Place your left hand index finger on the third fret of the “E” bass string. The “E” string has the lowest tone on the bass guitar. It will be the first string you see when looking down at the bass guitar.
Pluck the note with the index finger of your right hand while gently holding your thumb on the pickup of the bass. The pickup collects the sound from electric bass. If there is no pickup, then hold your thumb pressed just above the sound hole of the bass guitar.
Put your left-hand little finger on the 10th fret of the same string and pluck that note with your middle right-hand finger. Alternate between plucking with your index and middle finger on your right-hand to make playing more efficient.
Slide your left-hand index finger back up to the eighth fret and pluck that note with your right-hand index finger.
Repeat the same pattern while counting “one and, two and, three and, four and.” Pluck a note on every word to play eighth notes. Do this until you develop a steady rhythm and pattern.
Place your left-hand index finger on different notes of the string to play different one-string rhythm patterns. Keep count while playing to ensure a steady rhythm.