The Three Most Melodic Rock Bass Lines - EVER

[@BecomeABassist]

Want the tabs and notation for these bass lines? Just fill out the form on this page: becomeabassist.com/3-most-melodic-rock-bass-lines and I'll send them straight to you - 100% free.

[@Robert-kv8ev]

I just got a bass for Christmas and Come Together was the first thing I learned on it too :)

[@BecomeABassist]

Awesome! Such a good song to start with.

[@burieda1ive802]

I got one for Christmas and I learned stand by me by Ben e king and dazed and confused by led Zeppelin

[@rome8180]

For a Beatles bass line, I would have picked "Something." If you want to learn that bass line straight through, it will take you several days to master all the subtle little changes.

[@Explodicon]

One of my favorite bands songs to play

[@mo8239]

It's so fun to play

[@davidgoldstein1526]

I agree 100%. One of the greatest bass lines ever. It also happens to be my all-time #1 song from the rock/pop world. 🙂

[@billybourbon8595]

My absolute favorite bass line of all time has to be “It’s My Life” by Talk Talk. Such an awesome melodic line that progresses perfectly throughout the whole song and basically serves as the songs main focus.

[@alegatorful]

My most favorite bass line ever is from Lounge Act by Krist Novoselic.

[@samuelnougat7592]

Same

[@alexanderh.5703]

For everyone who is a beginner at the bass, just like me. Here are some songs that really helped me in various situations. Alice Merton - No Roots Arctic Monkeys - I Wanna Be Yours Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall pt.2 All of them beeing really easy helped me to get a feeling of how to play the notes without making any errors, starting to cramp up or anything. Even a beginner with only 1 or 2 days of learning should be able to play these without knowing them. I also think Nirvana Songs make a lot fun because the Bass Lines are not as hard for the most part. „Where did you sleep last night“ Slow pasted song, but making the notes sound more harmonic is actually quite fun. „Come As You Are“ Im still on the slower end with my left hand but the Bass Line actually only is using 2 Strings. It really helped me using all of my fingers at once instead of primarily using my Index Finger. „The Man who sold the World“ kinda did the same for me but was definitely harder. And some other Songs that I really like as a beginner: Pink Floyd - Money Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun (Especially if you want to sing along. Dunno why)

[@kevinburke8816]

Luke thanks for those. I love the fact that even when you are showing us how to play you make mistakes but carry on - no edits (at least none discernible!) Happy new year.

[@BecomeABassist]

The things that get me are either having to talk and play at the same time or thinking about what I'll say next while I'm playing - always messes me up! Haha! Happy New Year to you too.

[@franklehouillier8865]

Great picks! Your videos have been killing it this year, Luke. Keep going in 2020!

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks so much Frank - and yes, I'll definitely keep going in 2020. Happy New Year to you!

[@carolcjh8938]

John Deacon is why I wanted to learn bass. Love all of his basslines. Millionaires Waltz and Melancholy Blues, and A Kind of Magic my top favorites.

[@Harry-xs1dd]

He's also my my inspiration and now I finally have a bass after waiting for two years 😢

[@errolcampbell304]

Ramble on yeah man,could you pls show us how to do the chorus,enjoying your lessons as ever

[@blogidaho36]

Good Lesson, very down to earth. As soon as you said Led Zeppelin, I knew it was going to be Ramble On! Probably one of my favorite bass lines of all time. Not real difficult but very interesting. Speaking of Melodic, I always thought the lead guitar player for Little River Band had some of the most melodic solos ever. Another of my favorite bass lines is Loggins and Messina, Angry Eyes. You might be too young to have heard it but I'm in my 70's and it was one of my favorites.

[@BecomeABassist]

I know the Little River Band, and I 100% agree. Some of the lead parts are just so memorable and catchy.

[@schm4704]

Iron Maiden "Revelations"; Rush "Roll the Bones", "Distant Early Warning", "Leave That Thing Alone"

[@Geobardwain]

Disposition and Reflection by Tool are some of the most beautiful bass work I've heard. Justin C. is amazing

[@andrewpappas9311]

Duff McKagan’s bass solo in the intro of Guns ‘n’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine and the bass lines to Pink Floyd’s Fat Old Sun and London Calling by The Clash are some of my favourite melodic bass lines

[@alvin.sozidatel]

Didn’t know any of those 3, thanks Luke for broadening my horizons. Here are my favorites in no particular order: RHCP - Californication Muse - Hysteria Gorillas - Feel Good Inc. DIIV - Doused Twenty One Pilots - Jumpsuit Tool - The Pot The Killers - Jenny Was a Friend of Mine Placebo - Without You I’m Nothing Cake - Hem of Your Garment

[@mimoochodom2684]

Dude....you never heard of The Beatles?

