Pie, someone mentioned that he knew Bruce Thomas, a famous and fantastic bass player, probably my favorite. So, I was listening to some of his work and I can’t play most of it (I’m not a very good bass player), but I was able to figure out You Belong to Me:
A couple of months back, I was walking and listening to Hendrix and realized I could figure out Fire. Way back, I was able to figure out Money by Pink Floyd, and most of Mr. Big Stuff.
What other fun, great songs are pretty easy to play, with at least somewhat interesting bass lines? I’d like to avoid Ramones-like 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-4-4-4-4-5-5-5-5-1-1-1-1, etc.
Those are indeed great bass parts, but I think you missed this part of my OP:
What’s frustrating about starting this thread tonight is that tomorrow I leave for about a week and will have no chance to try out (more reasonable) songs until I get back. Anyway, still interested in suggestions that I have a chance to figure out myself.
Just start at the 17th fret on the A string and work your way down to the fifth fret in time for the next part, working your fingers pretty hard. Can I play it completely cleanly? No, but it’s not too bad.
Sorry, no specific suggestions, but aren’t a huge percentage of rock and blues songs 1-4-5? Ya wanna increase that percentage, switch to bluegrass! Seriously, you could try a lot of classic country - like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings… - if that at all appeals to you. Or roots rock like Elvis. Just will get you comfortable playing along, keeping a steady beat.
When I started, I played a lot of Rush, Who, Clash, Elvis Costello. A lotta fun bass parts there (but I’m showing my age.)
Not sure if this is meaningful, but are you able to “hear” the bass line? Some folk seem to have difficulty doing that - and it is harder in some recordings than others. Because as long as you can hear the bass line, and it isn’t relying on thumbing, slapping, chords, harmonics or something, it shouldn’t be too complicated to get the notes under your fingers. Then you just have to build up speed and endurance.
Bruce Thomas can be tough, a lot going on, and weird chord changes and time signatures. I’d suggest you worry less about repeating someone else’s exact line, than coming up with a line that works with the song and makes sense to you (if that makes sense at all). What you play can be simpler, more complicated, or just completely different from what is on the recording.
Thanks, yeah, I can usually hear the bass line, and I get what you’re saying about just grooving along with a song (I do that with blues songs sometimes), but sometimes, I just like to play the real line, especially if it’s interesting. “I’ll Take You There” by the Staple Singers – it’s a great line, not difficult, fun for me.
Agreed about Bruce Thomas, but that particular song is actually playable by me. What’s nice about the Attractions is, since the guitar was such a minor instrument, the keyboards and bass are mixed much higher than usual for a rock song, making the bass parts stand out more. Keyboard, bass, drums – all three were amazing.
ETA: Just noticed your sig. Very apropos, although it’s before he was with the Attractions.
Back in high school when I attempted to learn bass (never got anywhere with it) the first song I asked my teacher to help me with was the John Mellencamp/Me’shell Ndegocello version of Wild Night. After listening to it a few times in only took him a few minutes to figure it out and start teaching it to me.
I have no idea how good you are and I couldn’t even pretend to play anymore, but the intro to that song seems pretty simple.
Also, I don’t know if this makes a difference, but isn’t Money in some oddball time signature. I feel like it makes regular appearances on various top ten lists because of that. If you’re trying to work it out by ear (instead of finding tabs/sheet music for it) that could make it harder than it appears at first glance.
I’d try that Mellencamp song, but I can’t stand his work. But, thanks for the suggestion!
Money wasn’t hard to figure out. Parts are in 7/8 time, but I’m just playing along with the notes, so it doesn’t screw me up. If I were trying to play the drum part, that might be a different story. It helps that the bass part is mixed so hot in the track.
Oddly enough, I hated that song at first, then I picked up a bass and decided it would be a good one to try. I’ve since come around to liking him, but that had nothing to do with learning the song.
Does Van Morrison’s version start out with that same heavy bass?
The beginning seems to have it following the same part on the guitar, so yes. That bass part gets pretty complicated once the song gets going, though – probably beyond my ability (or, at least my patience in trying to figure it all out).
Those Minutemen tunes aren’t that hard, really; Mike is a rock-solid anchor. But I understand having limitations; I’ve owned guitars for close to 30 years now but the number of songs I’ve figured out on my own can be counted without using all my fingers.
So I went looking and my google-fu tells me that these 5 songs are fairly easy to learn on bass:
Queen - Another One Bites The Dust
Ben E. King - Stand By Me
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Nirvana - Come As You Are
Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love
Seriously, you could try a lot of classic country - like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings… - if that at all appeals to you. Or roots rock like Elvis. Just will get you comfortable playing along, keeping a steady beat.