# What are some good, relatively easy songs for a beginning Bassist to master? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-relatively-easy-songs-for-a-beginning-bassist-to-master/568281 "2011-01-20T03:11:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [January 21, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-relatively-easy-songs-for-a-beginning-bassist-to-master/568281/21 "2011-01-21T20:18:13Z")
Lots of songs by Talking Heads, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, The Police, and The Band are easy to pick up by ear. It’s what I learned on; the very, very first song I learned on the bass was “Walking on the Moon”. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-relatively-easy-songs-for-a-beginning-bassist-to-master/568281/22 "2011-01-21T21:18:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 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. 😃 Finding the groove on that song - playing it slowwwwwly but moving it along in a sexy way? Sublime. Life During Wartime is fun and fast. Tina Weymouth knows what she is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-relatively-easy-songs-for-a-beginning-bassist-to-master/568281/23 "2011-01-21T21:43:58Z")
What about ‘[On Broadway](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZS8LN4R9rU&NR=1)’? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-relatively-easy-songs-for-a-beginning-bassist-to-master/568281/24 "2011-01-21T23:08:46Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Tina Weymouth knows what she is doing. Word, man. Does she ever. She’s just incredible. I can’t think of a way to get my user name in there. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-relatively-easy-songs-for-a-beginning-bassist-to-master/568281/25 "2011-01-31T13:44:27Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > 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](http://www.amazon.com/Music-Lesson-Spiritual-Search-Through/dp/0425220931) 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? :smack::smack: Would help if I actually played the thing; I finally got around to revisiting the Talking Heads song while grabbing an hour. Oy - it’s E F# G, E F# G-A; so you cycle through the same E F# G grove twice, but pop up to A to close it off every other time. Great riff, especially when you describe it correctly. It’s such a slinky feel - like Peter Gunn through molasses. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-relatively-easy-songs-for-a-beginning-bassist-to-master/568281/26 "2011-01-31T15:26:59Z")
Just hit it on the 1, then go from there, according to [Bootsy Collins](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHE6hZU72A4) . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-relatively-easy-songs-for-a-beginning-bassist-to-master/568281.md?page=1)