Progressive Metal for Dummies
 

I'm looking for some beginnerish songs to start with, from preferably Dream Theater, Opeth or Symphony X. Actually, do 'beginner' songs exist for any of these bands? ;P

If they do, please suggest some :D

The easiest Dream Theater song we cover is "One Last Time," I would suggest starting with that one (it does have a mid section that is a bit challenging, but overall it's VERY tame).

BTW, it's always good to find someone starting off with prog... if you need any other suggestions from bands like Rush, Yes, or whoever, or technique, etc., feel free to hit me up. Have fun!

Hmmm.
You might look at DT's Erotomania. IMO, the difficulty is in the speed, not so much the complexity of the lines. Learn it slowly then build up the speed.

With Dream Theater, you may want to listen/learn the shorter songs on Falling Into Infinity. Most of those songs have a 'commercial' bent as the band was being pressured to create radio-friendly material.

If you have a 5 string, "As I am" is fun. Or you can tune to drop C.

As far as Opeth, I used to practice "The Drapery Falls" religiously. There is nothing too tricky about that song other than maybe the 5/8 syncopated diminished groove where I stick to whole measure notes instead of the original thing. I was able to play it within a couple months of playing, though I'm still learning new things about playing it every time.

As far as Symphony X: If you know what's good for, stay away from them until you have decent chops. Domination is pretty fun, and a lot of their rhythm sections are great introductions to odd meter like 5/4, but any of their fills are very crazy to play. My goal is to one day learn to play all 20 minutes of the Divine wings of Tragedy Live on the Edge of Forever

Also, Panic attack has some manageable sections. Blackwater park is fun and has some cool bass grooves.

Oh, another Dream Theater song that you could learn would be "Another Day." Great introduction to DT.

Second "Another Day". "Surrounded" isn't too bad either.

Check out the Jammit app - tons of DT on there as well as Rush, Yes and Queensryche.

I second The Drapery Falls. With the exception of the second prechorus, Pull Me Under (Dream Theater [Obviously]) is also very manageable.

Id say that Erotomania isnt very fast at all. It defintely has some tricky sections though that may prove to be too much for beginners.

Panic Attack also has some fast tremolo sections that may also prove to be difficult for some, depending on technique. The bridge section is a nightmare.

As for easy DT songs, Burning My Soul, The Mirror/Lie, Lifting Shadows Off A Dream, Surrounded, Through Her Eyes, Misunderstood, etc etc are all relatively simple songs bass guitar-wise.