10 easy bass songs for beginners to learn

Are you a rookie bassist dreaming big? Fingers crossed that you are - the world’s always in need of more awesome bass-players. 

This article tees up some content that’s ideal for ambitious newcomers, which comes in the shape of ten songs - ten iconic pieces of music that’ll function as a platform on which to build your bass-playing skills. 

To ensure that you’re introduced to a range of challenges, these tunes span a variety of genres, from classic soul to contemporary rock. They’ll help you not only to develop a balanced playing ability, but also to prepare yourself for the challenges to come - regardless of the kind of player you want to be.

Most of the parts are written out in tab as well as staff notation. If you’re not comfortable with either system then you ought to have a quick look at how to read bass sheet music. Remember - standard tuning, unless otherwise indicated.
 

Easy bass guitar songs for beginners
 

1. ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd
2. ‘Take Me to the River’ by Al Green
3. ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ by Arctic Monkeys
4. ‘That’s All Right’ by Arthur Crudup
5. ‘Lucky’ by Radiohead
6. ‘Left of Center’ by Suzanne Vega
7. ‘Arrivederci, Roma’ by Renato Rascel
8. ‘Proud Mary’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival
9. All the Small Things’ by Blink-182
10. ‘The Twist’ by Chubby Checker

1. ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd

Seems the perfect place to start. Pink Floyd are one of the great rock bands of all time. They were led by one of the world’s best bassists - Roger Waters. And on ‘Wish You Were Here’ they were arguably on their finest form. Plus, the tune’s nice and straightforward.

The bassline’s typical Waters. He wanders melodically, playing much more than just the root notes of each chord, but he still grounds the texture as a rock bassist should. The part doesn’t present anything too technically challenging, but it might take you a bit of time to work out some of the rhythms. Playing along to the song will help with this. 

The song is a heartfelt tribute to Floyd’s cofounder, Syd Barrett, who had left the band some years before. Although Waters took over as frontman after the departure, guitarist David Gilmour takes lead vocals to sing this tribute to his former bandmate. This Faber title includes the vocal part alongside the bass - but no pressure to sing along.

2. ‘Take Me to the River’ by Al Green

A style of music that evolved from the older genre of rhythm and blues, soul has always championed the value of a strong bassline. And Al Green’s anthem ‘Take Me to the River’ proves that point better than most songs. From the intro, the rhythm section lays down a tidy groove, at the heart of which is a choppy, driving bass riff.

Appearing on his intimidatingly titled 1974 album, Al Green Explores Your Mind, the song wasn’t released as a single, and didn’t make a huge commercial impact at first. In fact, the label - Hi Records - passed the tune on to Syl Johnson, another of their artists. Gradually, though, the song’s stock rose, not least due to covers recorded by a range of artists. 

One of those was Talking Heads’ 1978 cover. They stripped back the texture, and bassist Tina Weymouth refined the bass part. It’s their version of ‘Take Me to the River’ that has been transcribed by Faber and is available on nkoda. Featuring a stream of notes - in a slow tempo - this one will help you to develop your picking technique.

3. ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ by Arctic Monkeys

Anyone who thought rock had nothing more to say by the mid-noughties had to eat their words when Arctic Monkeys released their debut single in 2005: ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’. With it, they announced themselves as one of the most exciting rock bands of the young 21st century.

Coming soon after the song - probably the most lauded of the year - was the debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Drawing just as much acclaim, it enthralled listeners with its unique and raucous take on nightlife, pub culture and romance in the urban north of England - everything that ‘I Bet You Look Good’ captures perfectly.

Musically, the Arctics are masters at doing the simple stuff with maximum effect. And that’s certainly true of the bass part, mostly made up of steady crotchets (quarter notes). In 2014, music magazine NME placed the song at #7 on their list of the greatest songs of all time. There’s no better opportunity to jam with the very best as quickly as possible. 

4. ‘That’s All Right’ by Arthur Crudup

Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup was an authentic bluesman of the Delta. Raised in Mississippi through the early decades of the 20th century, he was steeped in the folk roots of the blues. In 1940, he moved to the next great capital of the style, Chicago, and recorded ‘That’s All Right Mama’ six years later.

His electrifying recording was released the following year, but it didn’t enjoy the success that some of Crudup’s previous recordings had done. In 1954, a 19-year-old Elvis Presley reinterpreted the song in Sun Studio, Memphis. It was his debut single, and it charted majorly, catalysing the phenomenon of rock and roll that would change music forever. 

Crudup preempted many musical attributes typical of Presley’s later sound. Sadly, he received neither the credit nor the royalties that he was due. Presley’s ‘That’s All Right’, omitting ‘Mama’ from the title, is the version that’s available on nkoda. The bass part drifts nice and easy between the root and the fifth of each chord - in true rockabilly style. 

5. ‘Lucky’ by Radiohead

Complex as their music typically is, most of the Radiohead bass titles on nkoda don’t fall into the ‘easy’ category. Lucky for us, there’s ‘Lucky’ for us. On this track, bassist Colin Greenwood reins in the difficulty just enough so that we can reasonably include it. It’s a mega song, and a great one to play along to.

It’s the penultimate tune on Radiohead’s third LP, 1997’s OK Computer. The album consolidated the group’s reputation as a major act of the era, before they went in a very different direction with their next effort, Kid A. If you’re encountering Radiohead for the first time, get used to that - they’ve made a real habit of reinventing themselves.

