-
Step 1
Listen to the bass part in a song. If your stereo or music program has a balance, turn up the bass and turn down the treble to hear it more clearly.
-
Step 2
Listen to one particular riff in the song. If the riff is long, divide it into parts and listen to one part repeatedly.
-
Step 3
Try to play along with the riff. If you can't play it full speed, slow it down in your head and try to play without the recording.
-
Step 4
Download software that allows you to change the playback speed of the music. If you are using Windows Media Player, try the 2xAV plug-in to change the playback speed. You could also download a free sound editor, such as Audacity.
-
Step 5
Play the song with the playback speed slow enough so that you can play along comfortably. Then, as you get more proficient, slowly increase the playback until you can play at full speed.
-
Step 6
Learn the other parts of the riff if you divided it into multiple parts.
-
Step 7
Change the riff to see what it can do. Try playing one part of it repeatedly, or changing the order of the notes. Play it softer or louder to change the feel. Try incorporating it into other songs to see how it works.
-
Step 8
Experiment with slaps and pops. To slap the bass, hit the string aggressively with the side of the thumb joint. To pop, pull the string away from the bass with the second or third finger, then release it to let it snap back into place. Both of these techniques will give you the loud, percussive tones used in funk, jazz and other aggressive bass styles.
-
Step 9
Learn hammer ons. To hammer on, play a note, then aggressively hammer a finger on your fretting hand onto a higher fret to get a second note.For example, you could play the second fret on the E string with your index finger, then hammer onto the fourth fret with your ring finger to slide the note up two semitones.
