Easy Bass Songs for Total Beginners

If you’re a new bass guitarist, learning easy bass songs is important to your foundation.

Playing songs from the beginning isn’t just about the music; it’s about developing skills and having fun doing it!

In this guide, we’ll explore the world of easy bass songs tailored for beginners, shedding light on why they’re good choices and the techniques you’ll pick up along the way.

Characteristics of Easy Bass Songs

Even beginning musicians can play music. Doing so will teach you how songs are structured for your instrument, and it’ll give you confidence.

Of course, you shouldn’t exactly start with the craziest bass solos either. You want to pick songs that’ll let you apply some technique without feeling overwhelmed.

Easy Finger Placements

Being able to move your hand up and down the neck is pretty tough for beginners. So you’ll want to focus on songs with fewer notes in the same area of the fretboard.

Usually, this means learning songs with bass parts that can be picked on a string or two. Playing higher up the neck (closer to the body) is also a bit easier since the frets are closer together.

Make sure to focus on proper finger placement, developing a sense of rhythm and understanding song structure. All these skills will allow you to navigate the rest of the fretboard much easier later on!

Slower Tempos

It’s important that every bass guitarist has their right hand and left hand completely synced. Slower tempos and easy strumming patterns are crucial to developing that skill.

Up-down strumming patterns around 80 BPM or so are usually a great place to start. Of course, you can also practice to a metronome and slow down faster songs.

Starting slow is advisable for any skill. You’ll want to play faster once you get it down, but continuing to play at deliberate paces will encourage perfect finger placement and smooth transitions between notes and chords.

Beginner-Friendly Techniques

Tapping, four-finger picking, harmonics — they’re fun. But they only sound great when they’re used with precision.

We recommend starting off with easier techniques like string muting, hammer-ons and slides. And even then, make sure you’re taking it slow and learning the song step-by-step!

Top 5 Easy Bass Songs for Beginners

“Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen

This is probably one of the most recognizable baselines, and it’s also one even beginners can learn.

• Repetitive Bassline: The repetitive nature of the bassline makes it easy for beginners to play consistently. The timing can be just a little challenging, but there aren’t many sections to learn otherwise!
• Mostly Two Strings: You’ll mostly be plucking the E and A strings, with a single note on the D string. The first section has a ton of open notes too, making it a particularly easy bass song!
• Room for Improvement: Being that the song was written by Queen’s bassist, John Deacon, it isn’t totally rudimentary. As you progress, you can start trying to play it with the groove and mutes you hear in the original recording.

“Stand By Me” by Ben E. King

It doesn’t get a lot easier than this top five bassline!

• 5 Notes, 2 Strings: There may not be a song this popular that uses fewer notes. They’re all played pretty straightforwardly so all you have to focus on is rhythm.
• Repeats Continuously: The bass in “Stand By Me” really anchors the song’s melody. If you take a look at its tab, it’s really just two parts that repeat — no individual parts to learn for each section of the song.

“Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream

Cream has many classic basslines that can be played by beginners. Don’t worry if you don’t recognize this one by name, you’ll know it once you hear it!

• Easy Hand Movement: You’ll be moving your hand between a couple positions. A bit of a challenge for total beginners, but play it slowly and you’ll start moving smooth in no time.
• Intro to Blues Scales: If you’re hoping to get into playing blues on the bass, this song is a great introduction to that sound. It’s also worth highlighting that blues scales aren’t just for blues!

“Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes

While technically the bass part is played by a guitar originally, “Seven Nation Army” is a great first song to learn on bass. It’s also one of our picks for Best Songs on Drums for Beginners!

• Mostly One Finger: You can play the main riff of this song just using your pointer. There are other versions available to practice using your pinky though. Try learning both once you master this one!
• Intro to Sliding: While you don’t have to slide if you find it too difficult, this song definitely sounds the better for doing so. It’s a nice chance to incorporate and develop some bass skills.

“Come As You Are” by Nirvana

It’s easy to get familiar with Nirvana’s grunge classic, and just as easy to then get lost in the song’s groove.

• Picking Practice: The main verse part of this song requires you to switch between picking the two middle strings, and the pre chorus is a consistent strum. Develop your precision and keep the rhythm consistent!
• Tuned Down: You might not want to play this song since you have to go through the extra step of tuning the bass down a step. However, we think that that makes for good practice — especially if trying to tune by ear first!

Tips for Learning Easy Bass Songs

Start Very Slow

As mentioned at the start: go slow.

It’s a common trap for beginners to focus on playing fast. Instead, focus on playing accurately and with some feeling.

We recommend buying a metronome to practice with, and keeping track of which speeds you feel comfortable playing at.

Focus on Fingers

At first, stretching your fingers across a bass’s fretboard is plain awkward. Rest assured it does get easier though!

As you’re learning your first few songs, focus on placing your fingers precisely. You want to build your muscle memory to be as accurate as possible. It’s a lot easier to learn it in the first place rather than un-learning and re-learning it later!

Stretching exercises can be useful parts of your warm-ups if you want to improve your reach too.

Picking Properly

Picking the notes just as you intended is another skill that will take time. So we want to mention that you shouldn’t be frustrated by it if you find it hard at first.

Try not to rely too much on looking at your hands. It’ll be necessary to some extent at first, but you want to make sure your picking hand knows where it’s at without your eyes telling it.

How to Get Better at Bass

To get better at bass or anything else: practice often and practice intently!

Dedicate a specific time each day to working on a clear goal. Whether it’s learning one part of an easy bass song or playing a scale with no mistakes — focusing on one task makes it a lot easier to notice your progress.

Considering signing up for bass lessons too. Having a dedicated teacher gives you access to instant feedback, a curriculum that works and resources you might not have had otherwise. It will definitely make you a lot better at bass a lot faster.

In any case, learning how to play bass will take time. Learning how to play songs is a great thing to do early on though so you’re on the right track here!