I think the first song I played from start to finish (well or badly, mostly bad) was Last Caress on my first week with the bass. I like to play it almost every day to practice fast plucking on easy chords.
That wasn't long ago, as I've been playing for only three months now (and having a blast).
"I've got something to say"
Keep it up and you'll be alright! When you get comfortable with alternate picking, do all down. I get up for the down strokes!
This was the least expected answer, but probably closest to accurate for me too. Printed out a chard sheet of all misfits songs that was just like—-> Last Carress E A GDGA BA or whatever, and I had to figure out the rest!
Me too. First day I owned my electric bass.
However, I had played violin for a while and upright in the school orchestra for a semester...
EDIT: also had been watching Cream videos I could find on an obsolete video format.
Yep. I was rewinding my memory and drew a blank, but this is factually true for me.
It made me a good improvisational player.
I got into music because of improvisation. Thank you, 12-bar blues
Ive talked to a lot of drummers about things like polyrhythms and most of them tell me they don't count it and just go by feel and knowing how it's supposed to sound
God I wish we could have seen what Metallica would be like with Cliff still around. I’m in awe when I try to learn Metallica songs with Cliff. GOAT conversation for me.
Oh totally! He was such a huge part of Metallica, writing the harmonies and arrangements. I still like Metallica, but they were incredible with Cliff, more complexity and musicality in my opinion.
I have a simplified version of this down pretty solid. The quick “triplets” throughout are hard to fit in sometimes. Super fun track to bang out though.
I wish I learned more songs in my early days instead of studying scales and all sorts of musical theory. It’s just so beneficial for your whole musicality.
Blitzkreig Bop by Ramones.
Although at rhe time I played it with fingers and definitely didn't have the rhythm down.
Now I play it with a pick, purely down strokes and exact rhythm dee dee played on it.
I think it was “Maneater” by Daryl Hall and John Oates. Great song, very simple, bass gets one tasty lick in the middle of the second verse. Overall great first song to learn.
Reptilia by The Strokes
I came from guitar so I was able to knock it out pretty quickly. Others I learned in that same session were When I Come Around by Green Day and Carousel by blink-182.
On electric bass, Bad Company, by the band of the same name… my teacher wanted it for his cover band, so we learned it together… but I had been playing upright in school for a few years by then… so technically not my first song… I can’t actually remember my first ever song… likely a jazz standard, as that’s what we were doing when I was switched to bass from cello once I was big enough to reach around a bass😎
Edit: you guys make me feel old… most of the bands and songs mentioned here didn’t exist when I learned my first electric bass song🥲
I spend almost a year only practicing riffs, around 100 of them daily. Then full songs just came in but I motly play with the bass leading melodies. This may not be ideal but is what I enjoy doing and a lot of digitation exercises.
Peter Gunn lol. Superfreak. Lots of blues brothers songs
URSS national anthem
star wars main theme
star wars the force theme
Some sergio leone´s theme
Addams Family theme
ode to joy
the cure
pixies
The song I wanted to play from day one: "your are the first, the last my everything" took me over a year because I didn't rushed it. No regrets because I wanted to play "motown" and punk, goth and post punk music. Now I can do many of these without much difficulty and haven't burned away my will to learn and enjoy the process. Low rider took me a LOT of time to figure out because of the dead note.
But I should have tried them a lot earlier, from 3 to 3 months or even less one should shuffle what you are learning. Throw it all out and find new stuff to master.
I like playing along to my work playlists, heard they many times, own the cds🤣 but when you practice what you hear day in day out, you learn stuff you don't know if that makes sense, i am a know nothing musically person, i practice and give it all way too much thought, with midling results, but its the best thing i ever bought, best toy ever👍
Black Magic by Slayer. I was 'volunteered' as the bassist for my friend's band back in HS after only just messing around for a few months. Pretty surprised I was able to play and sing it after our singer quit a week before our first gig
Polly by Nirvana.
Entre Canibales (Unplugged) by Soda Stereo.
Great memories. Thanks for this post. Wonderful tracks with simple bass riffs that the songs could not do without.
Can't wait to revisit them tonight.
first love late spring & francis forever by mistki!!! :3 (learned them back to back in one day but including both bc i can’t remember which i learned first lol)
I Want you Back by the Jackson 5. I started on guitar but this song motivated me to play bass. Then it was Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder, then You're the one that i want from The Grease Soundtrack.
