- 5 songs, from the simplest to the most demanding: Do I Wanna Know? (Arctic Monkeys), Mr. Brightside (The Killers), Bad Guy (Billie Eilish), Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People) and Get Lucky (Daft Punk).
- Do I Wanna Know? and Mr. Brightside are made up of three or four notes, perfect for your first days on bass.
- With Bad Guy, you discover syncopation: offbeat notes and silences that create all the groove.
- Pumped Up Kicks is played without moving your hand, in a single position, placing one finger per fret.
- Get Lucky teaches you to follow a four-chord progression, the real role of the bassist in a band.
We've seen many beginner bassists, and the breakthrough rarely happens with a scale. It happens the day the line you play finally sounds like a song that speaks to you. Here are 5 easy songs to start on bass: titles you'll recognize from the first notes, each teaching you a bassist's move.
They are ranked from the simplest to the most demanding. No need to read music: each note is given with its string and fret, along with the rhythm and tempo of the record. If your electric bass just arrived, start with the first and move forward in order.
Before playing these easy bass songs: read the positions
All positions are given for a 4-string bass in standard tuning: E, A, D, G, from the lowest (thickest) string to the highest. "3rd fret on the E string" means: finger just behind the third fret, on the E string. "Open" means: pluck the string without pressing anything. Check the tuning with a clip-on tuner before each session.
1. Do I Wanna Know? (Arctic Monkeys): four notes that breathe
The riff of the song, played in unison by guitar and Nick O'Malley's bass, is one of the most recognizable of the 2010s. It consists of four long notes, with space between each, at a slow tempo of about 85 BPM:
- G: 3rd fret on the E string, held.
- Eb: 6th fret on the A string.
- C: 3rd fret on the A string.
- D: 10th fret on the E string, then slide your finger down to the 3rd fret to land back on the G.
This song teaches you two things. First, to hold a note for its full duration, without releasing pressure too early. Then the slide: the finger stays pressed and slides along the string, without plucking again. It's slow, so it's time to work on intonation: each note must sound clear, without buzzing.
To succeed in the slide from D to G, keep medium pressure: too strong, the finger catches the frets; too light, the note dies before reaching the target.
2. Mr. Brightside (The Killers): endurance in eighth notes
Under the vocals, Mark Stoermer keeps it deliberately simple, and that's what makes the line so effective. He pounds steady eighth notes (eight notes per bar) on just three notes:
- C#: 4th fret on the A string, one bar.
- C: 3rd fret on the A string, one bar.
- F#: 2nd fret on the E string, two bars, then loop back.
The difficulty is not in the notes, it's in the tempo: about 148 BPM, so fast eighth notes for nearly four minutes. With your fingers, strictly alternate index and middle. With a pick, alternate down and up strokes. Start at 90 BPM and aim for eight notes at the same volume before speeding up.
3. Bad Guy (Billie Eilish): the groove of syncopation
On the record, the line is played on synth by Finneas, but it fits perfectly under a bassist's fingers. It revolves around three notes, all low on the neck: G (3rd fret on the E string), Bb (1st fret on the A string) and F (1st fret on the E string).
The riff spans two bars, at about 135 BPM:
- Bar 1: long G, rest, G, Bb, G, rest, G.
- Bar 2: rest, G, rest, G, Bb, G, then long F, which restarts it all.
This song teaches you syncopation: notes that fall between beats rather than on them. Tap your foot on each beat and let the notes slip between foot taps. Silences count as much as notes: mute the string with a left-hand finger, otherwise the riff loses all its bite.
In the next phrase, the same pattern moves: C (3rd fret on the A string) with Eb (1st fret on the D string), then D (5th fret on the A string) with F# (4th fret on the D string). Same rhythm, same fingering, just one string higher.
4. Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People): one finger per fret
This is the most melodic line in the selection, yet the left hand never moves: everything is played between the 1st and 4th frets. The index handles the 1st fret, the middle the 2nd, the ring the 3rd and the pinky the 4th. This is the "one finger per fret" principle, the basis of bassist fingering.
The line moves in four-beat phrases, at about 128 BPM:
- F, F, F (1st fret on the E string), then G (3rd fret).
- Ab, Ab (4th fret on the E string), then Bb (1st fret on the A string) and C (3rd fret).
- Eb (1st fret on the D string), three times, with a little lead-in to the next phrase.
- Bb (1st fret on the A string), three times, then loop back to F.
The variations change a bit at phrase ends: the key is to hold these four positions. The trap here is the pinky, often weak at first. Don't replace it with the ring finger: this song is exactly what strengthens it.
5. Get Lucky (Daft Punk): follow a chord progression
Nathan East, one of the most sought-after studio bassists, plays a funk line here loaded with little notes. To start, keep the skeleton: the four-chord progression that loops from the beginning to the end of the track, at about 116 BPM.
- B minor: B, 2nd fret on the A string.
- D: D, 5th fret on the A string.
- F# minor: F#, 2nd fret on the E string.
- E: E, open E string.
First play four quarter notes per chord, one per beat, on the root (the note that names the chord). When the progression loops by itself, add Nathan East's passing notes: an open A just before the B, a C# (4th fret on the A string) just before the D. You then move from a line that marks the chords to a line that grooves, and that’s the bassist’s craft.
To play along with records without headphones or an extra speaker, a combo with an auxiliary input does the job. On the Fender Rumble 15 (V3), the phone plugs in via 3.5 mm and the headphone output lets you practice anytime.
Working on these easy bass songs, in the right order
The same method applies to all five tracks, and it saves you from bad habits that take months to fix:
- Listen to the track focusing only on the bass.
- Play the line slowly, without a metronome, until you know it by heart.
- Start a metronome at 70 BPM and play four times in a row without mistakes.
- Increase by 5 BPM each clean run, up to the track’s tempo.
- Finally, play along with the recording.
Twenty minutes a day beats two hours on Sunday. And if you hear buzzing behind your notes, it’s the neighboring strings vibrating: rest your right thumb on the E string when playing higher, and release left hand pressure after each note.
With these five tracks, you learn to hold a note, play fast eighth notes, place a syncopation, finger without moving your hand, and follow a progression. All the positions given here fit under your fingers on any 4-string, from a Squier Sonic Precision Bass to a studio bass. Next? Take a track from your playlist and apply the same method: soon you won’t need anyone to tell you what to play.