[@alvin.sozidatel]

mimoocho dom well I did but never was into them from a musical or bassist perspective, that’s what I meant

[@mimoochodom2684]

@@alvin.sozidatel Phew! Macca's basslines are incredible. Get into em.

[@BecomeABassist]

There are some great songs in your list @Alvin Maker - I'm into it!

[@SteveSingsThings]

The bass line in the Beach Boys Good Vibrations is also amazing.

[@therevolution91]

Krist Novoselic‘s bass lines are really melodic. (imo) & Mark Hoppus is also quite melodic.

[@MartyWilson100]

Great bass lines by three legends!=)

[@antonburger01]

The coolest bass line to me (and yet rarely covered or discussed in these sort of videos) is the intro to Longview by Green Day! It's one of those defining, signature basslines that is almost the only reason for a song's existence!

[@BecomeABassist]

Great bass line! I went over it in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX-8XoJ_n8RmZrc

[@waywardsonsk1]

That bass line is an attempted recreation of a bass line Mike Dirnt came up with whilst tripping on acis

[@turtlemilk2073]

The first song I learned in bass was She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult. My Second song I learned was from you, Lean on me from your beginner bass lines video. Thank you for that.

[@originalflimflam]

Fucking great goth rock classic

[@carolines.7483]

Cryin' by Aerosmith is a fun one too!

[@rifleman7313]

Great video, I've started really liking bass lines with slides. However I don't know very many bass lines or songs with bass line slides. If you could point me in the right direction for more of these bass lines/songs I would be very thankful.

[@jakeslam3845]

Jason newsteds original line for my friend of misery always gets me, it’s usually the first thing I play when I pick up my bass. It just makes my soul hurt

[@mongofan1]

Thanks, Luke. I'm so glad you included John Paul Jones' line from Ramble On. JPJ was the bassist who first drew my attention to the bass guitar. Ramble On was one of those songs, along with The Lemon Song and What Is and What Should Never Be. Ramble On is the most melodic of the three but in the other two, he sounds like he's talking with us, having a conversation. Amazing.

[@BecomeABassist]

He's one of the greatest for sure!

[@jesolles]

Thank you very much for this lesson Luke. I love the songs in the video ;-)

[@ricardo-yz6vr]

Nice video i love this songs. I go to practice this songs. THX Luke

[@BecomeABassist]

You're welcome @ricardo! Glad you like them.

[@nataliesimon7510]

Thank You, Luke. Sweet lesson!

[@ohlert]

Mayor of Simpleton / XTC / Colin Moulding

[@Cool_us3rhere]

I love the walking bass like from eight days a week by the Beatles and the bass licks from Crush by Dave Matthews Band

[@nickharris9761]

1st baseline starts 1:30

[@WizardOfArc]

Ramble On was my first bass line that I learned 😀🙏

[@BecomeABassist]

Woah - that's awesome! There's no way I would have been able to handle that whole bass line as my first one - well done.

[@j.w.m.415]

The two songs I learned that made me absolutely certain bass was the instrument for me were "Limelight" by Rush and "American Life" by Primus (ironically, probably the most basic, unimpressive bass lines by either band), though I had a pretty good idea such was the case after figuring out Black Sabbath's "NIB."

[@marcusrockzhhhh3456]

Thanks for your amazing tutorials❤❤

[@BecomeABassist]

Glad you're enjoying them!

[@stevieffs]

Of course I expected to disagree :) but when you mentioned Led Zeppelin I knew which song you were going to pick!

[@jefftrout7697]

my favorite is James Jamerson on Michael Jackson's 'Got To Be There'. IMHO one of the best ever.

[@BelligerentBurgers]

Or Darling dear. JJ The GOAT of the bass. Massive JPJ fan as well though, he's still an amazing all round musician.

[@SO-ym3zs]

You want melody? Check out Dougie Thomson from Supertramp: one of the greats at mixing driving rhythmic sections with beautiful melodic parts. You can hear him do it again and again through their catalog. Ditto Mike Mills of R.E.M, Bruce Hall of REO Speedwagon, Rutger Gunnarsson of ABBA, Mick Karn of Japan, Curt Smith of Tears for Fears, session legend Nathan East... And if you include solos, there's Duff's famous intro to Sweet Child O' Mine, the break on Smooth Operator by Sade (perhaps the most famous proper bass solo in modern popular music?)...

