22 Easy Bass Songs to Learn by Ear

Easy Bass Songs, at a Glance

The easiest bass songs to learn by ear are ones where the bass is exposed or loud, plays one repeated riff or plain root notes, and sits at a slow or medium tempo. Start with Seven Nation Army, Another One Bites the Dust or Stand By Me; move on to Come As You Are and Billie Jean; stretch with Money and Come Together.

• 🔊 Choose songs where you can clearly hear the bass
• 🔁 One repeated riff is the fastest first win
• 🎯 Root-note songs train the core bass job
• 🐢 Loop the riff at about 70%, pitch held
• ➕ Speed up 5% at a time once it's clean
• 🎧 Headphones — phone speakers lose the bass

What Makes a Bassline Easy to Learn by Ear?

A bassline is easy to learn by ear when it scores on five things: you can hear it, it repeats, it plays chord roots, the tempo is slow or medium, and another instrument doubles it. Easy to play and easy to hear aren't the same — a simple line buried in a dense mix is harder than a busier one that's up front.

Run any song you love through the same five checks before you start. A four-out-of-five song you know well will teach you more than a five-out-of-five song you don't care about.

Level 1: Root Notes and First Riffs

Level 1 songs are one repeated riff or plain root notes at a comfortable tempo, with the bass easy to hear. They're the best first songs to learn by ear because you only need to find a handful of notes, then play them in time.

1. Seven Nation Army — The White Stripes. One short riff, repeated almost all the way through, at a steady medium tempo. Teaches: Your first riff in one hand position. Practise it: Loop the riff at 70% and play it until it's automatic. On the record it's a guitar pitched down an octave, not a bass guitar, so if the bass stem sounds thin, listen to the guitar stem.
2. Another One Bites the Dust — Queen. The riff is the song: up front in the mix, repeated over and over, centred on the open E string. Teaches: Rests — the gaps in the riff matter as much as the notes. Practise it: Loop one bar with only the bass and drums at 70%, and count the rests out loud.
3. Stand By Me — Ben E. King. One repeating bass figure carries the whole song in a sparse arrangement, so it's easy to hear. Teaches: A line that follows a four-chord progression round and round. Practise it: Loop one pass of the figure at 75% and hum it before you play it.
4. My Girl — The Temptations. The famous riff opens the song with almost nothing around it. Teaches: Hearing a bassline that's completely exposed — then holding it when the band comes in. Practise it: Loop the intro riff at 75%, then extend the loop into the first verse.
5. With or Without You — U2. Steady eighth notes on the roots of four chords that repeat for most of the song. Teaches: Even eighth notes, endurance and locking with the kick drum. Practise it: Loop one cycle of the four chords with the bass soloed, then mute the bass and play over the band.
6. Zombie — The Cranberries. Mostly root notes under the same four chords, all the way through, at a mid tempo. Teaches: Following chord roots — the core bass job. Practise it: Loop one pass of the chords, name each root note, then play along with the bass muted.
7. Hit the Road Jack — Ray Charles. A short line that walks down and repeats through the whole song. Teaches: Stepwise movement and the sound of a minor key. Practise it: Loop two cycles at 70%, sing the line, then play it.
8. Low Rider — War. One laid-back riff repeated at a slow groove, with the bass up front. Teaches: Feel: sitting back on the beat instead of rushing it. Practise it: Loop the riff with just the drums at full speed — it's slow enough — and focus on the pocket.
9. Peter Gunn Theme — Henry Mancini. A single repeated riff in steady eighth notes, doubled by guitar, in one position. Teaches: Even note lengths and muting between notes. Practise it: Loop two bars at 75% and aim for every note the same length.
10. Let It Be — The Beatles. Slow, mostly root notes under the piano's chords, with a few simple walks between them. Teaches: Following a pianist's chords and adding passing notes. Practise it: Loop the chorus at 80%, play only the roots first, then add the walks. Versions differ, so learn one recording.

Level 2: Riffs With a Turn

Level 2 songs still repeat, but the riff has more notes, a faster tempo or a little syncopation. Try them once you can hold a Level 1 line steady for a whole song without drifting from the drums.

1. Come As You Are — Nirvana. The bass doubles the guitar riff at a moderate tempo, so you hear the line twice. Teaches: A more melodic riff with a few more notes. Practise it: Loop the riff at 70% and check it against the guitar stem — they play the same line.
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana. The bass follows the roots of the four-chord riff through loud and quiet sections. Teaches: Chord roots at a faster tempo, and playing with dynamics. Practise it: Loop one pass of the four chords and climb 75%, 85%, 100%.
3. Under Pressure — Queen & David Bowie. The famous riff is mostly one repeated note with a short turn, and it's almost alone in the intro. Teaches: Precision on repeated notes, and a turn that has to land in time. Practise it: Loop the intro at 75%, where the bass is barely covered.
4. Billie Jean — Michael Jackson. One short pattern repeats for nearly the whole song in steady eighth notes. Teaches: Consistency — the same bar played perfectly, again and again. Practise it: Loop one bar at 80% and play it twenty times without a slip before you go to full speed.
5. Psycho Killer — Talking Heads. A repeated riff in steady eighth notes runs through the verses, clear in the mix. Teaches: Driving eighths with a few moving notes. Practise it: Loop the verse riff at 75% with just the drums.
6. Sunshine of Your Love — Cream. Guitar and bass play the same riff, so it's easy to hear and easy to check. Teaches: A blues-flavoured riff and its slides. Practise it: Loop the riff at 70%; solo the bass, then the guitar, to compare.
7. Feel Good Inc. — Gorillaz. The bass riff repeats under most of the song and sits front and centre. Teaches: Syncopation inside a repeated riff. Practise it: Loop one cycle of the riff at 75% and tap the off-beats with your foot.
8. Blitzkrieg Bop — Ramones. Root notes in fast, constant eighth notes — simple notes, demanding pace. Teaches: Plucking or picking stamina at speed. Practise it: Start the loop at 70% and add 5% each time you get through it clean.

