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.
Hit me up on Twitter: / seandanielmusic
And Insta: / sean_daniel_music

[@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

[@seandaniel23]

Wow thanks so much for the compliment and thanks for watching!

[@Sammy-nw3zk]

fleshTH ii

[@evening4092]

what were u doing before figuring that out

[@gooscooby5988]

fleshTH a

[@kempybass5786]

You’ve been playing longer than I’ve lived...

[@bronzewolf6464]

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

[@seandaniel23]

Excellent rule.

[@bronzewolf6464]

Sean Daniel Lol, thanks for the reply. Gorgeous guitar!

[@fraukapitaen7]

+Brennan Sullivan: I've had the very same thought, a second ago, when I spotted the Ricky :D \m/ ~ Michael

[@bronzewolf6464]

Sean Daniel Excellent shirt, too, just noticed that.

[@ninjsteve1]

Same here xD

[@orangederp]

This guy is a hybrid of Pewdiepie and Chris Pratt

[@seandaniel23]

(Blushing)

[@SmaugsAccount]

Wow, true!

[@kempybass5786]

His parents? Jk I know that’s not true

[@spamsingles5948]

@@kempybass5786 i dont think you needed to clarify that you know it's not true. Lol

[@kempybass5786]

Spam singles k?

[@1thess523]

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.

[@seandaniel23]

That's awesome. Definitely a cool thing about bass is it can be as simple or complex as you want it to be!

[@jdysontube]

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

[@johnsauer9067]

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.

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much John!

[@joshuacalloway6915]

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

[@cougarman8]

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

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much! No problem :)

[@fingalmckiernan4897]

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.

[@jgwire]

been playing guitar for decades and i'm just now starting to play bass and find that it's a hard instrument to master. guitarists have it especially rough because we tend to just fiddle and noodle bass leads rather than creating a true bass that is independent from guitar and locks in with the drums. Guitarists are often tricked into thinking it's easy because it only has four strings...

[@seandaniel23]

Totally agree.

[@drewpetrey4668]

This is right on. I'm right there with you.

[@martyrofgrenth2136]

Heh, if you go and check Technical or Progressive metal, you'd see that the bass players in there don't kid around. Taking "bass is easy" (not saying that's what you said) and completely breaking it.

[@ruthlessadmin]

I think the core of the problem is that pretty much 99% of bassists suck. A lot of them are failed guitarists who didn't want to put in the work. This leads to an industry full of simple bass lines, which leads to myths about bass being easy compared to guitar. It's not - they're equally as difficult to master, but you can get further on bass with less talent and effort.

[@martyrofgrenth2136]

statikreg Depends what you consider as "getting further". If you mean being in a successful band but not playing anything serious - then yeah, I guess that's possible, but in that case no one would give a single fuck about you or what you do in that band. Though you can say the same for guitar players. Mediocre bands such as Green Day for example, don't do ANYTHING impressive or special at all, and yet they did become famous. In the end of the day though, none of the guys in that band are deemed to be talented or inspiring in any way, doesn't matter on which instrument you're looking at. And I wouldn't say 99% of bass players suck. You have a lot of very impressive bass players around the world, in many many different genres. I personally feel that sometimes it just matters what genre is in the discussion, as some genres leave more space for bass players than others.

[@daniellanekimball9956]

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

[@budandbean1]

... ditto!

[@seandaniel23]

Man it was expensive, but worth it.

[@jamesha175]

donate a lot of blood

[@Ronno4691]

Got a credit card? Then you can *afford* a Rickenbacker ;-)

[@nyrnbman]

what the hell does Trump have to do with this video??? !!!!

[@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.

[@seandaniel23]

So great to hear! I've got more bass videos coming!

[@steveapplegate322]

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.

[@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!

[@briandowny2207]

as a bass guitarist... i like to prey on the insecurities of guitar whammers.

[@seandaniel23]

There are plenty of insecurities out there for you to feast on :)

[@briandowny2207]

as you do well lol

[@sammydwalton7115]

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

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help! I'll have more soon!

