So what songs should I learn first?

[tallguybcs]

Originally posted by AndrewT
journey to the end of the east bay is one of my favorite songs-- I already learned how to play it. Fun song to play.

Yes, but there are some fast picking parts that would be hard to a beginner. A greast song though. When my bnd plays it, I play the intro twice as fast as it should be, and they have to catch up, its a lot of fun, especially for the singer


Oh, my first real song I learned was Fire by hendrix.
Most lingles are fun to play and build confidence.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Originally posted by StereoBassist
the first song should be "around the world" by the red hot chili peppers, its an awesome but hard as hell song. or no doubts "spiderwebs", its not hard, but really long and hard to remember. or "journey to the end of east bay" by rancid. it's almost all bass

This is joke, right. If someone could play All Around the World as their first song on bass - I would think that person to god him/herself.

How could nobody have mentioned The Ramones yet. Blitzkrieg Bop - or any of their songs.

 

[Son of Spam]

I think cause while those songs are easy to play by the Ramones, well... they are boring... very boring.... I wanna be sedated is a perfect example.... you have to hit the same note 8 times in a row, switch notes, 8 more times.... switch notes...8 more times...

If you wanna have fun, try

Offspring- Have You Ever

Check out bridge, its pretty easy, fun to play to. It's a good crowd pleaser.

 

[Stingisanoldman]

There's something that I think many people are forgetting. The first songs you play on bass do deal with how easy it is, but also your first songs are probably going to start to shape the rest of your bass playing from then on in. The first song I played when I picked up was "Too Many Puppies" by Primus (not the bridge, just the main riff). From then on in I spent the first few months only on Primus. From then on I went to the Chili Peppers. Since then, any time I solo its still very easy to hear Claypool and Flea influences in my playing. I've practiced on many songs since then, but those two styles have almost always subconciously guided my playing. Knowing this I would suggest the beginner tries a variety of songs. For example;

Galactic - "Running Man" for some Jazz/Funk
Police - almost anything early. "Message in a Bottle" would be my choice.
Nirvana- Either "Come as you are" or "Smells like Teen Spirit".
Van Halen - Basically the album '1984'

These are good starters. Just remember that no matter what advice you get only you can define your style is.

 

[Komakino]

Learn "psycho killer" by Talking Heads. It's easy to start with:

G--------------------
D--------------------
A-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-----
E----------------0-3-

repeated several times, then it gets a little funkier for the chorus, but still stays pretty easy. It's the first song I learned to play all the way through on bass and it's still fun to play now.