Beginers bass lines

You might try Portrait of Tracy by Jaco Pastorius.  It's a little odd because it uses many harmonics.  It doesn't sound odd, it's just an odd way to play.  It's nicely laid out on the fretboard, so fingering isn't too much of an obstacle.  I think I started on it about a month into my bass playing.  If I was new I couldn't have done it, but I also played guitar first.

There's an excellent tab at powertabs.net.

Hi Petrix,

I'm not sure exactly how hard my suggestions should be, but I've been playing guitar for 2-3 years, and recently took up bass as well, so here are a couple of suggestions:   "Californication" - Red Hot Chili Peppers,  "Can't Stop" - Red Hot Chili Peppers, and if you'd like a real challenge try "By the Way" again by RHCP.

Sorry about the repeating pattern, but I've been learning bass from my band's bass player, who's really into the Chili Peppers.

Have Fun 8)
Brad

Yeah, I'll try them, I'm a big fan of the Chilli's more recent stuff. Thanks

Im not a bass player but i dabble.  I think he should learn the box or whatever that thing is and some scale things.  I know, very non-technical explanations but i reccommend moving away from riff learning and in to the stuff you need to know to make your own.

Nirvana has a some good bass lines to learn.  There are some really easy ones (Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, Polly), some that are a little harder (Rape Me, Lithium), and some that are particularly difficult at least at first (Mr. Moustache, Stay Away).  They don't involve much syncopation, so they are pretty good if you haven't delved very deep into guitar/bass playing yet.

Hmm, never been much of a nirvana fan though, sorry

If you're playing the blues,  the bass lines are typically the 1-3-5 of the chord.  So if  the song is in A, then you would use a walking bass line of A, C#, and E.  Just get that pattern down and then you would apply the same pattern to any key.  A lot of rock songs are variations on this.

One of my favorite lines is the Rolling Stones, "B - itch".  For some reason, when I put the word together, it replaces it with "pregnant dog"  which is incorrect too..  LOL

Well I've never actually played bass guitar and I'm not sure that any person would let me go near their bass  guitar...but I'm sure Under Pressure by Queen should be quite easy to play. :)

Sorry, only just seen this thread!
I've been listening to the Pixies a lot recently and they have some great basslines, which sound great because they play a large part in the melody of the songs. I haven't tried them myself, but the album Doolittle has some songs with basslines which sound fun but not too tricky.

xx

hehe, if you want an easy bassline, go with the main bass line in "Running with the devil" by Van Halen (it's just one note). Actually if you look at some songs by the police: Message in a bottle, Every breath you take; those are really basic bass lines. If you ever want a challenge, try "Around the World" by the red hot chili peppers.

I'm another dabbler, but the most interesting I've done with bass is making my own lines, it's really fun if you stretch your brain with what you already know from guitar

Oye Como Va ~ Santana

Indeed, Under Pressure is a good idea. Another One Bites the Dust is also a good idea. Mind you I shouldn't be the one to tell bass players what to play.

Although I am doing quite well on the acoustic. I don't know if I should transfer to bass yet..might wait until Christmas to see how I'm going.

Pink Floyd's Money was one of the first basslines I learned and actually enjoyed playing by myself.

Oh, and I think Portrait Of Tracy might be aiming a little too high at first. Maybe try his Amazing Grace with harmonics first.