Hi. I've had my bass for a few months, but I never seriously started playing. I played guitar for a few years before that. I know a little bit about theory, and I learned a few simple songs from tabs. Can anyone recommend a good song with a simple, audible bass line for me to try and learn by ear?

a few tunes I started with were Cream - Sunshine of your Love. Pink Floyd - Money and The Police - Every breath you take.

Fire Lake by Bob Seger. Simple, yet satisfying.:p

Iron Man- Black Sabbath
may seem tough but actually fairly easy

The whole first album by the Violent Femmes.

"Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone.

Goes like this:
G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G

Then move on to "My Girl"

:D

"Down on the Corner" by CCR, "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple. If you are familiar with classic reggae riddims look up "Real Rock" or "The Answer", or "Sleng Ting." These are deadly basslines that rely more on groove and less on complexity.

..."Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple...

Little tough for a beginner, I would say.

absolutely anything by blink 182.

Rock tunes that follow the basic I-IV-V form:

any AC\DC: "Shook Me All Night Long", "Highway To Hell", "Girls Got Rythm", "Whole Lotta Rosie"....

Allman Bros: One Way Out, Midnight Rider

The Cult: She Sells Sanctuary

Not so much I-IV-V but easy progressions:

MJ (yes that MJ): Billie Jean has that cool ostinato part for the verses.

Police - Wrapped Around Your Finger

Sade - Paradise is another cool ostinato line with zero changes but defintely an endurance test! :p

Sly - Thank You is only 1 riff in E but it's a slap riff.

White Stripes - 7 Nation Army

Queen - Another bites the dust
Megadeth - symphony of destruction
Pink floyd - money

any 12 bar blues

"Rocking in the Free World"- Neil Young

U2, Green Day, Police, Blink 182, Tom Petty, all have pretty prominent, easy to play along with lines. Good songs, too.

sade - paradise
very enjoyable, builds sense of groove too.

The whole first album by the Violent Femmes.

Are you being sarcastic? Some of the songs have parts that are simple, with simple chord structures, but I wouldn't say on a whole that that is a beginner bass album.

The Monkees - (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone. Very easy and cool 60's mod vibe....

Pixies are easy too

Pixies are easy too
+1. Gouge Away is a good example.

Queen - "I Want To Break Free" doesn't take long to wrap your head around.

U2's "With or Without You" should be very easy to figure out by ear. It's only 4 notes.

I was listening to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen on the radio today and was thinking it would be a good one to learn. The bass part is real easy to hear.

a few tunes I started with were Cream - Sunshine of your Love. Pink Floyd - Money and The Police - Every breath you take.

These are good. Also:

Wild Thing - The Troggs

Message in a Bottle - Police

Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix

Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

New Year's Day - U2

Any Ramones tune

I was listening to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen on the radio today and was thinking it would be a good one to learn. The bass part is real easy to hear.

I was going to suggest that one, but you beat me to it.

Someone already mentioned Rockin' in the Free World, I think.

+1. Gouge Away is a good example.

Queen - "I Want To Break Free" doesn't take long to wrap your head around.

+2 "Hey" has a nice easy to hear bassline and "Monkey Gone To Heaven" is great too.

holy diver - Dio



HOLY DIVVVAHHHH!!!!!!!

First song i figured out by ear was Don't Bring Me Down by ELO

ACDC, you will learn how to play an E very well

+1. Gouge Away is a good example.


+2 the Pixies have a number of bass lines that are rather simple and easy to learn. They're one of the first things I started learning.

Specifically "Gigantic"

All eighths

G ----------------|---------------|
D ----------------|---------------|
A ---------5-5-7-7|2-2-2-2-3-3-5-5|
E -3-3-3-3--------|---------------|

Ignore the first note when you start, then just repeat this riff for the entire song (aside from a brief guitar break in the middle). So simple you'll probably get tired of it. So then move on to the only vaguely more challenging "Where Is My Mind?" which is simple enough that you can probably learn it in about 5 minutes even if you've just started learning the bass (hell, I'm barely past that stage myself). Moving on from there "Here Comes Your Man" is tougher. The main hook/chorus will probably take some good time practicing before you have it down solid and switches across all four strings. The verses make some nice use of eighth rests that will help develop your timing and rhythm and, at least based on the tab I've been using and what I can hear on the album the basic pattern is subtly changed each time.

Plus, if you don't like the Pixies something is terribly wrong with you ;)

I'd also recommend you look into some Weezer as they also tend to have pretty simple bass lines. "In the Garage" was another one of the first few songs I learned.

Likewise Smashing Pumpkins "Tonight, Tonight" is doable for a slightly tougher tentative second-step level about on par with "Here Comes Your Man".

Ben Folds Five, while generally some tougher lines, has the advantage of being arranged as only piano, bass, and drums so you can actually hear the bass line easily. Based on my casual listening "Where's Summer B.?" was one of the few songs I'd recommend to a beginner. Again, one of the early things I started learning after only playing for a month or so.

"House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals. Kinda slow, though. Sometimes I lose my concentration. That and it seems to have a different part during the organ solo that I can't hear, so I can't figure it out.

Tom Petty-Breakdown-3 notes total
Jenny-867-5309
Gloria
Whole lotta Love Zeppelin
LaGrange-ZZ Top
Mustang Sally
Johnny B Goode

a REALLY easy song to learn is Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin. Also, How Many More Times by Led Zeppelin is another easy song. Any average bassist could learn both in 10 minutes, down cold.

-Timothy

you gotta learn sunshine of your love! that was one of the first ones i learned as well, it is simple but powerful. i consider it mandatory!

when i started playing bass, i was into jack johnson a bit (mainly the first album) and the bassist really caught my ear. simple parts, but with a great groove - the drummer is tight - and some nice articulations. the bass is subdued and dubby, super tasteful.

pixies and nirvana are good choices. pink floyd. how many more times by led zepp, morphine, there are a couple.

Parliament's "Flashlight" and Funkadelic's "One Nation Under a Groove" are a lot of fun and pretty simple too. They're both played on synths and are real easy to pick out.