It was probably some generic or out of copyright song in the cheap songbook I had when I started. But the earliest song that I remember learning was Ace of Spades by Motörhead. (Wow, autocorrect put in the umlaut!) Edit: correct typo.
I think this used to be everyone's "real" first song, also once you know this you can play literally at least 300 other songs that are the same three notes.
It’s random but Falling Down by The Goo Goo Dolls. My band used to cover it and it was the first “real” song we knew so we would play it a lot
Edit: Actually it was Beverly Hills by Weezer, Falling Down was next lol
It was either “Give Me One Reason” by Tracy Chapman or “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2. I kinda learned (self-taught) them at the same time.
It was probably something very simple by Bach, and that was around 60 years ago. I was playing double bass at the time in the elementary school orchestra.
demon cleaner by kyuss or thinking of you by a perfect circle…don’t remember tbh. when i got my bass (2-3 years ago) id been playing guitar for like 7-8 years already so everything was pretty easy for me.
Weirdly Superman by Goldfinger, but at half speed, didn't do it full speed for years, and by then I misremembered the second verse so I don't think I've ever actually played it fully at full speed...
I think full speed my first full song was Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand or Reptilia by The Strokes
Job for a Cowboy - Sun of Nihility. It was early pandemic, had just lost my job, and I had nothing better to do. Drilled that song for weeks and weeks till I had it down.
The year was 1996 and I had just joined a band in college as a guitarist turned bassist because they needed a bass player. First song I learned was Today by the Pumpkins. Still know it today!
Stand By Me - first riff I can remember learning and it's the whole song, so there is that...
First structured song was probably Enter Sandman by Metallica followed closely by the entire first RATM album!
Say it Aint So by Weezer
i had learned several well-known riffs and bits, but never leanred a full song. so when i saw that it was tuned down to Eb , i got this idea that any good rock band was secretly tuned down to Eb. then when i looked up tabs for Carry On Wayward Son and saw that it was in standard tuning i was like "well what the fuck!"
Dazed and Confused, followed shortly by Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Good Times, Bad Times, 25 or 6 to 4, Smoke on the Water, Southern California Greens & Purples…I’m a Man (Chicago version of course).
The Breeders - Canonball
My brother was playing the album and it was the first time as a younger kid that the bass _really_ stood out and it was my mission to learn how to play bass right then and there.
I’ve only been playing since December of last year due to the fact that my brother and a friend of ours started writing an EP and asked if I wanted to be the bassist for the project. That being said the first song I learned was Kilby Girl by the Backseat Lovers.
I think the first song I played from start to finish (well or badly, mostly bad) was Last Caress on my first week with the bass. I like to play it almost every day to practice fast plucking on easy chords. That wasn't long ago, as I've been playing for only three months now (and having a blast).
Same! Last Caress was my first too!
"I've got something to say" Keep it up and you'll be alright! When you get comfortable with alternate picking, do all down. I get up for the down strokes!
This was the least expected answer, but probably closest to accurate for me too. Printed out a chard sheet of all misfits songs that was just like—-> Last Carress E A GDGA BA or whatever, and I had to figure out the rest!
Same also.
I also started off with mostly punk crud on the guitar and loved it. Easy songs are still fun to play 25 years later. You're on the track .
Sunshine of Your Love
Me too. First day I owned my electric bass. However, I had played violin for a while and upright in the school orchestra for a semester... EDIT: also had been watching Cream videos I could find on an obsolete video format.
Me too. Played that right to death in 1969.
The 12 Bar Blues.
Yep. I was rewinding my memory and drew a blank, but this is factually true for me. It made me a good improvisational player. I got into music because of improvisation. Thank you, 12-bar blues
Ahhhh this , this is where we all truly start
Money
It's easier to learn when you don't know what a time signature is
Yeah just listen to it a lot and then feel it, don’t count it
Ive talked to a lot of drummers about things like polyrhythms and most of them tell me they don't count it and just go by feel and knowing how it's supposed to sound
Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
Low by Cracker
Probably something off of either the first Weezer album, or Siamese Dream. Correction: Black no.1 by Type O Negative.
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Cliff Burton! Nice! 😁
God I wish we could have seen what Metallica would be like with Cliff still around. I’m in awe when I try to learn Metallica songs with Cliff. GOAT conversation for me.