Level 3: Stretch Songs

Level 3 songs are still built on a repeated idea, which keeps them learnable by ear, but each adds one real challenge: an odd time signature, slides and feel, a longer riff, or busy syncopation.

1. Money — Pink Floyd. One repeated riff — but in 7/4, so it's seven beats to the bar. Teaches: Feeling an odd time signature in your hands. Practise it: Loop one bar and count 1 to 7 out loud while you play.
2. Come Together — The Beatles. One famous riff that repeats, with slides and a loose, slinky feel. Teaches: Slides and feel, not just notes. Practise it: Loop the riff at 65% and get the slide timing right before you speed up.
3. Day Tripper — The Beatles. Guitar and bass double a longer, faster riff. Teaches: A longer riff and finger independence. Practise it: Loop the riff at 65% and add 5% each time it's clean.
4. Good Times — Chic. A repeating line, but busy and syncopated, with the bass high in the mix. Teaches: Syncopation and a funk feel. Practise it: Loop one bar at 60%, then two bars, before you try the full speed.

Money is the odd one out: if counting seven feels strange, our guide to finding the time signature of a song shows how to count 7/4 in groups of four and three.

A Four-Week Starter Plan

Take two songs a week, a few minutes a day, and move up a level only when you can play the current songs all the way through with the band. Four weeks of that covers Level 1 and the start of Level 2.

1. Week 1 — one riff, then roots. Seven Nation Army or Another One Bites the Dust, then With or Without You. Done when you can play each with the band, start to finish, without stopping.
2. Week 2 — a line that moves with the chords. Stand By Me and Hit the Road Jack. Done when you can hum each line before you play it.
3. Week 3 — exposed and laid back. My Girl and Low Rider. Done when the riff sits in time with just the drums at full speed.
4. Week 4 — your first Level 2 riff. Come As You Are or Under Pressure. Done when five passes in a row are clean at 100%.

Ready for Level 2 when you can hold a Level 1 line steady for a whole song with the drums. Ready for Level 3 when a Level 2 riff is clean at full speed and you can count the bar while you play it. Swap any song for one you know better that passes the five-point ear check above.

How to Practise Any Song on This List

Isolate the bass, loop the riff, slow it to about 70% with the pitch held, and play along until it's clean. Then speed up in 5% steps, and finish by muting the bass and playing the part yourself over the band.

1. Isolate the bass. Open the song on YouTube with the Riffloop extension, or in the Studio or the phone apps, and solo the bass with the bass stem splitter.
2. Loop the riff. Set an A-B loop around one or two bars — the riff, or one pass of the chords.
3. Slow it to about 70%. The pitch stays put, so the notes you find on the neck are the real ones.
4. Find it, then play it. Hum the line, find the first note on the neck, then the rest. Play along until five passes in a row are clean.
5. Speed up, then swap roles. Climb 5% at a time to full speed, then mute the bass and play along with the band — you're the bass player now.

Real captures from the Riffloop Android app: the six-part mixer — pull any part down, including the bass — and a looped section at 0.75× speed.

That's the short version. For the full by-ear method — finding the root, root-and-fifth versus walking lines, ghost notes, slides and locking with the kick — read how to learn a bassline by ear. To make a play-along with the bass removed, use the backing track maker.

Honest Caveats Before You Start

An isolated bass is an estimate, not the original track: bass is one of the harder parts to separate, so expect a little kick drum or low guitar in it. Listen on headphones, learn one recording, and check notes by ear rather than trusting any one source.

• 🧪 Separation isn't perfect. AI stems are estimates; the kick and the bass share low frequencies, so some bleed is normal.
• 🎸 Not every "bassline" is a bass. Seven Nation Army is a guitar run through a pitch-shift pedal an octave down (Wikipedia); some riffs land in the guitar stem.
• 📀 Versions differ. Live takes, remasters and single edits can change the line — pick one recording and stick to it.
• 🎧 Speakers matter. Laptop and phone speakers barely play bass notes; use headphones.
• 🔢 Octaves fool the ear. If a note sounds right but feels wrong, try it an octave up or down on the neck.

Common Mistakes With Beginner Bass Songs

The usual mistakes are picking songs that are easy to play but hard to hear, practising too fast too soon, and learning the notes without the rhythm.

1. Choosing by difficulty, not audibility. If you can't hear the bass, it isn't an easy song to learn by ear.
2. Starting at full speed. Clean at 70% beats sloppy at 100%.
3. Learning notes, not rhythm. The rests and note lengths are the groove — count them.
4. Moving on too soon. Play the whole song with the band before you call it learned.
5. Ignoring the drums. Keep the kick in your loop; the bass lives with it.
6. Jumping to Level 3. An odd meter or a slinky riff is far easier once two or three Level 1 songs are solid.

Easy Bass Songs — FAQ

What beginner bass players ask about first songs: the easiest one, what to learn first, Seven Nation Army, practice speed, ear versus tabs, and how long it takes.

If You Remember Four Things

• 1 Easy by ear means audible, repeated, root-based and not too fast.
• 2 Start with one riff — Seven Nation Army, Another One Bites the Dust, Stand By Me.
• 3 Isolate the bass, loop it, slow it to 70%, then climb 5% at a time.
• 4 Finish by muting the bass and playing the part over the band.

Keep Going With Riffloop