# Recommend some basslines for a beginner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828 "2003-12-13T21:57:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/1 "2003-12-13T21:57:59Z")
So, my dad just rented me a bass guitar, and I’m just fooling around. Could you 'dopers recommend some easy, but vaguely memorable/interesting bass parts to learn? If you could also provide links to tabs, that would be highly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![gyt\_fx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@gyt\_fx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gyt_fx)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/2 "2003-12-13T22:26:55Z")
(I dunno artist…:S) - Smoke on the water (MxPx) - Chick Magnet (Green Day) - Longview > **[Guitar Tabs with Rhythm | Songsterr](https://www.songsterr.com/)** > > Guitar, bass and drum tabs & chords with free online tab player. One accurate tab per song. Huge selection of 500,000 tabs. No abusive ads Will get you tabs for these songs. I’m no bassist but ive played around with one before and these are some songs I like. If you want I can ask my friend or maybe look more into some more of my music for more good basslines from songs. (Rage against the machine) - Take the power back > **[Guitar Tabs with Rhythm | Songsterr](https://www.songsterr.com/)** > > Guitar, bass and drum tabs & chords with free online tab player. One accurate tab per song. Huge selection of 500,000 tabs. No abusive ads Extremely fun song to play on guitar or bass, with the hammer-ons and pull-offs. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/3 "2003-12-13T22:50:17Z")
Police and Talking Heads songs are generally pretty simple and not too fast. It doesn’t get much easier than _Walking on the Moon_ or _Psycho Killer_. Most reggae is more about rhythm than anything else, so that’s not a bad place to start either. Most of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Roger Waters’ Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking aren’t too difficult to play from tab. While most Rush songs require an extra digit to play, the _2112 Overture_ and _The Enemy Within_ aren’t nearly as difficult as you might think. But I’d start with The Police. I can play all of these, and I’m in your boat; I’m not a musician, just a guy with a bass guitar. I’m not sure how the legal world feels about tab sites, so I won’t go there. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/4 "2003-12-13T23:29:33Z")
So far as I know, I can’t fathom any reason why the legal world would have a problem with tabs. So here you can check out [The Bass Tab Archive](http://www.basstabarchive.com/). My suggestion for you is to play along with your favorite songs. I think you’ll learn much more if you deal with music you’re already very familiar with and love. Don’t be afraid to try to play without tabs. In fact, I’d encourage you to plug in, put on your favorite records, listen to the bass and try to find the notes. Then check with the tabs. I’d bet you’d be surprised at how much you’ll be able to pluck out at first. ---
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/5 "2003-12-14T00:16:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gyt\_fx \* > **(Green Day) - Longview** Good suggestion. That’s one of my favorites and it doesn’t take long to learn, just takes a while to be able to play it full speed. ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/6 "2003-12-14T02:27:11Z")
Nirvana songs are incredibly simple, try those. I second the Bass tab archive. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/7 "2003-12-14T05:18:18Z")
Alright, I’ve got Longview down pat, though it took awhile, and siding with the suggestion of plucking along with your favorite music, I got some Interpol songs nicely. I also learned Come As You Are by ear. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/8 "2003-12-14T05:36:06Z")
I love the walking bass line from Alice in Chains’s “Swing on This” from the Jar of Flies EP. It’s easy and cool. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/9 "2003-12-14T05:48:06Z")
My bass-playin’ friend always swore by the **Barney Miller** theme! ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/10 "2003-12-14T06:13:22Z")
**Rodd Hill** - second bassline I learned was _Barney Miller_ First was _Dazed and Confused_ by Led Zep. Along with those, I’d say _Peter Gunn,_ the theme from _Night Court_ (good intro into that style of playing) and _Comfortably Numb_. Oh, and almost ANY country song. Those get boring pretty quick, though. YMMV. I only dabble in it from time to time. I just now learned _Dark Star_ over the summer… ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/11 "2003-12-14T06:58:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gadfly \* > \*\* I also learned Come As You Are by ear. \*\* And if you can play it faster, you’ll have “Eighties” by Killing Joke. Two for the price of one! ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/12 "2003-12-14T07:32:47Z")
I suggest you learn roots and fifths along with major and minor chords; they’re pretty easy and worth a damn to boot! ---
**Author:** ![Neil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/839c29/32.png) [@Neil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neil)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/13 "2003-12-14T08:20:34Z")
Yeah, learn some music theory, and more importantly, how to apply it. But simple and fun basslines include: – “Hey Joe,” as performed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience –“April 26, 1992” by Sublime ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/14 "2003-12-14T15:14:17Z")