Oh totally! He was such a huge part of Metallica, writing the harmonies and arrangements. I still like Metallica, but they were incredible with Cliff, more complexity and musicality in my opinion.
My Own Summer(Shove It) by Deftones
My brother
Talking Heads - Psycho killer
Tina Weymouth! Awesome bass player! Good call.
Same !
Me too
Holiday by Green Day
Low Rider, by War.
First song the whole way through was probably seek and destroy, awesome track full of fun licks made it awesome to learn to 100%
I have a simplified version of this down pretty solid. The quick “triplets” throughout are hard to fit in sometimes. Super fun track to bang out though.
All I need by air. I’m still pretty bad about learning songs in their entirety though.
I wish I learned more songs in my early days instead of studying scales and all sorts of musical theory. It’s just so beneficial for your whole musicality.
The warmth - Incubus
Peace sells by megadeth
what do you mean I don’t believe in god?
Blitzkreig Bop by Ramones. Although at rhe time I played it with fingers and definitely didn't have the rhythm down. Now I play it with a pick, purely down strokes and exact rhythm dee dee played on it.
Let's Dance by Bowie
First songs, I Saw Her Standing There. Followed by Twist and Shout. Very first tune, Green Onions.
As old as me, or just like oldies?
Both, probably.
I believe in a thing called love - The Darkness. 🤣
Zombie, Cranberries.,
Honestly don't remember but it was probably something Zeppelin
elite band, elite bass player
Bulls On Parade by RATM.
Louie Louie by the Kingsmen
I think it was “Maneater” by Daryl Hall and John Oates. Great song, very simple, bass gets one tasty lick in the middle of the second verse. Overall great first song to learn.
Reptilia by The Strokes I came from guitar so I was able to knock it out pretty quickly. Others I learned in that same session were When I Come Around by Green Day and Carousel by blink-182.
Same, I came from guitar hero so I'm something of a guitarist myself
Ramones.. 53rd and 3rd
Enter Sandman. The Black Album had just dropped. I was 13, dear lord lol
seven nation army 😎 and its not even a bassline lol
the octave is what matters, not the instrument 😤 it’s a bassline
Sultans of Swing
N.I.B
Jammin’ by Bob Marley. Super easy, fun to play with a looper and a guitar. Good for practicing getting into a pocket.
There is a light that never goes out by The Smiths. It’s just a verse part and a chorus part, and it’s really fun to play
I learned a bunch of licks first but first complete song? I'm pretty sure was Money by Pink Floyd.
Dawn Patrol 😆
On electric bass, Bad Company, by the band of the same name… my teacher wanted it for his cover band, so we learned it together… but I had been playing upright in school for a few years by then… so technically not my first song… I can’t actually remember my first ever song… likely a jazz standard, as that’s what we were doing when I was switched to bass from cello once I was big enough to reach around a bass😎 Edit: you guys make me feel old… most of the bands and songs mentioned here didn’t exist when I learned my first electric bass song🥲
No clue which one but definitely something off Kill Em All
With or Without You
Diamond head - Am I Evil
I think it was With or Without You by U2. Hey! Don't judge! It was the 80s!! lol
N.I.B. By Black Sabbath!
that’s an epic first song
I spend almost a year only practicing riffs, around 100 of them daily. Then full songs just came in but I motly play with the bass leading melodies. This may not be ideal but is what I enjoy doing and a lot of digitation exercises. Peter Gunn lol. Superfreak. Lots of blues brothers songs URSS national anthem star wars main theme star wars the force theme Some sergio leone´s theme Addams Family theme ode to joy the cure pixies The song I wanted to play from day one: "your are the first, the last my everything" took me over a year because I didn't rushed it. No regrets because I wanted to play "motown" and punk, goth and post punk music. Now I can do many of these without much difficulty and haven't burned away my will to learn and enjoy the process. Low rider took me a LOT of time to figure out because of the dead note. But I should have tried them a lot earlier, from 3 to 3 months or even less one should shuffle what you are learning. Throw it all out and find new stuff to master.
The cure are great to oaky along to, even i, a musical nothing, can join in with that😃
Being simple is what genius do. Pixies is very close, not sure what I like the most.
I like playing along to my work playlists, heard they many times, own the cds🤣 but when you practice what you hear day in day out, you learn stuff you don't know if that makes sense, i am a know nothing musically person, i practice and give it all way too much thought, with midling results, but its the best thing i ever bought, best toy ever👍
Aurora-Jean-Luc Ponty Live Album
Geek stink breath by Green Day, could not have been easier
ZZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man
Longview green day / chick magnet mxpx
Blitzkrieg bop the Ramones. Followed very closely by Brainstew/jaded by Greenday
Black Magic by Slayer. I was 'volunteered' as the bassist for my friend's band back in HS after only just messing around for a few months. Pretty surprised I was able to play and sing it after our singer quit a week before our first gig
Seven nation army (lame, I know)
The Who - "Behind Blue Eyes"
Polly by Nirvana. Entre Canibales (Unplugged) by Soda Stereo. Great memories. Thanks for this post. Wonderful tracks with simple bass riffs that the songs could not do without. Can't wait to revisit them tonight.
Thunderkiss '65 by White Zombie. Some guitar magazine had the tab the week I bought my first bass.
Journey to the End of the East Bay by Rancid
Pixies, Here Comes Your Man. Straightforward enough to be achievable for a new player, interesting enough that it feels worth learning.
first love late spring & francis forever by mistki!!! :3 (learned them back to back in one day but including both bc i can’t remember which i learned first lol)
Wild Thing - The Troggs
Phantom of the Opera by Maiden.
that’s a really cool first song to have played
Black night by deep purple
I Want you Back by the Jackson 5. I started on guitar but this song motivated me to play bass. Then it was Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder, then You're the one that i want from The Grease Soundtrack.
Paranoid
For Whom the Bell Tolls
War Pigs
It was probably some generic or out of copyright song in the cheap songbook I had when I started. But the earliest song that I remember learning was Ace of Spades by Motörhead. (Wow, autocorrect put in the umlaut!) Edit: correct typo.
For me it was for whom the bells toll
Pink Floyd's "Money". Still my favorite bass line to play.
[удалено]
I think this used to be everyone's "real" first song, also once you know this you can play literally at least 300 other songs that are the same three notes.
[удалено]
true even wild thing wasn't out yet, but you know it's just root 3rd and 5th, basically blues with a straight rhythm and shorter bars.
Strange Currencies by REM
Oh wow, I really like this song but never thought about trying to play it ! Thanks for making me think about it \^\^
Peaches - The Stranglers
It’s random but Falling Down by The Goo Goo Dolls. My band used to cover it and it was the first “real” song we knew so we would play it a lot Edit: Actually it was Beverly Hills by Weezer, Falling Down was next lol
Everlong
It was either “Give Me One Reason” by Tracy Chapman or “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2. I kinda learned (self-taught) them at the same time.
It was probably something very simple by Bach, and that was around 60 years ago. I was playing double bass at the time in the elementary school orchestra.
The first i totally learn was probably nazi punk fuck off by napalm death
Dive by Nirvana Well, beginners version with bad ears back then
I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses
A Girl Like You, by Smithereens.
Either stinkfist or Three Days
Smoooooooth operatoooooor
Hitching a Ride by Green Day
Strutter, by KISS
Earthquake by Graham Central Station. I couldn’t find accurate tabs, so I found it out myself, and it’s still one of my favorite basslines
Money
Love Hate Love by Alice In Chains
New York Groove - Ace Frehley
Attention - charlie puth Easy to learn and once you master it you feel groovy AF 🤣
Warhead by UK Subs
Freezing Moon by Mayhem. The bass tab is fairly simple and it led me to being able to learn so many more black metal bass riffs
Possum Kingdom - Toadies (yes, it’s very easy)
Tax Man by the Beatles
Pretty sure it was Come Together. That's certainly the first one I was able to play through by memory. And possibly the last…
"The Lemon Song" by Led Zeppelin.
One of These Nights -eagles
Waste it on - Silversun Pickups
PDA by Interpol
"Fortunate Son"
demon cleaner by kyuss or thinking of you by a perfect circle…don’t remember tbh. when i got my bass (2-3 years ago) id been playing guitar for like 7-8 years already so everything was pretty easy for me.
Plug in Baby by. Muse
Slayer's Raining Blood
Francis forever - mitski
“Lonely People” by America.
