The best way for beginners to become better bass players is through practice with exercises. Bass guitar exercises are usually different riffs that you can play in order to increase the speed and agility of your fingers.
Beginning Bass has a lot of different lessons on this that you can read:
Left Hand
- 6 Left Hand Dexterity Exercises
- 2 Warm-Ups I Use Every Time
- 4 Cool Bass Riff Exercises
- 2 Advanced Exercises
- 4 New Riff Exercises
- 4 Awesome Bass Riffs
Right Hand
- Right Hand Bass Exercises
- More Right Hand Exercises
Every riff in the complete list of bass exercises is completely original.
How to Get the Most Out of the Exercises
The best way to see progress in your bass playing is to practice the riff by starting very slowly and making sure that you can hit every note at the right time. Once you can play the riff slowly you should start to increase your speed until you are playing the tab rather fast.
Once you have the speed down you can start adding in your own parts to the riff making it your own. This is where it gets exciting. Now you can play an original riff that you wrote based off a skeleton provided here.
Focus On Left or Right Hand?
Another common question that gets asked is, “which hand should I start exercising first?” or “which hand is more important?”
Know this: In order to become a better bass player you need to be constantly improving both hands… at the same time.
You’re practice schedule should have a small chunk of time dedicated to practicing your left and right hand separately and then together. If one is stronger or faster than the other it will not matter since you need both to play bass.
The Ultimate Exercise
The most important bass guitar exercise you want to perform is playing your favorite band’s hardest song. This will whip you into shape as a bass player and give you motivation to improve.
Start by breaking down the song into manageable chunks. Maybe the chorus is really easy to play or you already know the verse riff. Work from there.
Advance into the harder parts of the song slowly. It can help to not play with the music at first until you are comfortable playing at that tempo, especially if it’s metal.
Once you can master that song you will feel a surge of confidence in your playing. Start learning more songs by your other favorite artists by using this method.
Practice and Hard Work
No matter what I say, it ultimately depends on you to improve your bass playing. Only you have the power to dedicate yourself to practicing everyday and not giving up on the song you want to learn.
The bass guitar exercises on this site are purely stepping stones to harder riffs you will need to and want to play in the future. Get started on the right foot.
Hopefully this bass guitar exercises page has given you a little insight into the world of becoming an improving bass player. Remember to never settle for less than you can be!