**Gadfly** - before I make recommendations, I would offer some advice: As someone who plays guitar (for a long, long time) and been in countless bands with way too many bassists, a big question is: why do you want to learn? If you want to learn because bass is cool and you want to be the coolest bassist, then you learn one type of bass; if you want to play music and the bass is a way to do that, then you learn a different approach to play. Obviously, you can do both, or ping-pong between the two, but I am trying to get you to think about this because it puts my specific tips in context - if you want to be a musician first, consider the following: 1. **Know your job, do your job** - each role in a band is key; before you stray from your role, make sure you actually know what it is and that you can do it. In other words, Picasso learned to draw people representational before he started experimenting. Pick basslines to learn at first that do what basslines are meant to do - hold down the bottom end, and be the thing that weaves together the rhythm of the drums with the melodic playing of guitar, keyboards and vocals. A bassline like Longview is incredibly cool - Dirnt is an amazing player - but in the wrong hands it can border on overplaying. 2. **Play for the song** - what’s more important, contributing to the overall sound of a great song or sounding like an amazing bassist? I always go for the first one. In my point of view, Hendrix is considered an amazing guitarist because he played leads on great, memorable songs. If the song doesn’t endure, who cares if your part rocked? That’s the saving grace for Longview - it may be a bass line that is more front-and-center than the normal role of a bass, but it is in service of a great song. Pick out great songs then learn the basslines, no matter how simple. Obviously, this is very much in line with the other posters’ advice of “play what you love”. 3. **Keep it Simple** - I always start playing with a bassist in my bands by my playing acoustic guitar and them playing a bass at low volume. The first thing we work on is “the lock” - making sure we have the changes down and that the rhythm swings. Then we play with a drummer quietly - add another part, if you will - then we crank it. I would rather hear super-simple parts locked in and rocking that three or four players doing their think and sounding like mud. I strongly recommend that you stay away from prog rock at the beginning - players like Geddy Lee are incredibly talented, but you should go there only after nailing the fundamentals listed above. With all that in mind, I agree with **The Tooth** ’s recommendation of the Talking Heads. Songs like Take me To the River - which has maybe three notes in the bass line - or Life During Wartime - each focus on the lock a lot more than bass gymnastics. When I was learning, I always divided my time between songs I thought were supercool at the time and classics - songs I liked, but were not necessarily the cutting edge. Listen to the Beatles - if you want a tough bassline that is perfect for the song, try Drive my Car off Rubber Soul - and the Stones - Sympathy for the Devil is a driving line that gives you an in to learn the blues. Also try Billy Idol songs like White Wedding or Dancing with Myself - often, you are only playing a single note, but if you can’t swing it with the rhythm, the song falls apart, because the bass is everything to those songs. My $.02. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/15 "2003-12-14T15:19:02Z")
Okay - preview is your friend. Sorry for the typos - I have already caught that Picasso learned to draw _representationally_ and under the Keep it Simple paragraph, it should be “thing” not “think”…eesh. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/16 "2003-12-14T16:34:11Z")
Thanks for the tips, WordMan. I’d like to try a bit of both, that is, playing along with songs most of the time, but learning a bit of cool stuff like Longview also. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/17 "2003-12-14T17:31:34Z")
[“Green Onions”](http://www.basstabarchive.com/cgi-bin/tab.cgi?tab=b/booker_t_and_the_mgs/green_onions.btab), [“Live With Me”](http://www.basstabarchive.com/cgi-bin/tab.cgi?tab=r/rolling_stones/live_with_me.btab) (the Rolling Stones), [“(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”](http://www.basstabarchive.com/cgi-bin/tab.cgi?tab=r/redding_otis/the_dock_of_the_bay.btab). ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/18 "2003-12-14T18:11:04Z")
How about “Been Caught Stealing” by Jane’s Addiction? ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/19 "2003-12-14T18:18:13Z")
For a relative newcomer who wants a bit of a stretch without anything too hand-meltingly harsh, you can’t really have more fun than ‘Rehumanize Yourself’ by The Police (from the Ghost In The Machine’ album). Sting is having _so_ much fun with the bass line in that song! You might also like to check out the work of Chris Squire on many of the Yes albums from the 70s and 80s. You may or may not like the prog rock sound, but Squire has a real gift for devising bass lines that are sometimes fairly simple (scales and linear progessions) but incredibly effective in the context of the song - this isn’t a bad knack to get the hang of. Try playing along to ‘Going For The One’. It’s a great song anyway, but for a bass player it’s just the right mix of straightforward / challenge. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-basslines-for-a-beginner/218828/20 "2003-12-15T00:27:40Z")
I was never very good on bass, but I learned the bassline to “Anarchy in the U.K.” by ear in about five minutes.