The bass is at my place, but now needs to get in YO' FACE

September 19, 2012 9:25 AM

I bought a bass! Can you recommend any specific online tutorials / resources (e.g., on the youtubes) to learn to play the thing? I already play guitar. Bonus: I like Britpop. What are some fun Britpop songs to play on the bass?

Bought the Fender Mustang suggested in my earlier AskMe. I'm happily plonking away on the bass.

I already play guitar, and I'm looking for some fill-in-the-gaps instruction for the bass. I'm trying to learn fingerstyle, for instance, but I'm more comfortable with a pick.

Also, as I get used to the bass, it's been fun to play along with recordings again. I like Britpop, and have been playing along with things like Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, and New Order. Some Blur as well. Anything else Britpoppy with a fun bassline to try my hand at?

posted by Admiral Haddock to media & arts (16 answers total)

Muse-hysteria. Not really britpop, though.
posted by empath at 10:10 AM on September 19, 2012

The bass riff from Elbow's Grounds for Divorce is pretty simple but also requires you to get the fingering right, making it a good but relatively easy exercise. Pete Turner plays with a pick so there's no reason not to. Not really Britpop, but it sprung to mind since I use it as a warmup.

And I know it's not even remotely Britpop, but if you want to learn finger style, you could do worse than some of the Chili's more mellow tunes (1999 onwards, as a rule).
posted by gmb at 10:15 AM on September 19, 2012

I haven't used the bass expansion, but I had a lot of success using the video game "Rocksmith" to improve my guitar skills.

Anyhow, the gist of it is that you can plug your actual instrument into your game console and play along with songs in the game, and it helps teach you specific techniques to help with your "fill in the gap" problem. You can even practice techniques on their own, isolated from songs. And as I mentioned, they just came out with a bass expansion. I know they have some britpop in their song catalog (though I don't have the game in front of me at the moment so can't come up with examples), and they've got additional downloadable tracks, too.
posted by smoq at 10:33 AM on September 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

I find enjoyment in Franz Ferdinand's basslines.
posted by komara at 10:47 AM on September 19, 2012

MarloweDK is the man. Most of the material on that site is also on Youtube.
posted by thelonius at 11:24 AM on September 19, 2012

Among the greatest basslines of all time, and just a few years later than the heyday of the bands you mention, is Spacehog's In the Meantime.
posted by AgentRocket at 11:24 AM on September 19, 2012

Always loved the bass lines from Simple Minds, especially the early stuff.
posted by THAT William Mize at 12:01 PM on September 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

You could do worse than go through The Smiths' catalogue, learning the underrated Andy Rourke's basslines. Start here.
posted by googly at 12:44 PM on September 19, 2012

Elastica were Britpop and fairly bass-driven. I'm not a bass player myself, but I always liked Colin Moulding's playing in XTC. You might also want to give Radiohead's Creep a go.
posted by mippy at 1:22 PM on September 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Blur's "Boys and Girls" has a great disco bass line.
posted by drezdn at 2:10 PM on September 19, 2012

Since you mentioned New Order, you might want to look at some of Peter Hook's other work, particularly his work with Monaco, which features some of the best bass hooks around. Try What Do You Want From Me? for starters.
posted by dilettanti at 3:11 PM on September 19, 2012

Not britpop, but Death From Above 1979 was basically the reason I got a Bass. The basslines for them are really technical, but very satisfying to pull off.
posted by hellojed at 4:54 PM on September 19, 2012

Fun Britpop song to play on bass.

Not too hard, but not too easy for a beginner. What's nice about it is that it has a really simple, driving rhythm so you'll get to learn to move around the fretboard a bit while holding down the beat. This is very useful for a bassist. :-)
posted by Decani at 5:42 PM on September 19, 2012

Also, it's British, it's pop, it's a helluva lot earlier than Britpop but it's easy and satisfying. And filthy.
posted by Decani at 5:48 PM on September 19, 2012

Bass + Britpop* + "learn to play" + "fun bassline to try my hand at" = "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding".

Nick Lowe's bass part on the Elvis Costello & The Attractions version (Lowe wrote the song, too) made that record. S'fun and more interesting than the guitar part.

For a plectrum style bass challenge (having nothing to do with Brit-Pop), check out Bob Bogle with the Ventures live in Japan playing "Wipe-Out".

Don't neglect Paul McCartney with the Beatles and the best of his work after.

All the bass players you like were influenced by him.

All of them.

* Unless there's a newish more specialized meaning of Brit-pop that I'm unfamiliar with.
posted by Herodios at 3:09 PM on September 20, 2012

Kinda late, but the interactive guitar instruction game Rocksmith will have a PC version in mid-October, and will include bass. I think the bass expansion is already out for the existing console versions.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:51 PM on September 24, 2012