How to Play Along on Bass Guitar

Going over some of the easiest ways to simplify bass so you can play along and jam with a guitar player of other musician.

Rocking the Rickenbacker 4003 through an Ampeg Portaflex and an Ernie Ball MusicMan Albert Lee through a Fender G-Dec.

[fleshTH]

I've been playing bass for 17 years. I figured this out probably after about a year of playing. I'd say you laid it out perfectly and put it all together. This is exactly where a bassist should start. well done

[orangederp]

This guy is a hybrid of Pewdiepie and Chris Pratt

[bronzewolf]

I'm a simple man. I see a Rickenbacker, I click like

[thess]

I started as a drummer in my first band but after we broke up my little brothers band needed a bassist (he was the drummer) so I said "hey just show me what to do" even though I had never played bass or guitar (apparently all those years of tennis racket guitar didn't help). The guitarist said just follow my pointer finger and you should be good, we played pop punk and skate punk in the mid 90's and it turned out pretty good.

[johnsauer]

An excellent introduction to playing bass. So often, the lesson books take the too-long way around to get to this point. You did a great job of helping beginner bass players get playing easily. Well done.

[jdysontube]

Excellent teacher. No boring, endless talking just saying enough and getting on with it. Well done

[cougarman]

Guitarist who just started playing bass to fill out my demos...this was fantastic!! Thanks for making it.

[fingalmckiernan]

This is a the best example of building riffs in key around - clear, uncomplicated and easily understandable. So many videos and apparent 'teachers' massively overly complicate it. Brilliant - well done.

[joshuacalloway]

Dude. Immensely helpful. I typically play guitar at church, but filling in at bass this week. Great place to start

[RedBeardTattoo]

Sean, thanks for your videos, I've been a drummer/percussionist for 35 years, and I wanted to expand myself, so I took up bass. I've been in it for little over a year, so your video are really helping. Keep it up.

[sammydwalton]

Probably one of the most helpful videos I've ever watched for learning bass. Thanks so much.

[daniellanekimball]

Gosh, you even have a Rickenbacker!! I'd kill for that bass.

[Nomad_za]

The tips you gave are amazing!!! I taught myself to play guitar and eventually ventured to bass but not having a teacher to show me these tips you gave in this video, now I can teach myself to play better!! Thank you!!!

[sjoseph]

Lovely lesson, shows that there is so much improv possible with just a few extra notes. Thanks!

[autocrow]

Thanks for the excellent bass tutorial. Simple, yet sounds great and makes perfect sense.

[michaelbonilla]

I've played for 9 months and just had an awakening due to this video. Thank YOU!

[steveapplegate]

Thanks again Sean I’m a guitar player learning bass. I have watched ten or so bass videos and yours has helped me the most.

[tribridpersonaltraining]

Watching this year. So freakin cool to hear you play it like this. Definitely makes me want to practice a ton

[henrymuasml]

been searching online for a beginner to start, you are by far the best! start simple and add more as you go along. Well explained! Thank you!

[davecarrick]

Some of the comments here.. (facepalm thingy) Bass is a unique instrument, it does a unique job. It can't be compared to a guitar in the way it's played. Guitarists sometimes don't make good bass players because of being stuck in a certain way of playing, like with a pick, or they try to solo too much, or play too many chords, or not listen to the drums. I wasn't a good guitarist but I'm approaching the bass the way it should be, as a completely different instrument, but at the same time using the knowledge I got from learning guitar scales and a bit of theory which means I could hit the ground running and after a year sound like a reasonably competent player. Being aware of complementing the drums and putting down a solid backing for the rest of the band is a responsibility and a real buzz