[@autocrow]

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

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much for watching :)

[@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!!!

[@seandaniel23]

So great to hear! Thanks for reaching out!

[@sjoseph001]

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

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks for watching Sanjay!

[@michaelbonilla8032]

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

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to spread the info!

[@kijekuyo9494]

For when my guitarist was introducing something new, I learned how to "read" hi's finger shapes for all of the common chords. Then I would build my basslines from that progression.

[@marcstone4561]

Your tone is terrible and chords you played were fuzzy and not clear . Do you do a sound check?

[@lluisperegrino7832]

Recently started bass, loving it so far. This video was really great to just get some general knowledge for playing along with friends. Thanks!

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks for watching!

[@Paulman50]

Wow, I've been searching for a lesson like this on the net for ages. Thanks so much. All the other stuff tends to think I've been playing for 10 years not 1.

[@kazuma675]

Thank you this was such a good tip!! I really appreciate it. Played guitar but going to bass an I missed a lot of simple lessons like this. This is really great info thanks so much for this short an straight to the point video

[@kenjordan1610]

Awesome, thanks a million. It's the simple stuff like that no one teaches which is the most important. Thanks again.

[@seandaniel23]

Always happy to help Ken!

[@bobalobization]

Teaching all of this music "theory" and how to build a "song" and such is interesting, but when will you teach something practical, like windmilling?

[@seandaniel23]

I'll have to do that right after the rock power slide vid.

[@bobalobization]

I can't wait!

[@jhowe5571]

Or, maybe shredding the bass behind your neck... Plucking the strings with your teeth... Never seen a bass player do that!!! LOL... :-)

[@MichaelJordan-hn4zd]

What is windmilling

[@TheObservationlounge]

@@MichaelJordan-hn4zdAsk Pete Townshend. "Who?" You may ask. ...Yes. "Yes?" You may ask. ....No.

[@montys8th]

This video gave me a lightbulb moment. Thank you.

[@DesmoDreams]

Woah! I've only had a bass for a couple of weeks, but within 7 mins of watching this video I feel like I've been playing for a lot longer! Very well well done sir :)

[@seandaniel23]

So good to hear!

[@tribridpersonaltraining8391]

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

[@seandaniel23]

Glad it's helpful!

[@MAVIEGUITARS]

Best lesson I've ever had. Many thanks.

[@seandaniel23]

So cool to hear! Thanks for watching!

[@davehunter9052]

Great intro .... just started with bass having played guitar (badly) for years. This totally makes sense..... Thanks for the guidance and keep up the great work

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help Dave!

[@nicklig8261]

Thank you so much, I am learning the 1-5 now! Feels so good when something clicks, I usually don't watch videos because I have a teacher and don't want to pick up bad habits. Your video was great, thanks again buddy! ,

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much for reaching out, glad you like the video!

[@brucelager8816]

Thank you. I like the way that you explained this. Guitar is my primary instrument, but I think that I may be bass player at heart...

[@seandaniel23]

No shame in that. The bass rules all.

[@silentfury2938]

Finally someone that makes sense ! Thank you !

[@garyhughes1664]

Easy to follow and a great way to get started on bass guitar. I found it really useful. Thx.

[@inescapablestud]

Damn, see even a hurricane can't keep Sean from giving us quality content.

[@seandaniel23]

Unstoppable!

[@rkoz55]

300USD Ibanez Mezzo 5 string PJ 32 inch scale was my Christmas present. This vid is exactly what I need.

[@JS-nf1sn]

Exactly what I wanted to know. I'm looking at getting a bass to put down the foundation on my loops and recordings. Thank you.

[@noiseblaster2243]

Thank you so much this really makes playing along a guitar so much easier

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help!

[@johnthelad]

Thanks for the lesson. I'm keen to learn some bass for recording my songs on my home studio. So very helpful.

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help! Bass on!

[@roymeyer6837]

This gives me some new ideas to work with. When our bass player has schedule conflicts I usually have to jump from guitar to bass and I stick with just the root and 5th just because I'm not that comfortable with it. But I can use some of these ideas to make things less boring.