[@madlnneh3672]

This bass line isn’t that melodic but it’s so cool Dragon Attack - Queen

[@mo8239]

Agreed it's very catchy and cool sounding

[@OehlJim]

My favorite melodic Basslines are by Jack Cassidy from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Check out the "Water Song" from Hot Tuna!

[@neilstarks5038]

Hi Luke, thanks for keeping these video lessons coming. I would take a look at the bass intro for Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child of mine. It is masked by lead guitar normally but I find it melodic.

[@baroqueguitarist5673]

My favorite melodic bass players are Paul Mccartney and these days Matt Freeman from Rancid and Operation Ivy. Rancid singers often sing just one note and just play power chords. Therefore the band is way less melodic than your average band. Because of the Matt Freeman provides most of the melody in the songs while the power chords of the guitars hold down the groove. Also because Power Chords are neither major or minor and the vocals don't usually define the key either Matt Freeman often used the bass the define the key all on his own. Matt Freeman's Bass Lines are some of my all-time favorites. Along with Mike Durnt from Green Day, Fat Mike from NOFX, Krist Novaselic from Nirvana and even Mark Hoppus from Blink 182 also have some epic melodic bass lines that fly under the radar. Punk Bassists should get alot more credit

[@RockerProf]

I wish that you had shown the slide notation in the tabs for Come Together. Am I correct that you would show a straight line from note 5 to note 12, but not have a curve.

[@DanielLizzama]

Thank you

[@Nivenization]

Thank you.

[@scottsmith4854]

Eric Avery from Janes Addiction has some gorgeous melodic basslines. Then She Did is beautiful.

[@christosevangelidis7937]

Thanks Luke! Another 2 melodic ones: Anouk - It's So Hard and Janis Joplin - Move Over

[@Alpha_7227]

Love John Paul Jones' bass lines especially Ramble on. Alex James bass lines from Blur or Andy Rourke's on There is a light that never goes out is a fave too. Then there is Love Song written by Simon Gallop from the The Cure. Save a Prayer by John Taylor from Duran Duran

[@johnwilkerson1535]

Great video. Great lesson and inspiration, as always. The Spector is sounding really great. Did you make any changes? I know we talked about adjusting the Tone Pump earlier. Maybe switch to a different string? Keep up the great work!

[@francescofalchi5269]

Hi Luke thanks for sharing , great pieces an vero interesting ebay you say about breathing. One of my favourite melodic bass line of all time is Nic Potter's playing on " Refugees " by the Van der Graaf Generator . Lend it an ear of you nave time.

[@francescofalchi5269]

Oops sorry for such a lot of mistakes but T3 doesn't help...and I should be aware of this before publishing. Thanks again

[@rcmakingtracks18]

Hi Luke, great video as always thank you. Jason Newstead, my Friend of misery. Metallica...

[@focalized]

First song that came to mind was Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely. Second was Green Day - Longview.

[@adamvarkonyi]

That Queen bassline is the Nokia tune - Gran vals!!! No one noticed it ever?

[@001USA001]

Nice work.. Ramble on 7:30

[@ssn0651]

Roxy Music “Love is the Drug” & George Baker Selection “Little Green Bag” 2 great bass lines .

[@quinnmitchel4075]

What bout Sweet Emotion?

[@c.r.bouton1842]

Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division Peter Hook is one of the best bass players period

[@cleebo1322]

One of my favorite melodic bass lines is under the bridge by rhcp

[@carlosvillarroel6665]

the basics bass lessons corner. Cheers

[@robertrenteria7894]

One of these Nights-Eagles

[@davidfox7983]

Yeah Ramble on is sweet

[@raze4555]

actually pretty surprising, but stan by eminem got awesome, simple bassline with a cool ending at the "it's not so bad, it's not so bad" tgat kinda gives tgis feel of being not sure about it at all

[@burnsjoe55]

Ramble On has it all.

[@alexo1909]

Kyuss- Space Cadet 🤙

[@martinheath5947]

For the "Come Together" riff try sliding from 5th fret on the A string all the way up to 15th fret then tilt your fingertip to the F on the D string. Sounds the fattest especially with the slide back down from the high A on 17th fret! "Something" bass and drums only is some melodic McCartney magic kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqixmGdoiLKBjNk

[@DrumRoody]

Summer skin by death cab is awesome.

[@Sunchild714]

Joy Division - From Safety to Where?

[@pacervault3350]

I have to agree with you about "Ramble On" being one of the most melodic, beautiful and fun bass lines ever in Rock. Flea from RHCP also has quite a few gorgeous bass lines.

