Thursday, March 19, 2026
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10 Nirvana Bass Lines that PROVE their GENIUS


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Today, we’re looking back at the 10 Nirvana bass lines that prove his genius!

The 1991 hit Smells Like Teen Spirit skyrocketed Nirvana to becoming the biggest band in the world. However, bassist Krist Novoselic never hogged the limelight or indeed the full frequency range, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t have his opportunities to show off every once in a while.

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Video Breakdown:

00:00 – Intro
00:35 – #1 Blew
01:48 – Tuning Down
02:55 – #2 Love Buzz
04:03 – #3 Smells Like Teen Spirit
04:46 – Defining a Generation
05:16 – the ACTUAL best part of the song
06:10 – #4 Lounge Act
07:20 – #5 Come As You Are
08:25 – #6 Lithium
09:24 – the bass break
10:02 – #7 Sliver
10:15 – so who wrote all of these bass lines?
10:58 – how to play this line
11:27 – #8 Hairspray Queen
13:15 – #9 Dive
15:05 – #10 Heart Shaped Box
17:00 – Next up!

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#bassguitarlessons #nirvana #nirvanabass

#Nirvana #Bass #Lines #PROVE #GENIUS

Originally posted by UCWTj3vCqkQIsrTGSm4kM34g at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og8nOfIuAK0

35 thoughts on “10 Nirvana Bass Lines that PROVE their GENIUS

  • It's uncanny how after having grown up on Nirvana music, I never realized how important Krist's bass was to their sound. Now 25 year later, learning to play bass, and I'm blown away by this video… So many original and cool bass lines to learn!

    Reply
  • Great video, and special thanks for including Hairspray Queen! Also, I didn't ever realize that Nirvana had so many bass intros. Cool!

    Reply
  • Amazing. ???? I actually posted a video of 50 of Krist's bass lines a few years ago. He and Mike Dirnt are the reason I got into playing bass in the first place.

    Reply
  • one crazy and stupidly tough song on the bass by krist is Mr mustache on the album bleach it is so hard because of it’s repetitiveness and not to mention the crazy tempo. This makes my fingers hurt not even half way thru the song

    Reply
  • i was in my dad ball when the song smells like teen spirit came out, im just here for song to learn especially nirvana and to share the love for bass and krist

    Reply
  • Great bass lines… but I saw some mistakes in some songs

    For example, in Lithium, the entire bass is tuned in D, and some movements that Christ made are missing

    Reply
  • The songs are cool but – nope the bass work is just ON, not genius. My fave is Dive, but as a whole it is root oriented and not exactly innovative

    Reply
  • Less is more ! Often makes it harder to learn ! I love Nirvana and Grunge music! Its honest and un pretencious music
    And the lyrics speak truth ! My era this ! ????????????????

    Reply
  • I love the right guy's tone . As a toan newbie, how's that happening? What's going on there?

    Reply
  • Come As You Are, Lithium and Drain You were all played in E standard tuning. However the producer Butch Vig stated that they wanted to give some songs a darker and heavier feel by slowing the tape down in post (i believe he was referring to Come As Your Are and didn’t state what the other tracks were but these are the 3 songs that were altered).

    Slowing down 12% has effectively dropped the whole track down a whole tone. Which is why these songs seem tricky the way you’ve transcribed them. If you watch the way Krist plays the songs live his positions are different and tuning is different (Lithium never played in drop D) and the tempo is generally around 12% faster. This isn’t a well known fact but explains alot..

    Reply
  • I heard it the first time when I saw it on MTV, was it 1992 or earlier? I wasn't a great fan and didn't find it very innovative. They reminded me The Pixies which I listened to a bit but I was more into older hard rock – early Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and groups like that while Grunge seemed to me continuation of punk rock into new wave thing. I was also too old, at 16 my tastes were already on with older stuff.

    Reply
  • Absolutely love his bass work! Lithium has my favourite bass line. And I hear SO much Beatles influence in it.

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  • I like guitar and mostly play guitar. But took bass as second instrument. And first riff I played was Lounge Act – it's so cool that I always wanted to play it

    Reply
  • Are those special gloves? I know they’re for some sort of nerve or neurological condition and stop spasms, but how is it to play bass through? Are they super thin to let you feel the strings , does it hamper the connection you get with the instrument. Not the physical connection, more the emotional one?

    Reply
  • first time i heard teen spirit i was at the park when it was winter and slightly snowing just a thin layer of frost on everything and my BF says do u like nirvana? and i say i think ive heard of them, then they play teen spirit on max volume through my speaker and i was so in love with it.

    Reply
  • KRIST ANTHONY NOVOSELIC

    16 DE MAYO DE 19(6)5

    60 AÑOS

    EX BASSIST OF NIRVANA

    ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

    Reply
  • Krist wrote them. They wrote their songs together, in the room, without talking about what they were doing.

    Reply
  • Krist kind of always played exactly what needed to be played and nothing else. That's a property alot of guitarists could take after.

    Reply

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