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help Roy!

[@danthsmith]

Wow. That simple. Thanks Sean

[@paulsguitarchannel1810]

Very useful insight into starting with the bass guitar

[@bikenband]

This is excellent. Been playing guitar for many years, and I have just taken up bass. I can play just about any song I know on guitar on the bass, meaning pick out the bass line and play it, but I don't really know what I'm doing (if that makes any sense). I've asked myself what would I do in a group situation when asked to jam along with a chord progression. After watching this video, now I know. Also picked up a little theory from this. THANKS!

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks for watching!

[@davecarrick2194]

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

[@seandaniel23]

Great points Dave!

[@gruesomewolfgaming4735]

you can play abss with a pick.

[@rockbottombass9675]

first video Ive ever seen that shows the relationship between the bass and the guitar chords. Which in reality means this is the first bass video Ive ever seen that makes relevant sense. I dont care if you can play every bass riff under the sun, if it doesnt relate to the chords those riffs are worthless.

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much!

[@olives003]

This video perfectly sums up what Ive figured out myself playing over the past 5 years lol well done

[@seandaniel23]

So great to hear you've been rocking it! Keep up the good work!

[@budandbean1]

Excellent early learning bass lesson! Very nice and understandable.

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much!

[@davidch.6593]

Best guitar and bass video ever seen

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much!

[@red4life848]

Legend pal like honestly class as always

[@singingcutie98]

you are so good at explaining. thank you!!!

[@seandaniel23]

+singingcutie98 Thanks so much! I'll keep em coming!

[@timlescolan6744]

As a bass player I can say that guitarists always blame us if THEY make mistakes

[@humanhm8803]

I don't know what kind of people you play with but the bass I play with is my rock & anchor. We recognize our own errors and let eachother know of adjustments we should make. If the guitarists you play with dont respect you, you gotta find one you actually get along with.

[@yellowhouse5592]

Dude you should find better musicians to play with if you can! Been playing bass for 8 years and noone's ever blamed me for something I didn't do.

[@dutta7748]

I just loved your lesson

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much!

[@ivicas3]

Thanks man. This is literally my first song on a bass. I'm very encouraged to play now

[@seandaniel23]

Keep rocking it!

[@BurningTirez]

this is really easy to follow a lot of these bass "tips" and geared twords the masters. It took me a month to figure out what a root note was watching other "tips"

[@seandaniel23]

+BurningTirez thanks so much for watching!

[@mongofan1]

Great lesson, Sean. Thanks, Alex

[@christianzamora8704]

These videos are very helpful!! Thank you for the wisdom you spread \m/

[@seandaniel23]

Always happy to help Christian!

[@princejmn]

Yes...just yes! Wonderful lesson!

[@seandaniel23]

+Prince James :)

[@melroberts7987]

Love it! Live it!

[@bobt5778]

Thanks for posting this, very helpful for a beginner. I like your use of the word percussive, it speaks well to the relationship between bass and drums!

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks for watching!

[@jimwarnock1250]

I'm a drummer learning bass. Enjoyed this lesson.

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

Cool video Sean and love the Rickenbacker bass as well as the Albert Lee EBMM guitar! Been wanting to learn bass to add to my guitar and keyboard playing so this is very helpful!

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much for reaching out! I'll keep em coming!

[@JimenezFernando]

THE VIDEO I WAS WAITING FOR AWESOME !!!!

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks for watching Fernando!

[@anmolshakya4288]

Very helpful. Easy to understand thank

[@lucascarpenter4615]

Gorgeous guitar!

[@seandaniel23]

Gott love the Ric.

[@RickyPisano]

Dude....AWESOME LESSON!!! Thanks a million man!!

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks for watching!

[@darthbomberjon]

Thanks sean great lesson

[@AshishSinghPaL777]

Exactly what I was searching for.... Thank you..! It's fun to learn from you😁

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much!