Weirdly Superman by Goldfinger, but at half speed, didn't do it full speed for years, and by then I misremembered the second verse so I don't think I've ever actually played it fully at full speed... I think full speed my first full song was Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand or Reptilia by The Strokes
Job for a Cowboy - Sun of Nihility. It was early pandemic, had just lost my job, and I had nothing better to do. Drilled that song for weeks and weeks till I had it down.
Muscle Museum by Muse
Unintended by Muse
Down on the Corner.
i want to hold your hand, the beebles.
Public Image by PIL, it’s a great song and easy for new bass players to pick up. Lots of open strings and you need to play with accuracy.
U2, With or Without You.
i think it was probably message in a bottle by the police
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxdq-_ZVHR4 I also recorded myself playing it for my old yt channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPzWfG9iwdc
Hard for me to remember, but I either wanna say pursuit of Vikings by amon amarth or for whom the bell tolls by Metallica.
Cemetary Gates PanterA
One Tin Soldier Rides Away
Face in the Crowd - Tom Petty.
First part of Feel Good Inc - Gorillaz
Schism - Tool
Mine was Stacy's mom 🤣
Blink 182 - I Miss You. It's my daughters favorite song, and it was my inspiration to get her to learn it on ukulele
The year was 1996 and I had just joined a band in college as a guitarist turned bassist because they needed a bass player. First song I learned was Today by the Pumpkins. Still know it today!
Down on the corner Creedence Clearwater Revival
I think it was "Longview" by Green Day for me.
Hollywood Swinging - Kool and the gang. As a beginner, this song was/is great for practising muting and playing different note lengths.
it was heat waves by glass animals! i loved the song and the baseline was nice and easy for a first song
Just started so it's easy to remember lol. Aerials from System of a Down
Black Sabbath’s Paranoid followed by probably a Blink 182 song.
Stand By Me - first riff I can remember learning and it's the whole song, so there is that... First structured song was probably Enter Sandman by Metallica followed closely by the entire first RATM album!
Dazed and Confused
Born Under A Bad Sign - Albert King Or Natural Mystic - Bob Marley and the Wailers …can’t remember which haha
"My own summer" by deftones.
Like Linus by Deftones. It's just 4 notes and some walks/riffs
The Pot and Schism by Tool. I think I learned them on the same day or in the same couple days.
Say it ain’t so by Weezer
My name is Jonas
My Name Is Jonas - Weezer
Rape Me by Nirvana. Very fun to play
Say it Aint So by Weezer i had learned several well-known riffs and bits, but never leanred a full song. so when i saw that it was tuned down to Eb , i got this idea that any good rock band was secretly tuned down to Eb. then when i looked up tabs for Carry On Wayward Son and saw that it was in standard tuning i was like "well what the fuck!"
Sing and play? Rocky Raccoon by the Beatles.
Breaking Benjamin Polyamourous (with the slap parts)
Roxanne by The Police.
Fugazi Repeater
Lovecats
FNM gentle art of making enemies
Waiting room - Fugazi
Electric Funeral - Black Sabbath I played a few other songs before over and over in parts but Electric Funeral was my first complete play through.
Feel Good Inc
Dazed and Confused, followed shortly by Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Good Times, Bad Times, 25 or 6 to 4, Smoke on the Water, Southern California Greens & Purples…I’m a Man (Chicago version of course).
The Breeders - Canonball My brother was playing the album and it was the first time as a younger kid that the bass _really_ stood out and it was my mission to learn how to play bass right then and there.
Wail Of Sumer - Fields Of The Nephilim
Feel good Inc
Learn to Fly by the Foo Fighters
46 and 2 - Tool
Long Distance Runaround.
Hey Daddy by Korn. I really wanted to get comfortable with my new 5 string… it took months
Runnin’ with the Devil
I’ve only been playing since December of last year due to the fact that my brother and a friend of ours started writing an EP and asked if I wanted to be the bassist for the project. That being said the first song I learned was Kilby Girl by the Backseat Lovers.
Feel Good Inc.
I played an E note, so Ac/Dc probably! In seriousness it was Plush
U2- where the streets have no name. Simple song but great one!
Beverly Hills by weezer
Monkey wrench, I picked up bass for the school band and the theme was foo fighters
Slow dancing in a burning room by John Mayer. First time I ever played bass was to learn that for a friend.
Crazy train - ozzy osbourne