what to teach my dad

[asix]

he is 59 and just got his first bass. he's a Beatles fan so something like love me do>? we are from Liverpool so I think he thinks he is Paul McCartney so has having a hofner violin bass for his 60th but id like him to have some playing ability first.

[Sharkfin]

How about Day Tripper?

[guitarman1234]

teach him a lesson in violence JK why don't you teach him something he wants to learn

[Partial @ Marshall]

Slayer....just kiddin'. Don't forget old blues tunes. Easy to learn and popular at the time. Very cool, I bought my Dad a Gibson EB-3 for his 60th.

[VitaminG]

the early Beatles stuff was blues based rockers, so they would be a good start. Or teach him some simple blues stuff to get started. Once you've shown him a pattern, he can move around from the I to the IV to the V and play along with blues tunes. Simple & fun! And then move him on to some Beatles

[triplehold]

asix- Get your pops a Hofner Beatle bass for his 60th birthday, that would be the coolest thing ever! Jam with him on some blues and maybe he'll pick up on some funk too. As far as McCartney's playing goes, most bass players will tell you he is a very sophisticated trained musician and one of the best bassists ever. Get him to learn to drive the root note with his right hand and develop some speed and jam punk rock style. Find a drummer and then you guys will really be be in business. Many years ago I got a friend of mine started on bass, we put tape on the frets and wrote the notes under the strings. After steady practice he became an excellent bass player with quite a number of accomplishments under his belt. Being smart to begin with helps also.

[Newc]

Try some old Motown stuff as well. That's what the Beatles were into, plus you've got simple yet effective bass lines. Start off with You Can't Hurry Love before going to things that involve moving around the fretboard, like Come Together.

If you want him to enjoy it, it has to be enjoyable for him, meaning he has to hear himself playing what he's playing along with as if he's part of the group.

Be patient. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks, but they're slower to start.

[Grandturk]

Born Under a Bad Sign is always good - simple bass line and you can solo all over it!

----------7------------
-----7-9----9-----7----
-7-9----------7-9---5--
-----------------------7

[Endrik]

as newc said, play a bunch of Motown tunes with your dad. Paul, like every other electric bassist at the time, learned to play good from listening to James Jamerson's grooves.

[<-Mitch->]

Teach him the bass to Black Star by Yngwie Malmsteen.

[asix]

well dad was at my flat. he was on my Warwick 5 string streamer. strung right handed. tbh not the easiest of basses to play as the scale is huge, back the of the neck is clubby and father has spent years working ships engines and does not have the span for that neck.

so i started playing knocking on heavens door just the chords and my day was following. he really is still learning but he was getting it and his knowledge of what note are where is not bad at all. it was a good made for tv father son moment.

[ToneZone]

Penny Lane is a cool tune on bass. Lady Madonna has a fun bassline...

[Bengal65]

I've found just getting him a good teacher is best. Not that you can't teach. It just can get difficult teaching amongst family members or friends.

[Spivonious]

Teach him the blues scale and show him how to move it around to different positions.

Keep things simple until he gets his finger strength up.