[@alanmcclelland5245]

great lesson Sean, I play guitar but picked up the bass lately to add to my 'journey'

[@seandaniel23]

happy to help!

[@MrRentgould]

Very helpful to me starting out,thanks

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help!

[@WinsomeJohnny]

Sweet lesson! Thanks. Helping me be more functional with my instruments I bought impulsively over the years but no real knowledge of playing much.

[@seandaniel23]

Haha, give me a list of what else you bought and I'll get to it :)

[@WinsomeJohnny]

@@seandaniel23 lmao..Mandolin, violin, keyboards, lapsteel guitar and a minisax.

[@seandaniel23]

I'm on it.

[@WinsomeJohnny]

@@seandaniel23 Haha..Thanks...Now I got to find a way to pay for all this stuff! Worse thing to happen was give me a credit card to a music supply superstore! LOL

[@AlbertoMilone]

The opening line always cracks me up. Keep up the good work with the videos :)

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks Alberto!

[@CheetahSnowLeopard]

Bass is the combo of guitar and drums so who's insecure here?

[@therotiv4]

dross eres tu?

[@rariimusic3889]

Great lesson

[@daveharris7803]

just startin to play bass, lesson helped alot

[@seandaniel23]

+dave harris thanks so much! Got a few more coming soon!

[@sportflyer]

Utterly love this. Why did it take me (or YT) seven years?

[@spacep0d]

Great quick lesson, and it was nice to see what you were doing. So many people mute so many strings that it's impossible to see their fretting.

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks for watching!

[@jacobtrull4208]

beautiful Rick man

[@seandaniel23]

Thank you Jacob, love that thing.

[@ianjohnson4987]

Incredibly helpful - thanks

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help!

[@michal1991994]

The video was very helpful for me, thank you :)

[@oyosensei2723]

Mind blown sir., ur so good! thanks

[@seandaniel23]

Thank you for watching!

[@olliestagg04]

Wow that was a great video. Very informative. Appreciate it!!

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks for watching!

[@alexlol152]

Amazing video!

[@skyliz1248]

Thanks for this lesson.Keep posting

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help!

[@alangreer4365]

Thanks Sean, this was helpful to a rookie like me.

[@LiveAndKickingMusic]

Excellent, Thank You

[@paulmccormacksvideogamesan2912]

I didn't know about using a note from the previous chord, thanks I'll try that

[@DucksCourage]

You're an incredible teacher

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks so much Louis, I'll keep em coming!

[@knighthawk6578]

Very helpful. Thank you so much

[@ManojBejDas1221]

Very valuable lesson, thank you so much 🙂

[@seandaniel23]

happy to help!

[@Legend4ry4896]

Thank you very much for making this video, Sean. I'll be looking forward to ur bass videos ~ haha

[@seandaniel23]

More on the way!

[@padillaadrian1631]

I play bass at our church and this one is really helpful for beginners like my since I only know how to press the root chords xD I hope to improve as I watch and learn from your videos

[@Sanjeet_1810]

I have made this one song on an acoustic guitar, and the chords are pretty straightforward bar chords. I was so worried what am I going to do for the Bass part because just hitting the root notes was sounding really bland and this video taught me a lot how to play and manipulate the bass. Hope ill be able to put some good bass touch to the song :). THanks a lot Sean :D

[@seandaniel23]

Rock on my man!

[@dankyypants3397]

Dope! Very informative 👏 now I can drop some funky basslines

[@davidbarlow431]

Another thing that can really help is locking into the rhythm of the bass drum. A good bassist is always working with the drummer more than any other instrument - in most circumstances.

[@angeladavis2846]

Wow this is great. Thank you.

[@seandaniel23]

Happy to help!

[@ChrisSainsbury]

liked this a lot thank you

[@classicbass3456]

I love that rickenbacker!

[@seandaniel23]

You and me both!

[@mariedega6514]

great stuff

[@BernardBaker1]

Strong. Thank you.

[@samfar28]

I love that loop!!

[@seandaniel23]

Thanks Farha!