There are so many ways to play bass and so many techniques depending on the music genre you are playing. On YouTube, “Davie504” gives a great 2 part demonstration on various bass styles. He has a number of videos on YouTube that are fun to watch. Check you his playlists at: https://www.youtube.com/user/Davie504/playlists
Andrew Pouska presents a good article on Bass technique posted at: http://www.studybass.com/lessons/bass-technique/about-bass-technique/
He states “No one was physically born to play bass (or any instrument but voice for that matter). As a bass player you are adapting your hands and body to this musical instrument.” He shares the opinion of many that “… there is no single, correct way of playing the bass — only better and worse ways.”
For Andrew, he proposes 4 main bass technique goals:
He concludes with sound advice: “The bass guitar is only 50 years old or so. There are many things to be discovered. Practice a lot and always keep an open mind.”
An excellent article on Guitar World entitled Guitarist’s Guide to Playing Bass see: http://www.guitarworld.com/guitarists-guide-playing-bass by by Matt Scharfglass
“Bass is more than just a guitar with two fewer strings. It has a different tone, scale length, feel and musical role, and in many cases it requires a different conceptual and technical approach.
Guitarists who are new to playing bass will often double the guitar part one octave lower. There is certainly a place for lockstep octave doubling—just listen to Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion,” Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean” and Pantera’s “I’m Broken.”
But there is so much more that can be done with the bass guitar. Matt gives 20 guidelines to help you think and play like a real bassist: