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im a beginner...

Yes tab is fine for now and for looking up how a specific song, riff, etc. is played, however, I'd suggest you start using fake chord, lead sheet or standard notation. Why? First, if you are like me I can not remember more than five complete songs, using tabs, at any one time and I want to be able to play more than five songs. Second, bands do not pass out bass tabs they pass among themselves fake chord or lead sheets. Sooner or later you need to be able to play from those.

Give fake chord a try and see where it takes you.

http://www.guitarzonline.com/free-beginner-guitar-lessons/easy-guitar-songs-to-learn/
The rhythm guitar will strum the chord we play the chord's notes. How many depends on the song. Sometime just the root note (name of the chord) will be fine, then at other times we may play all the notes of the chord (R-3-5-b7). Here is how an old guy does it.
If you are not ready for this now - bookmark it - and come back later.

Another reason to use fake chord -- you can count on the rhythm guitar having fake chord sheet music on the songs the band will be playing. As the other guys have no use for bass tabs they will not have them on the songs the band will use - you gotta know how to read fake chord, lead sheet and or standard notation. Google can find most anything you want. Use these words; guitar chords, "name of the song" the comma and the quote marks help in the search.

Good luck and welcome to the bottom end.
 
Any other suggestions will always be welcome!!!

I want to echo malcomamos and another previous post:

1. You should try to make a concerted effort to read music rather than tabs alone. There are things in traditional notation that are lost when using tabs alone. "Note Reading Studies for Bass" by Arnold Evans is a great place to start.

2. Find a good teacher that you can work with... this will pay dividends.

Good luck and have fun.
 
Anything from the Clash, particularly tracks from London Calling and Sandinista!. They'll be good to learn for several reasons:

* Few of them are particularly difficult, but few of them are just root note 8ths either.

* Most of them you can play by ear.

* The Clash were experimenting with lots of different musical forms at the time besides punk (funk, jazz, reggae, ska, rockabilly, calypso, etc.). That will broaden your horizons as a bass player to some extent.

* That's just some great music to listen to. :hyper:
 
I like metal and punk,what are some easy songs to learn?I read tab,somewhat.any suggestions?:hiding:

I taught myself to be ear trained by learning stuff I liked at the time but I really didn't get into playing punk. As a listener I'd say Greenday, Ramones, Suicidal Tendencies(i love the pepsi song), Rancid, Bad Brains are great starts. Infectious Grooves was a cool funky punk band but you have to be at least intermediate to get thir stuff down.The reason Greenday would be excellent(in case you feel they're too mainstream) is that they have alot of hits that teach you WHERE good bass runs should go without getting in the way of what the vocals are doing (imho). I'd definitely take note about the fact they attracted non-punk listeners as well. For metal (from my years anyway). You Got Another Thing Coming- Judas Priest (F# ALMOST through the whole song but figure out the few changes by ear on your own). I'd stay away from tab on the internet unless it's official stuff. It's rarely correct otherwise and you need to develop your ear anyway so try not to take too many shortcuts. One thing I've found to be better that tab over the internet is youtube. Find a cover where a bass player sounds like he's doing it right and watch his fingers. I can tell if someone is doing right but you may have to wait awhile on that until you develop a little more.