Bass songs for beginners: the 10 best bass lines to learn first

You have a four-string bass, you can find the notes on the two low strings, and you want to play something people recognize. The good news for a new bassist is that many of the most famous bass songs are built from a short line that repeats, which is exactly what a beginner can learn in a week.

This guide ranks ten bass songs for beginners in the order a teacher would hand them to you, from a first-position riff to a syncopated funk line. Each entry gives the key, the feel, the one technique the line needs and a score link, so you can hear the part and play along at your own tempo.

The easiest bass songs to learn first are built on a short riff that repeats in first position on the two lowest strings; “Come As You Are” and “Under Pressure” are the usual starting points. From there, move to steady eighth-note root lines like “Billie Jean” before you try a syncopated funk line such as “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown.

Top picks at a glance

• Easiest first: “Come As You Are” by Nirvana, a slow riff that moves one fret at a time on the E and A strings.
• Most recognizable: “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie, two notes and a rest that every room knows by the second bar.
• Best for steady eighth notes: “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson, four notes in one position, repeated for the whole song.
• Best slow and melodic: “Creep” by Radiohead, root notes under four chords at a tempo that leaves time to think.
• Best to play with others: “Stir It Up” by Bob Marley, a two-bar reggae pattern that teaches you to leave space for the drums.

What makes a song easy on the bass

Four things decide whether a bass line is realistic in your first months. Every song below is ranked by them, and the ranking tells you what each one asks of your hands.

The first is where the notes sit. A four-string bass in standard tuning gives you E, A, D and G as open strings, and the first four frets above them are called first position. A line that lives on open strings and in first position needs no shifting, so your fretting hand can learn the shape without chasing it up the neck. The root note, the note a chord is named after, is usually all the bass plays in a beginner song, and the roots of most rock keys sit right there.

The second is steady eighth notes versus syncopation. Eighth notes are two even notes per beat; a line of root eighth notes, as in “Creep,” asks only that you keep them even. Syncopation places notes between the beats, and a syncopated line such as “I Got You (I Feel Good)” has to be felt before it can be played. Even lines come first, syncopated lines later, however simple the notes look on paper.

The third is one riff that repeats. A riff is a short phrase the song is built on. When the bass plays the same four bars for three minutes, as in “Billie Jean,” you learn one thing well and then practice stamina. That is a far better deal than a line that changes every section.

The fourth is no slap and no slides early. Slap bass, where the thumb strikes the string, and long slides between frets both sound great and both hide sloppy timing. Plucking with two alternating fingers and placing each note cleanly builds the hand you will need for everything else, so the ten songs below avoid both techniques.

The 10 best bass songs for beginners, ranked

Merit order for a beginner: the first entries are playable in your first weeks, the last ones reward a few months of even plucking. Each score link opens a musescore.com search for bass arrangements of the song, where you can play the part back and slow it down.

1. Come As You Are — Nirvana

Slow and steady · a riff on the E and A strings in first position · technique: clean fretted notes one fret apart. The record is tuned a whole step down. The common arrangement plays the riff in standard tuning.

Krist Novoselic’s line doubles the guitar riff, so the bass is the hook rather than the backing. The riff climbs and falls one fret at a time, which teaches your fretting fingers to land exactly behind the fret and to stop each note before the next one starts. The tempo is relaxed, the notes are long and nothing jumps strings in a hurry. The rest of the song asks less of your hands than the riff does, so once the riff is clean the whole song follows. Watch the open E at the start of each phrase; it rings louder than the fretted notes unless you pluck it a little softer.

See “Come As You Are” on MuseScore

2. Under Pressure — Queen & David Bowie

Key of D major · moderate tempo · the riff is open D, the A below it and a rest · technique: counting through silence.

John Deacon’s riff is two notes and a gap, which is why it is the most recognizable bass line a beginner can play in an evening. The difficulty is the gap. The riff lands on the first beat after a rest, so you have to keep counting while you are not playing, and that habit is the one that gets you through every song after this. The notes are the open D string and an A, and the rest of the song stays in the same key. Once the riff feels automatic, try it an octave up at the twelfth fret, where the bass sounds warm and the shape is identical.

