I'm in agreement with almost human's suggestions of Ramones, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedy's (great bass lines). There are a ton of great players suggested here, [Welcome to the forum, btw
] but the amount of players, different styles, different techniques and levels of difficulty can be overwhelming, especially for a newer player, that chasing after them all to sort out what would be most helpful can sometimes have an almost discouraging effect.Starting in step with the music you are playing with the band, as well as the music you like best, I think, is the better place to start. One reason is that it's most directly helpful, as it will feed into how you're playing already.
There's nothing wrong with trying to tackle a John Entwistle Who bass line, but if it isn't as immediately applicable to what you're doing, it can end up being an intellectual diversion in a way. And if that sort of "classic rock" isn't big on your listening list, then you're also trying to assimilate a whole new area of taste; which you may or not come to enjoy. If the affinity isn't already there for an era or style, then why search there for inspiration, as it adds to the learning curve.
-- I believe it's better to use music that you like stylistically, as you already have that circuit from your ears to your brain to your heart established. Learning a bass line to a song that you already know well as a listener, that already has a meaningful connection in being the music you love, makes it that much more of a rewarding labor to apply yourself to - it knits the music to your soul, helping to get the sense of groove deeper in there.
The other cool thing with this approach of starting with familiar and already endeared music is that, subliminally, you already "know" the song, as well as the changes, and the other instruments and how they interlock with each other. That helps you anticipate things, as opposed to inventing that connection when it's not there due to trying to grasp the unfamiliar.
When I work with students, I always ask them to bring in a song they love, so that we can use it as a starting point for learning everything in it that makes it what it is. Learning a bass line can lead one toward learning the associated scales, harmony, time signatures, counting and syncopations; the song form, the elements that make a certain style the way it is.... One song is a wealth of information about theory, technique, song writing, lyric writing, sometimes improvisation, and even recording techniques. Often, by the time you exploit all of the information that a song has to offer, you've become as intimate with it as the people that wrote and performed it. In that, you can get the brain out of the way and let the music spill straight from the heart. And isn't that the ultimate goal anyway?
In short (ha! as if I'm ever very brief
) Start with what you love and what you know and what will help strengthen your immediate needs, and this will be the most encouraging toward advancement. Once you're bitten by the bass bug, and the music bug in general, you have a lifetime for broadening your appreciation of other genres, eras, and higher technical levels of listening and playing. It will come more naturally that way.
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