Favorite Songs for a Beginner to Learn by Ear?

[Michedelic]

Get down to basics with the most fundamental rock chord progression besides any blues derived stuff...

 

[GrooveWarrior]

it sounds like you got him on the proper course. FWIW Ill be 45 end of the year... so I can relate to not knowing a lot of those bands... but what I do know is if you gave me that list I am sure I could jam along with the songs. (will have to put those bands in the itunes search and see if I can stomach any of those bands )

my original point was driving at this. his interests will guide your instruction IMO..

Kudos to you giving your older Bass to him!
I did similar with my nephew and let him extended-borrow my old precision for like 4 years.

Stay low!

The only stipulation I gave him on getting the bass was that is always has to stay in the family. Whether that means he doesn't pursue this and gives it back, or does pursue it and passes it on do another family member down the road. It's a great luthier-built neck (quartersawn maple, brazilian rosewood) jazz bass with Barts and an Audere preamp. Killer bass. I just wasn't playing it much.

 

[WarwickE36]

Toto - Africa, is very simple and easy to learn by ear IMO

 

[MrLenny1]

Take It Easy - Eagles

 

[bass12]

He's a pretty open minded kid. I would say not metal or country, but just about everywhere in between.

If he’s open to reggae then there’s a whole catalog of classic - and easy to play - bass lines in that style to be checked out.

 

[wysiwyg248]

San Francisco Bay Blues.

Maybe the simplified version.
Just kidding!

 

[lfmn16]

Teach him Mustang Sally. Then he’ll be gigging too much to bother you.

 

[MCS4]

I asked him to put together a Spotify list of some songs he liked, and apparently being 45 means I have no idea what is going on with music, because I didn't recognize 90% of the bands/songs he sent me (Oneohtrix Point Never, Boards of Canada, Madlib, Sweet Trip, Beach House, Angel Olsen).

Madlib is a hip-hop artist. If he likes hip hop, he can go through all of his own favorites and pick up whatever parts he can. IMO that could be a great way to start ear training, as there are a ton of hip-hop tracks that are based around extremely simple bass figures (sometimes based around couple of notes) that repeat for long stretches of time so that you don't have to constantly rewind. On the flipside, there are also a ton of hip-hop songs based upon more complex bass parts (sometimes played on synth, but often based upon samples of upright bass from jazz records), so trying to work through one particular album often will have a nice mix of simple and complicated parts... particularly if the album is from a skilled producer like Madlib.

 

[brianrost]

Boards of Canada is an electronic band (i.e. synths, no bass guitar).

Madlib is on the bleeding edge of jazz influenced hip-hop, so some bass guitar but mostly bass guitar or DB samples.

 

[WrapRough]

Another one bites the dust - queen
Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz
Máster blaster - Stevie wonder
Emergency on planet earth - Jamiroquai
Under the bridge - RHCP
My girl - temptations
Girls and boys - blur
Banquet - bloc party
Franz Ferdinand (entire first album)
Golden touch - razorlight
Maria - RATM
When we get by - d'angelo
Why'd you only call me when you're high - arctic monkeys
Message in a bottle - police
Let me ride - Dr Dre
Too young to die - Jamiroquai
Eyeballin - heatwave

Should keep him quiet for a few months!

 

[Dincrest]

Here's a few I think are worth starting out on, and why. (Assuming he's cool with songs that are older than he is and is willing to expose himself to different genres).

"Hella Good" by No Doubt (it's only about 5 notes, but it's all about feel/stank)
"Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones (great for practicing pickstyle playing or building finger speed)
"Feel Good, Inc." by Gorillaz (great for working on slides)

And though you said your nephew isn't really into metal or whatever, if he's looking to form a band with his friends or something I think "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest is a good song to jam on with a band early on. It's simple yet really fun to play in a band context, making it a good song to build band chemistry and get everyone jamming tight. And when it's time to gig, it's a cover that will get any crowd jumping.

 

[millbaars]

+1 to everyone who said teach him a song he likes and wants to learn.

I took guitar lessons at age 10 (in 1980) and would've liked to have learned KISS songs or something and instead was given Joy the the World (Jeramiah was a bullfrog) by my hippie guitar teacher. My guitar playing career was over, permanently, 6 weeks later.

 

[LBS-bass]

+1 to everyone who said teach him a song he likes and wants to learn.

I took guitar lessons at age 10 (in 1980) and would've liked to have learned KISS songs or something and instead was given Joy the the World (Jeramiah was a bullfrog) by my hippie guitar teacher. My guitar playing career was over, permanently, 6 weeks later.

To a kid, there's nothing worse than adults trying to be "cool" and failing miserably at it!

It's not always an age thing. My husband is totally into jazz, doesn't know much about rock- to a level that gets embarrassing sometimes, when there are certain songs you would think everyone has heard and he's clueless.

I'm mainly a rocker, so when we first met he used to try to make me happy by putting together playlists with rock artists. Problem is, I'm really picky about what I like, and all the popular stuff he thought was representative of what I might like was way off the mark.

 

[pigpen ridding]

willie dixon

 

[Hammerfield]

Come as you are

 

[elberon]

I got started with Santana’s version of Oye Como Va. Nice repetitive part and easy to learn by ear. A second choice might be Neil Young’s Cinnamon Girl.

 

[Mildew Jones]

What style of music is he into? I came home from work one night many many years ago, my girlfriend, who did NOT play bass sez, "check this out", and proceeds to play Like A Hurricane/Scorpions along with the record (yes, this was the 80's). Downplucking with her thumb, bless her heart, she nailed it.
So there's that. YMMV, etc
MJ

 

[Sergi]

Ramones. Any song.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I've been a player for 30 years, and my nephew is getting started. I've been doing some zoom lessons, and I'm having him figure out some songs by ear. What are some of your favorite songs for a beginner to learn by ear?

90s grunge era and pop rock stuff is a great place for beginners to start imo. U2 with or without you comes to mind. Nirvana is mostly simple stuff. Green Day, I remember learning the first two rage against the machine records very early on the only tricky thing can be playing in the right tuning. AIC was a lot of Eb tuning. Nirvana had the occasional song in an odd tuning like heart shaped box for example.

 

[rtav]

The Police- Walking on the Moon