I’ve been practicing bass for a few months now, and I’ve recently been dedicating more time to it. I had a couple lessons, but now I’ve just been practicing along with youtube videos and whatnot to get the basics down. I’ve gotten pretty good at the basic fingering, and now I’d like to move on to mastering some songs.
I started out with Money by Pink Floyd, because my instructor gave me the bass tablature for it. I’ve gotten parts of it down pretty well, but I’m still far from mastering it.
I’m looking for some good recommendations for other pretty easy songs that I can master before I move on to more difficult ones. I’m mostly interested in rock songs, but songs from other genres are fine too. Thanks.
I was a big Geddy Lee fan when I started - if you like Rush, you can have a lot of fun with the likes of Working Man and What You’re Doing, while building up to the solos. And there are a lot of fun, simple basslines on the first 2 Clash albums.
Now I’m just starting on upright, and am working mainly on folk/bluegrass.
Whenever I pull out my bass, the first song I always play is “Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago” by Soul Coughing. Simple verses with a good walking bass feel.
The first song I learned on bass was Hall & Oats’ Maneater. After that, it was the theme to the TV show “Barney Miller”. Then I moved on to Iron Maiden.
It sounds like skill-wise you’re between Maneater & Maiden. I’d put on a Police CD and commence grooving. When you get good, go for the theme to “Night Court.”
If you’re enjoying Money, there’s more Floyd that’s pretty easy & fun too. Hey You and Another Brick are good places to start.
When I was 14 years old, I learned to play bass by trying to play along with old Black Sabbath albums. In essence, Geezer Butler taught me how to play bass.
If you try this, don’t bother trying to learn the fast-n-intricate stuff Geezer is doing… just play along with Tony’s chord progressions. It’s pretty easy to do. You don’t even need sheet music; you can do it all by ear.
‘Robert Frost’, written by Jay Leonhart, would also be a good one. Sorry, I can’t find a free audio sample online. It’s on the album ‘Salamander Pie’, and a PDF of the chart is available at Jay’s website.
I’m posting to follow along (I’m also trying to learn the bass). I’ve had good luck with some George Thorogood songs – maybe Move it on Over? Also, I second some of the Police songs – Roxanne, So Lonely.
How about Chameleon by Herbie Hancock? It’s not actually bass on the track, but it’s nice and repetitive (and funky!). Also, Mr. Big Stuff by Jean Knight. A bit more advanced is I’ll Take You There by the Staple Singers.
If you want something more modern, try Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes or Reptilia by The Strokes.
I guess that’s all of them, then. FWIW, I’ve tried Another One Bites the Dust by Queen and Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads – for some reason, I have extra problems with them. Psycho Killer isn’t hard in the main section, but I totally lose it during the chorus.
Dazed and Confused isn’t too bad if you have the tabs. Also, Whole Lotta Love.
Back to funk, She’s a Bad Mama Jama (by Carl Carlton?) is a blast to play.
Have you found that online bass tabs tend to be pretty awful? First of all, the format that’s typically used is very difficult (IMO) to read. But, they are often just wrong. I’ve had much, much better luck with tabs from real books, and they usually have the music notation along with it, so it can be a good way to learn to read music, or to associate the notation (if you can already read it) with the actual notes on the bass.
I have mentioned this in other starter bass threads: Talking Heads’ version of Take Me to the River. 3 freakin’ notes pretty much the whole song - E G A. Now - can you make them groove? Can you be the ENTIRE FOUNDATION that the song is constructed on? That is like the ultimate chef’s challenge - can you take so few ingredients and own the recipe? It’s not as easy as it sounds.
Victor Wooten is one of the - if not THE - best bassists around. In his book The Music Lesson he goes on a story/parable/journey which can get a little “mystic” at times, but his first point is clear and true: the groove comes first.
How about some Red Hot Chili Peppers? **Give It Away **has a simple bass riff during the verses that is the essential center of that groove. Can you sell that when you play?
If WordMan’s going to go to the trouble of posting the notes in Take Me to the River, I think I have to give it a shot, too. It’s not my favorite Talking Heads song but it never hurts to learn another.
