• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Songs for beginners

B

Berserkr

Feb 14, 2011
45
14
High Wycombe - UK
#1
Hey guys,

So, I've been playing guitar for about ten years and I decided I want to give bass a go. My brother gave me a cheap old bass to start on so I set about learning my first song... Higher Ground by RHCP. I failed horribly:bawl:

I thought I'd pick bass up really quickly but I want to play with my fingers and it's harder than I thought to get used to, so I need to start from scratch.

Can you guys recommend some good songs for new players to learn? Nothing really basic, but easy and fun songs to play. Cheers!
 
#2
I'd recommend you take the songs you already know from playing guitar.

Use your fake chord.
We play chord tones one note at a time. How many of those chord's tones should you play? Lets start with one. So....
  • Play the chord's root note (C chord = C note, 3rd string 3rd fret is a good spot.) one root note per beat. If it's 4/4 time that would be four root notes per measure. Or, one note per lyric word which ever is easier for you.
  • When the music goes to the F chord play the F note along with the beat. Notice where the F is, yep right above the C.
  • When the music goes to the G or G7 chord play the G note. Notice where it is, yep below the C. It's going to be a piece of cake. Place your tonic chord on the 3rd string and your IV and V are right above and right below the tonic.
Link Removed

OK you are playing root notes to the chord changes. That will play a lot of bass. When you can do this to several of your old songs add some more of the chord's tones. Instead of doing R-R-R-R try R-5-R-5. Where is the five, how about up a string and over two frets from your root. Yep, it is always up a string and over two frets. Next chord tone to add into your bass line -- the 8 is just a root one octave up so R-5-8-5 is a pretty good bass line you could put to muscle memory. Where is the 8, right above the 5 and it's always there waiting on you.

See what you can do with roots. When that flows add the fives and when that flows throw in some eights to your old songs. Ask specific questions someone will jump on it.

www.studybass.com is a friend. Yes, you will have to get used to the fingering, plenty of videos on the Internet about this. Let Google find them for you. Muting the beast, it has a tendency of sustaining the note and that will also be something you will have to work through here again let Google find some videos.

Good luck.
 
#4
Every song on this album maybe?

220px-Songsforbeginnersgn.jpg


:hiding:

John
 
#6
DanAleks said:
Not sure how to interpret that, but check out this page Play-bass-in-50-songs

A list of songs from easy that progresses to not-as-easy-as-the-first-one. It'll get your fingers moving.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that sentence didn't make whole lot of sense... thanks for the link, lots of ideas there! :bassist:

Thanks for the input everyone, much appreciated. I did think of playing the songs I already know on guitar but I pretty much exclusively play metal and I've got no chance of playing that with my fingers. I'm looking forward to playing some different styles of music :)
 
#8
Some from my current setlist

7 nation army (played with a guitar with a digitech, but easy to switch to bass)

Prayer of the Refugee - lots of quarter notes and 8th notes, very little hand movement. It's in Eb tuning, though.

Sunshine of your love - iconic, easy blues scale, and a couple of chords.

For Whom The Bell tolls - One of my favorite bass intros (lots of distortion) with relatively easy fingerings. The rest of the song is quarter and eighth notes.

Killing in the Name of - the first song I played all the way through.

If you're not into rock, there's not a whole lot I can do for you :P
 
#9
oniman7 said:
Some from my current setlist

7 nation army (played with a guitar with a digitech, but easy to switch to bass)

Prayer of the Refugee - lots of quarter notes and 8th notes, very little hand movement. It's in Eb tuning, though.

Sunshine of your love - iconic, easy blues scale, and a couple of chords.

For Whom The Bell tolls - One of my favorite bass intros (lots of distortion) with relatively easy fingerings. The rest of the song is quarter and eighth notes.

Killing in the Name of - the first song I played all the way through.

If you're not into rock, there's not a whole lot I can do for you :P
Click to expand...



Thanks for the ideas oniman7, just the kind of songs I was looking for \m/
 
#12
Almost anything from big-time, teenage-girl-targeted pop stars: Lady Gaga, etc.

None of them are any good in my opinion, but none of their stuff takes much effort at all (I learned Just Dance by Lady Gaga in about 2 minutes for a pop gig).
 
#13
Berserkr said:
Thanks for the ideas oniman7, just the kind of songs I was looking for \m/
Click to expand...

Hit me up if you want more. I've got everything from Tool to Pink Floyd to Three Days Grace.

Also, as you're going along, consider diving into a little bit of theory about each song. For example, learn how the main riff of Sunshine of your Love relates to an E Blues scale, learn the intervals from G in 7 Nation Army ( b3rd up , 2nd down, 3rd down, 4th down) and what scale that relates to, etc. etc.

Once you make your way to learning all the intervals (it's really easy -- I promise) then start learning keys and scales, and very quickly, you can start figuring out what makes a song and figuring out tricks to help your playing and writing.

A teacher would be a great benefit for all of this.

PS: If you can't tell, I'm pretty much a novice in all this theory, but it's all been a great help to me so far.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back