See “Under Pressure” on MuseScore

3. Billie Jean — Michael Jackson

Key of F-sharp minor · moderate tempo · a four-bar riff of steady eighth notes in one position · technique: muting between notes.

Louis Johnson’s line uses four notes, and they sit within three frets of each other, so the shape is learned in minutes. The song is then a stamina test: the same riff for five minutes, every note the same length and the same volume. That is the lesson. Rest the side of your plucking hand lightly near the bridge so each note stops when the next one starts, and the line turns from a blur into the clipped, machine-even groove on the record. Play it with a metronome before you play it with the track, because a drifting tempo is obvious on a part this exposed.

See “Billie Jean” on MuseScore

4. Should I Stay or Should I Go — The Clash

Key of D major · moderate verse, double-time chorus · root notes under D, G and A · technique: stops and dynamics.

Paul Simonon’s part is root notes under three chords, which makes the verse one of the easiest lines here. The chorus is where the song earns its place. The band stops dead on the hits and then doubles the feel, so you practice two things at once. You cut a note off together with the drummer, and you keep your eighth notes even when the energy doubles. The chord changes are predictable and the roots are all in first position. If the chorus runs away from you, play it at the verse tempo until the stops land, then speed up.

See “Should I Stay or Should I Go” on MuseScore

5. Creep — Radiohead

Key of G major · slow · root eighth notes under G, B, C and C minor · technique: holding a root through a chord change.

Colin Greenwood’s line is steady eighth notes on the root of each chord, at a tempo slow enough that you can see the next change coming. The progression repeats for the entire song, so there is one four-chord loop to learn. Its useful trick is the last change: the guitar moves from C major to C minor, and the bass note stays on C. You learn that the bass holds the floor while the harmony shifts above it, which is most of what a bassist does in a band. Keep the eighth notes the same length through the loud chorus; the temptation is to dig in and shorten them.

See “Creep” on MuseScore

6. Feel Good Inc. — Gorillaz

Key of E minor · mid tempo · one syncopated four-bar riff that repeats · technique: notes between the beats. The record sits a half step below standard tuning. The line works in standard on its own; tune down to match the track.

This is the first syncopated line on the list, and it is here because the riff is short, repeats for the whole song and sits low on the neck. Sing the rhythm before you play it, then tap it on the strings with your plucking hand, and only then add the frets. The notes that fall between the beats are the point, and once your ear knows where they land the fingers follow. The riff also leaves rests, so you practice stopping the string as much as striking it. Expect the first day to feel uneven; the pattern becomes a reflex on the second.

See “Feel Good Inc.” on MuseScore

7. Blitzkrieg Bop — Ramones

Key of A major · fast · root eighth notes under A, D and E · technique: stamina and even plucking at speed.

Dee Dee Ramone’s part is as simple as a bass line gets: the root of each chord, eight notes to the bar, for about two minutes. The notes are easy and the tempo is the challenge. Playing even eighth notes at punk speed, with alternating fingers or with a pick, tires the hand quickly. The song teaches you to relax between notes and to let the wrist do the work. The three chords are all in first position and the changes are telegraphed by the vocal. Start at two-thirds of the tempo and add a few clicks on the metronome every day.

See “Blitzkrieg Bop” on MuseScore

8. Stir It Up — Bob Marley

Key of A major · relaxed reggae tempo · one two-bar pattern under A, D and E · technique: leaving space and playing off the beat.

Aston “Family Man” Barrett’s pattern is the best introduction to playing with other people, because reggae bass is about where you do not play. The line is short, the three chords are in first position and the pattern repeats with small variations, but the notes sit around the drums rather than on top of them. You learn to feel the gap on beat one, to keep each note short and round and to listen to the drummer as closely as to yourself. It is also an easy song to sing while you play, since the vocal and the bass rarely move at the same time.

See “Stir It Up” on MuseScore

9. The Chain — Fleetwood Mac

Key of E minor for the riff · moderate tempo · sparse verses, a climbing outro riff on the low strings · technique: building a line note by note.

