what now?

[blueskies14]

i’ve been playing the bass guitar for about nine months and I am getting pretty good but I’m out of good songs to play. I’m looking for newish songs with good bass lines. I’m a fan of rhcp but I also really like pop songs like thunderclouds by lsd and feel it still by Portugal the man. Anyone have suggestions of good songs?

 

[beaglesandbass]

i’ve been playing the bass guitar for about nine months and I am getting pretty good but I’m out of good songs to play. I’m looking for newish songs with good bass lines. I’m a fan of rhcp but I also really like pop songs like thunderclouds by lsd and feel it still by Portugal the man. Anyone have suggestions of good songs?

Turn on radio to a Top 40 station and try to play along. Some songs have pretty boring basslines, but some are pretty fun.

 

[bholder]

Watch TV and try to play along with everything, especially the ads (quick changes). Good for ear practice.

 

[Old Blastard]

I did both of those as a kid. I'd study official books, do my studies and exercises for 30 minutes and then try and play bass parts to the radio.

I think it developed my ear quickly and taught me to use those scales and chord notes I studied.

It was also the early 70s so there were some monster bass players to copy.

It all led to a successful career outside of music and weekend bandhood for 40 years.

 

[redwingxix]

Make your own.

 

[TolerancEJ]

Watch TV and try to play along with everything, especially the ads (quick changes). Good for ear practice.

In 1997, I went to a Peavey-sponsored Rock Across America featuring Bobby Rock, Bill Dickens and Neil Zaza. Someone in the audience asked Zaza how he practices. He said he loves to watch cartoons with the TV on mute and play whatever inspires him.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Playing bass alone sucks. Get with a group.

 

[Michedelic]

i’ve been playing the bass guitar for about nine months and I am getting pretty good but I’m out of good songs to play. I’m looking for newish songs with good bass lines. I’m a fan of rhcp but I also really like pop songs like thunderclouds by lsd and feel it still by Portugal the man. Anyone have suggestions of good songs?

Expand the pallet of your listening tastes. Go to Allmusic.com and enter the names of bands/artists you’re familiar with, and see what related artists they come up with. The more unknown to you, the better. Explore genres you’re unfamiliar with, go back decade by decade, and just jump in the deep end. Do research on the music you like, what influenced it? What influenced the influencers? Doing that will lead you on tangents you didn’t know existed. It’s all exponential. If you go back two steps from the stuff you like, see what other directions that older material eventually trickled down to in the present age. No, you’re not going to like everything you encounter, but at the same time, you will discover music you never imagined before that should inspire you. Most important, all the while study what the bass player is doing. Nothing just comes out of a vacuum.

 

[blueskies14]

Expand the pallet of your listening tastes. Go to Allmusic.com and enter the names of bands/artists you’re familiar with, and see what related artists they come up with. The more unknown to you, the better. Explore genres you’re unfamiliar with, go back decade by decade, and just jump in the deep end. Do research on the music you like, what influenced it? What influenced the influencers? Doing that will lead you on tangents you didn’t know existed. It’s all exponential. If you go back two steps from the stuff you like, see what other directions that older material eventually trickled down to in the present age. No, you’re not going to like everything you encounter, but at the same time, you will discover music you never imagined before that should inspire you. Most important, all the while study what the bass player is doing. Nothing just comes out of a vacuum.

Thanks so much! That was really helpful. I’ll try to check out that website soon!