Any suggestions of good simple basslines to learn?

[Naetharu]

Hi all,

I've only been playing a few weeks and I was wondering if anyone has suggestions of good simple bass lines that I might work on? I'm keen to try all sorts of stuff, so any style is welcome. At the moment I have been working on Sitting by the Dock of the Bay (the Otis Redding version), Mellowship Slinky in B Major (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and Teddy Pickers (Arctic Monkeys). If anyone has some suggestions of other tracks that might be easy enough for a novice like myself to get into that would be really great.

Best wishes

James

[Number6]

Listen to Thin Lizzy' Dancing in the Moonlight. A nice Phil Lynott bassline that is fairly easy to learn.

All the best with your learning journey

[xgsjx]

The first bassline I ever played was The Chain by Fleetwood Mac (is there a bassist who hasn't? ), but the first full song I learned was New Years Day by U2.
Nice simple bassline that only uses the E & A strings, but sounds a good bit harder.

[Geek99]

A and D strings surely ?

[Marvin]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1432791924' post='2784958']
The first bassline I ever played was The Chain by Fleetwood Mac (is there a bassist who hasn't? )
[/quote]

Me. I never learnt how to play The Chain

[lojo]

Stand be me is a good one for all 4 fingers

Learn simple blues riffs then 12 bar blues using different starting positions

Alternatively get some lessons and follow the teachers homework

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1432792528' post='2784962']
A and D strings surely ?
[/quote]
Nope. When I learned it, it was played up the dusty end starting on the 17th so it's easy to play the one open A at the end of the 1st bar & the open E at the end of the 3rd.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1432792787' post='2784963']
Me. I never learnt how to play The Chain
[/quote]
You never heard the bass at the start of F1 & thought "oooh, I'm gonna try that"? Shocking!

[Dad3353]

You might like to try 'Autumn Leaves'; there are several versions and arrangements on t'web. Here's a nice melodic one to have a go at (take your time; there's no rush...)...

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtfNzqxMIXs#t=86"]Autumn Leaves ...[/url]

Edited May 28, 2015 by Dad3353

[KevB]

Could try a basic rock n roll song like Johnny B Good. They are good learning tools because at the very basic level you can just play root notes and work on speed & timing then when you are more confident can put extra notes in, say 5ths, to flesh the line out a bit more and can even go on to playing walking patterns, all using the same track to play along with.

[discreet]

Not being funny, but pretty much anything by U2. Proof that bass lines don't have to be complex to be effective.

[chris_b]

Search for Stax Records on YouTube and work your way through the list.

[mentalextra]

Have some fun with this!
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a65amHd8Fow"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a65amHd8Fow[/url]

[No lust in Jazz]

I think that these have to come from within you; there are countless simple bass lines that underpin the music beautifully, but if they don't inspire you, they don't inspire you.

The Chain - Love the 'song' part detest the bass line in the middle and outro.

[Geek99]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1432793673' post='2784967']

Nope. When I learned it, it was played up the dusty end starting on the 17th so it's easy to play the one open A at the end of the 1st bar & the open E at the end of the 3rd.
[/quote]
Ok was basing this on concert footage where he uses a and d but its up to you really

[toneknob]

The first song I learned all the way through was Metallica's "Enter Sandman". Here's some tab which looks ok, but has been annotated by someone with limited spelling skills: http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/m/metallica/enter_sandman_btab.htm

[neepheid]

First bass line I ever played on a bass (when I was trying out my first one) was The Stranglers - Peaches.

Cars by Gary Numan is also a fun one, two little riffs and the other bigger bit and that's about it

[Horizontalste]

Rappers Delight is a good one to learn ( it's all about feel).
Under the Bridge was my first.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Horizontalste

[Weststarx]

If you can play the C note and are happy to play it 100000000000000 times then you can play:

ZZ Top - Gimmie All Your Loving

ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man

Both songs are pretty much exactly the same bass line, so its super easy to learn both really quickly.



The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
Maroon 5 - Harder To Breathe
Bryan Adams -Summer of 69
The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So
Jimmy Eats World - The Middle
Foo Fighers - My Hero
Vertigo - U2
Feeder - Buck Rogers

They are a few that come to mind that are easy to play.

90% of your Pop/Rock songs are easy to pick up once you've played for 2 weeks.

Then if you are not lazy like me, you can start looking at more difficult songs from bands with good bass players like:

Muse
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
The Winery Dogs (Brace yourself for that one)
etc etc

Edited May 28, 2015 by Weststarx

[seashell]

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1432809530' post='2785139']
The first song I learned all the way through was Metallica's "Enter Sandman". Here's some tab which looks ok, but has been annotated by someone with limited spelling skills: [url="http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/m/metallica/enter_sandman_btab.htm"]http://tabs.ultimate...andman_btab.htm[/url]
[/quote]

Good call. But even simpler IMHO is Nothing Else Matters. That was the first song I learned all the way through. I felt so proud!

Another simple one I've just learned is Rock,n Me by the Steve Miller Band. I recently played it at a jam, just winging it on root notes. Then found out I had it in a music book, and learned the rest of it. Very easy but really effective!

[xgsjx]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1432809480' post='2785137']
Ok was basing this on concert footage where he uses a and d but its up to you really
[/quote]
I've seen it played both ways (by AC too). When I was learning it back in the early 80's, I had a VHS & a band transcription book (Live at Red Rocks) & was shown as being on the E & A strings. No tinter web back then.

[urbanx]

That one off the Grand Prix, and that one by the White Stripes...

[Geek99]

Chain and seven nation army perchance ?

[kevvo66]

Depends what music you like too play really ,theirs nothing more deflating than playing something you don't like so play stuff or learn stuff you like you may even add more to said bass line and give it more depth , I've done that a lot especially when playing live and I'm in the groove ,good luck with your journey .

[Cato]

Get yourself a Ramones compilation and play along to it. Its good pretty basic stuff to practice to as a beginner & its also a nice gentle introduction into learning stuff by ear..