Beginner wants fun bass songs

[hgiles]

I am a beginner too. I learned songs like:

Lovely Day
Kiss Me - Sixpence
Against The Wind
Do It Again - Steely Dan


...

[glorth2]

I don't want to threadjack this but I was going to make a very similar thread. I'm not 9 but 43 and just getting back into things. I'm already relearning some of the Maiden I know and learning Maiden I hadn't learned yet. Same with Rush. I wanted to get some suggestions for interesting bass songs to learn. Police and Beatles suggestions would be good. I'm not much into slapping so can't do any real hard RCP. I'd also like to get some soul suggestions. Thanks in advance.

[Luke S Mouse]

London Calling by the Clash
Great slide, great groove, makes the brain think a little differently

[los100malditos]

Ramones

[Stumbo]

Gotta learn the kid some blues and R&B!
R&B tunes for set list
Blues jams tips & terms
Stumbo's blues chord progression tips thread
Blues musician reccommendations
Blues progressions explained w/ audio samples
Free jam tracks by TBR Nickonbass=Nick Creswell

See more in my >500 links below.

[oniman7]

Look into the bands rage against the machine, rise against, jet, foo fighters, and other things that are on the radio note

[cannsyl]

I want to thank everyone again for all the suggestions.
His Christmas recital was over this weekend (he played Holiday by Greenday and Sunshine of Your Love) so he will be diving into some new songs now. His instructor is looking over your suggestions to see what would work for him. We also got him the RockSmith game for christmas so next week we'll see how he likes it.
Thanks and Happy Holidays

[Kenzy]

Have him try out some stuff from The Police. Nothing too complicated, but it could serve as a nice introduction to the concept of syncopation. Try songs like "Hole In My Life", which features a Sting bassline that I absolutely love.

[preside]

The whole School Days CD by Stanley. Fun easy to play "rhythm Bass" with lead bass that will show him what lies in his future if he practices enough.

[NYCbassist]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

If you're making up your own very simple basic parts to chord charts, that might be possible. If you're playing anything even remotely like what JPJ did then I have to guess that either you're a prodigy, or a liar. There is no way that anyone I ever met met woud be able to play the lemon song and livin lovin made in the first week or two of their playing. Just rer-read and saw you said days. OK. I'm certain then that you're either a prodigy, or liar. Even if you were a guitarist first.

And I play by ear.

PM Sent.

[PipeRain]

If he likes thrash/speed metal, and I only suggest this because some of the stuff OP listed borders on that, look into some Megadeth. Yeah I know Mustaine is a twit of the first order but you can actually hear the bass on most of their stuff and it's not maddeningly difficult yet still holds some challenge.

[gmahoog]

I'd suggest getting him Ed Friedland's "Blues Bass" book. There are a lot of standard Blues songs of different styles in TAB and standard notation. There are backing tracks so he can play with the CD. Plus it is an instructional book so it would give him something to build on in the future.

[tone696]

Some great song listed there. Couple more jump to mind should be easy for a beginner

Enter sandman
Neil young. Keep on rockin in the free world.
Rhcp parallel universe
Green day
Iggy Pop
Sitting on the dock of the bay
Whiskey in the jar (original or metallic cover)
Beatles tunes are always fun
Muse (most straight forward)
Kings of Leon.

Good luck and keep it fun.

[vmalka]

I had the same issue as your son, I've only been playing for a year and a half and find the "beginner" songs too boring to keep me interested. So my instructor suggested I get a software that allows you to slow down songs and loop certain sections (I recommend Amazing Slow Downer, though there are many others out there). After getting that, I was easily able to learn more interesting songs at a manageable level. Some great ones are:

Music of the Mind - Jamiroquai/Zender (no vocals, bass is main instrument)
Too Young to Die - Jamiroquai/Zender
Come on Come Over - Jaco
Lemon Song - Zeppelin/JPJ
Suspicious Minds (Live version) - Elvis/Scheff

[Staredge]

Originally Posted by MoeGJBeener

The Gorillaz - Feel Good, Inc

Beat me to it. Also, IIRC Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups is fairly simple.

[Slicebread]

Hysteria by muse, it's easy if you slow it down

[lyla1953]

I came across two recently that a 9 year old could play with - Walking on the Moon = Police and Baby Love = Supremes
If you or his instructor are not headed down this path already, I would recommend that you start getting him off the tabs - Get sheet music without tabs and let him write in his own note definition before he starts to learn the song. Over time he should start to read. Start developing that skill in him now. My 2 cents

[Aussie Player]

Ballad of John & Yoko
Old Man
Most SRV