John McVie’s bass sits out for much of the song and then owns the ending, so this entry teaches patience as much as fingers. The verses need only occasional root notes, which gives you room to settle in and count. The outro riff is the part everyone waits for; it climbs step by step on the low strings and repeats, and each pass adds a little weight. Learn the riff first, slowly, as a loop, then learn where in the song it begins so you enter with the drums. A line this famous is also a good check of your tone: round and even sounds right, bright and uneven does not.

See “The Chain” on MuseScore

10. I Got You (I Feel Good) — James Brown

Key of D major · fast, 12-bar blues form · one syncopated shape moved to each chord · technique: short notes.

Bernard Odum’s line is the hardest here and the most rewarding, because it is a complete lesson in funk bass. The shape is a handful of notes from the pentatonic scale, a five-note scale that fits under the hand. The same shape then moves to the fourth and fifth chords of the blues as the song goes round. The notes are short, the rhythm is syncopated and the tempo on the single is quick, so learn the shape on one chord first, then move it, then add the track. Once this line is comfortable you can play most of the funk and soul catalog with the same hand.

See “I Got You (I Feel Good)” on MuseScore

Summary of the ten, by rank

One line per song, in the order above, with the level and the skill each one builds.

How to choose your first song

Pick by the skill you want next, and work on two songs at a time: one you can nearly play, one that stretches you. In week one, pair “Come As You Are” with “Under Pressure” and nothing else. When your eighth notes wander, pair “Creep” with “Billie Jean” until they settle. When you have a drummer, pair “Should I Stay or Should I Go” with “Stir It Up” and save the two syncopated lines for last.

Whatever the song, learn the root notes first, one per chord, and play them along with the record. Then add the full line. A bass part that is right on the roots and simple always sounds better than a busy part that is late. Put the online metronome under every practice session, starting well below the record’s tempo, because the bass is the instrument whose timing the whole band leans on.

Tune before you play. The online bass tuner reads each string through your microphone, down to the low B of a five-string bass. The tuning drone sounds each of your open strings, E, A, D and G, so you can match them by ear, and the per-note pages tell you which octave a bass uses. If you read the scores rather than tabs, two short guides cover the notation you will meet. The bass clef, explained covers the staff bass music is written on. Note values, rests and time signatures covers the eighth notes and rests that every line above depends on.

When these ten feel comfortable, the Hal Leonard collection they come from carries forty more lines at the same level, with notation and tab for each: First 50 Songs You Should Play on Bass.

Play another instrument too? See the best ukulele songs, drum songs and violin songs for beginners.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest song to play on bass?

“Come As You Are” by Nirvana is the usual first song. The whole riff sits in first position on the E and A strings and moves one fret at a time at a slow tempo. “Under Pressure” is the close second: the riff is an open D, an A and a rest.

Do I need to read music to play these bass songs?

No. Every song here can be learned from a tab or by ear, and the score links show both notation and tab. Reading the bass clef pays off later, when you want to play from charts or write your own lines, and it takes a few evenings to learn the staff positions of the open strings.

Should I play bass with a pick or my fingers?

Both are correct; the record decides. The Ramones and many punk and rock lines were played with a pick, the Motown, funk and reggae lines with two alternating fingers. Start with fingers, because they also mute the string, and add a pick when a song calls for its brighter, harder attack.

How long does it take to play your first bass song?

Most beginners can play a repeating riff like “Come As You Are” or “Under Pressure” along with the record within two weeks of short daily practice. A full song with chord changes and a double-time chorus, like “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” usually takes a month or two of the same routine.

What key are most beginner bass songs in?

Keys whose root notes fall on open strings or in first position: E, A, D and G and their relative minors. Half of the songs above are in D or A major, and E minor appears twice, because those roots sit under the hand without shifting, which is also why rock bands write there.

Play the line, then play it with the record

Every song on this list earns its rank the same way: a line that lives in first position, repeats, and asks for one new skill. Start with the riff that moves one fret at a time, add the steady eighth notes, then the rests, then the syncopation. By the time “I Got You (I Feel Good)” feels comfortable, you will have the hand that plays most of the songs you hear on the radio.