Marked by stark contrast between lyrical and heavy textures, ‘Lucky’ typifies their early sound. The fluid bass playing has a flavour of Roger Waters about it. Bends, hammer-ons and pull-offs are the hardest features. Not easy with thick strings and wide frets, but they’ll be a key part of your playing arsenal. Look out for changes in time signature, too.

6. ‘Left of Center’ by Suzanne Vega

‘You can find me left of center’, Suzanne Vega sings. She couldn’t be more spot on. To this day she remains an edgy and elusive figure in the world of music. She burst on to the scene with a series of successful singles in the 1980s. One of them was ‘Left of Center’, co-written with Steve Addabbo, who co-produced Vega’s first two studio albums.

The song was written for the 1986 coming-of-age film, Pretty in Pink, and released on its hit-studded soundtrack. Its agitated lyrics touch on alienation and romance - themes that are all too common in the adolescent experience.

It’s a fast-moving song, carried by brisk drumming and a muted acoustic guitar. The bass certainly keeps up, but don’t be daunted by how it sounds or looks on the page, as the awkward-seeming gestures involve the same root-fifth-octave fingering pattern. If you keep your hand in this position then you’ll be able to work your way through them easily.

7. ‘Arrivederci Roma’ by Renato Rascel

Actor, songwriter, Eurovision contestant - Renato Rascel was a man of many talents. They combined in ‘Arrivederci Roma’, the unforgettable song that he wrote for, and performed in the 1957 film Seven Hills of Rome. 

It’s a song rife with nostalgia for the eternal city, and for the love that the singer has found there, but must leave behind. It’s a classic Italian romantic ballad, and that’s probably why some of the great interpreters of this material - the likes of Dean Martin and Mario Lanza - were drawn to it. Your turn to follow in their footsteps.

You’ll find the bass part inside the Sikorski title, Basics for Bass Guitar, alongside a range of other easy pieces, studies and lessons. It’s a nifty toolkit for the beginner player, but it does use standard notation instead of bass tabs. Rhythmically speaking, it’s really simple, as it’s almost exclusively made up of crotchets. But keep an eye out for those rests.

8. ‘Proud Mary’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival

One of the great American bands of that heady period known as the late ’60s, Creedence Clearwater Revival really got into their stride with their 1969 release, Bayou Country. The album’s second-to-last song is ‘Proud Mary’, and it’s got to be one of the finest songs in the history of popular music.

Bandleader John Fogerty wrote the song in the two days after he was discharged from the US army reserves. ‘Left a good job in the city’, he sings, to drift along the water in the ‘Proud Mary’ riverboat towards a new life. Rooting this ballad is a beautifully dynamic bassline, urging the music forward, much like the water that pulls Mary along.

The song’s been covered no fewer than 100 times since Fogerty and the band released their original. Foremost among these is no doubt Ike and Tina Turner’s version, honoured in this PepperHorns arrangement for big band. It’s a tougher bass part, but definitely worth having a crack at.

9. ‘All the Small Things’ by Blink-182

Blink-182 lit up the late 1990s and early 2000s with their distinctive blend of singable melodies and blistering punk beats. Appearing on their third album, Enema of the State, ‘All the Small Things’ captures their signature sound perfectly. It remains their most successful single, and probably the most admired. 

This was pretty much the idea from the start. Guitarist Tom DeLonge, knowing that the album would need an accessible, radio-friendly anthem, wrote a tribute to his childhood sweetheart and set it to a simple and effective musical framework. Tight structure, simple chord scheme, catchy vocal part and anthemic chorus - winning formula.

In classic pop-punk style, the bass part pounds out repeating quavers every bar, which definitely makes things simpler in terms of rhythm. But the notes are constant and the tempo’s pretty quick, so your fingers will get a real workout. It’s a great song to play, so rock out and have fun.

10. ‘The Twist’ by Chubby Checker

Few recordings can boast legendary status, and fewer still will be forever associated with one of the most iconic dances of all time. You’ll find ‘The Twist’ on those shortlists, the song that cuts right to the heart of what American popular culture at the turn of the ’60s was all about.

So the story goes, Hank Ballard was inspired to write the song when he saw teenagers twisting in Tampa, Florida. Although Ballard and his band released their recording in 1959, it was Chubby Checker’s 1960 version that really etched the song into music history, capturing the hearts, hips and feet of America’s youth - and igniting the Twist craze.

It’s not to be confused with the (probably more famous) ‘Let’s Twist Again’, Checker’s follow-up recording of 1961. Its refrain, ‘let’s twist again, like we did last summer’, refers back to the phenomenon that Checker had sparked the previous year. It’ll be hard to twist while you’re playing the walking bass part, but why not give it a go? 

Your next steps for bass music
 

In short, the next steps are to find the sheet music, pick up your bass, and practise. Practise, practise, practise. Once you’ve exhausted the material we’ve looked at here then you can see what else is on offer in nkoda’s collection of bass sheet music.

For similar content to this, check out the posts best bass songs, best bass players and hard bass songs. There you’ll discover some new, exciting and quality repertoire, and find out all about the icons that wrote great chapters in the story of bass-playing - feat. Paul McCartney, Nirvana, Flea, and... Lionel Richie!?