[@Armored_Saint]

If I had to bet 100 dollars, I'd say that Smoke On the Water (Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore) is the number one most played by beginners.

[@smallnerd9978]

Sweet fa peach pit👍

[@markedwardspezenosky5814]

Luke is one best teacher I learned more from him..and I 've played alot

[@mimoochodom2684]

Honorable mention: Mike Mills from R.E.M

[@Splenda257]

The song with the most melodic bass lines is Heart of the Sunrise, and everything else is comes after that.

[@BecomeABassist]

I don't know that song - I'll have to check it out.

[@kurtborchers6178]

@@BecomeABassist yeah...Chris Squire's bass line on that...wow

[@bobbickel1431]

I agree completely, my favorite bass line

[@DarthScarOriginal]

So I'm confused I'm following the video and it sounds great but I find myself trying to correct myself because it looks like you have an extra note in your tabs that you don't play and need? But I'm a rookie so I'm still learning

[@BecomeABassist]

On which song William? I was pretty sure the tabs were accurate, but I may have made a mistake.

[@DarthScarOriginal]

@@BecomeABassist the Aerosmith song. It's no big deal...like all of your others great video. It trust tripped me up a bit. When you slide from the 7th feet and immediately play the first string, 10th fret. Looks like you written it down that you play it twice but it sounds like you only play it once

[@BecomeABassist]

Hey William - there’s no Aerosmith song in this video. Are you confusing this video with another one?

[@DarthScarOriginal]

@@BecomeABassist my mistake, I showed my age. It's actually the song Paul McCarthy did, but I referred it to Aerosmith because they covered it

[@weedywet]

McCartney on A Little Help From My Friends. Jamerson on What's Going On.

[@davidgoldstein1526]

The bass line to Come Together is not exactly the way it is shown here. After playing the "D" twice, it is a hammer on the E#, and slide to the "D." 😉🙂

[@alfrazier8389]

I have to agree with Busta Bass. James jamerson is the father of melodic bass. But he's not a rock bassist, he's a soul man/R and B type of guy. I don't know why he's not named the #1 bassist in modern music. People always say Sting,Flea Jaco Pistorius. No disrespect to these guys. They just haven't done what james jamerson have done for the bass guitar. Look at all the hooks he played for the great artist of his time. I don't believe that most of those artist would have had hit songs without the bass artistry of James jamerson.

[@BecomeABassist]

Totally @Al Frazier - the only reason I didn't include any Jamerson lines is because most people wouldn't consider him a 'rock' bassist. That doesn't take away from his artistry or influence though - he's absolutely one of the greatest.

[@danmillward7358]

Go our own way fleetwood mac

[@danielschwartz3782]

First comment I deserve a salute sir

[@BecomeABassist]

I salute you!

[@Splenda257]

One and a half minutes in and I'd bullshit.

[@BecomeABassist]

Are you OK @Bobby Salvin?

[@soulandfire9252]

1979

[@CreatedinHEAVEN]

I’m here as a beginner, I’ll come back when I’m a bit better😂

[@samuele.celotti999]

Ok we are talking about melodic bass lines and there's not love will tear us apart or even one Peter hook bassline

[@BecomeABassist]

There's only so much I can put into one video @Samuele Celotti

[@DarthScarOriginal]

On the G string

[@thomasdonaldson3523]

That come together is cool but highly overrated

[@gothikka9605]

Nantucket sleighride

[@ilmanrazak5185]

colin greenwood

[@okeedokee3131]

Orion

[@mr.plague2748]

seemann

[@ObtuseGooseYT]

You can do a list of only Decedents songs

[@alexal9736]

Hi Luke! Have you heard about Aram Bedrosian? A very melodic bass player. May be in some other type then you mentioned here in your lesson but he sounds really cool and unique to me. Like this one for example kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZ65pYlodtOph6c

[@jhay3966]

I'm early today

[@BecomeABassist]

Haha! Welcome!

[@jhay3966]

@@BecomeABassist By the Way, you make the best bass lessons on YT, I've only been learning for like 5 months and I'm past begginer stage thanks to your vids. Come Together was also the second bassline I learned, Another one bites the dust being first.

[@williamthelast1]

You forgot Bruce Thomas, the Goat. Don't like John Paul Jones, Sir Paul and John Deacon are awesome bassists and composers. But to forget Bruce Thomas, is a musical sin, bro.

[@BecomeABassist]

ok bro

[@epitath762]

rants, rants, rants

[@jonreinosa]

You taking too much ...

[@Icelandscapes]

Far far too much dialog

[@BecomeABassist]

They should totally fire the writers. lol