Hey bass players...

[thor16]

What are some good books (for a real beginner) with standard notation and tab? I'm looking to start playing some actual songs.

[DARTH POOH]

I would recommend checking with your music dealer to find out the latest. (If you have a 'Guitar Center' near you so much the better) I recommend "Bass Player" magazine. They always have columns with 'tricks of the trade' as it were. That's about all I can offer. I learned bass, as I'm a guitar player and we couldn't find
a decent bass player to save our lives in this one band I played in. I now happily play both.
Learning bass made me a much better guitarist which was an added bonus [img]biggrin.gif[/img] There are some decent videos out there too by folks like Stuart Hamm (Joe Satriani band) and Flea. Again those tapes can really help with tecnique and such.
(Hamm is amazing)

[thor16]

k, thanks pooh

[Peter Peeker]

Hal Leonard books are good for beginners too.

and yeah, Hamm is a friggin' monster on the bass.