Students and musicians who play the bass form an important part of any orchestra, ensemble, or group. Bass parts help generate pleasing harmonies that support and enhance the melody, and in many instances also perform the percussion part required for string bands and certain types of music, like bluegrass or jazz.
The double bass is an amazing instrument. It adds depth and richness to any piece of music, is able to conform to a variety of genres, and readily lends itself to different styles of play. With either bowing or plucking techniques, you can create soothing mellow tunes or toe-tapping tempos that rouse listeners to hand-clapping, feet-stomping participation. And because playing the bass has so much agility, the number and styles of songs you can play are practically endless.
So if you’ve been wondering what songs you play on the bass in addition to those included in your practice books and music class assignments, look no further. This list offers a wide selection of music in various styles so that you can learn the songs you’d like to play. Plus, if you’re part of a small group of performers who contract gigs, you can pick and choose from these music sites to develop a repertoire that will expand your outreach and make it easy for you to market your services to new customers.
Free Music Scores.com offers access to over 70,000 pieces of sheet music for free, but they also include an intuitive search method that allows you to search availability according to your choice of instrument or ensemble. In addition to sheet music collections that feature jazz, bluegrass, classical and contemporary tunes, you can find instructional videos, books, and other tools that will help you develop your ability and widen your scope of play. For example:
50 Tunes for Bass Volume 1, Traditional, Old Time, Bluegrass & Celtic Solos, by Mark Geslison includes songs like Arkansas Traveler, Cripple Creek, and Cotton Eyed Joe, along with 48 other memorable tunes.
All Star Bluegrass Jam Along for Bass, Backups, Lead Parts and Note-for-Note Transcriptions for 21 Essential Tunes, by Todd Phillips is a play along collection of well-known favorites including I’ll Fly Away and In The Pines. Both collections retail for under $30, and provide hours of music instruction.
However, if your tastes run towards more contemporary rock and roll masterpieces, you can find great tunes at Mona Lisa Sound. Depending on your budget, you can purchase string quarter sheet music with the double bass added for around $35-40. Choose greats like:
- Led Zeppelin’s All of My Love and Whole Lotta Love
- Bohemian Rhapsody and Crazy Little Thing Called Love, by Queen
- Born to Be Wild, by Steppenwolf and Money by Pink Floyd (both great songs for the double bass)
Other classic rock offerings include:
- Paint it Black, Honky Tonk Woman, and Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones
- Pinball Wizard by The Who, Purple Haze by Jimmy Hendrix, as well as Light My Fire and Break on Through by The Doors
Or if you fancy more of a 1980’s style rock, you can choose iconic hits like these:
Every Breath You Take (Sting)
Just What I Needed and Shake it Up (by The Cars)
Let’s Dance and Space Oddity (by David Bowie)
She Blinded Me with Science (Thomas Dolby)
Sweet Dreams are Made of This (Eurythmics)
The point is, that for a small investment, you can find just about any song you’d like in its full sheet music glory, tailored for your double bass.
Free Sources
Some other avenues you might want to pursue include scrolling through the offerings at 8Notes.com and Musicnotes.com. Both sites offer free digital downloads for the most popular, well-known songs for playing bass and other stringed instruments. Plus, you can also search large cyber-stores like Amazon and EBay for single sheet music items at affordable prices.
By choosing to practice and play songs that you enjoy, you’ll be able to increase your bass-playing ability quicker and with much more fun. Check out these sites for the full range of songs offered and start adding to your repertoire today.
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