Figured it was time to start a new thread…. Most here already know that I not only play Classic Rock, Motown and Country, but I also play Christian and Worship…. Actually, I play that genre more than any other genre since I have played it exclusively over the years in various/numerous church group settings….
AND, there is a difference in how the music is played on bass….
This said, how about a space where we can discuss, share, collaborate, etc, about all things Worship/Christian/Faith based as it relates to playing bass???
Things like:
Short/No rehearsal times
Key changes for different vocalists
Surprise songs to play by the preacher
Having played in numerous band/groups over the years, that m itself has never prepared me “totally” for the likes of playing in any church/worship/faith based situation!! It’s like driving around the Washington DC beltway in the wrong lane!! (Hey, been there!).
I’ve been wanting to create a thread to ask but this seems like a better place so here is my question: I hear people saying worship bass is a whole different world but I’ve always wondered how it’s different? What makes it such a specialized way of playing?
Not really “specialized”…. Playing in a Worship group is different in several ways…
You play in a group that is not really a “band”… In a band, you practice and play with the same musicians on a regular basis. In a Worship group, you typically meet on a Sunday morning to go over the songs prior to the service. Not a lot of time to prepare other than possibly having a base list of songs to be familiar with that the music director sends out earlier.
You can be prepared all you can, but 3 out if 4 times at the last minute, the vocalist (always a special) will want a song played in a different key…. As a bassist, you REALLY need to know your fretboard and how to change keys instantly.
“Guitarist’s and Capo’s” are a pain!! Constant changes to songs being played on guitars with capos are a nightmare sometimes… Again, know your fretboard and how to adjust on the fly to make those changes…
Bass players in a Worship group are not front and center…. We are very reserved and play basic root, root/fifths, root/octave and sometimes triads…. A five string bass is becoming more prevalent, and fretless even more so in order to incorporate more octave slides to give certain songs a bit more bass color. Otherwise, it’s mainly a piano or acoustic guitar driven operation where the bass works to give the kick drum a little color.
Yea, playing bass in a worship group isn’t an “up front solo” type of thing, and no way a “hey look at me play bass” gig…. It “IS” however a very humble and specialized type of playing in that focus is not on how many notes you can play, but more-so on how few notes you can play most effectively.
Additionally, Worship music is all about the “lyrics”. Instruments are played in order to enhance and bring focus to the songs lyrics…. To do this effectively, all musicians in a worship group need to forget the “10 looking for 12” setting on the volume knobs of whatever instrument they play….
At my old church I didn’t find out what key we were playing the songs in until 45 minutes before the service so I learned early on to memorize the pattern of a song so that I could move it wherever I needed.
The church that I’m at now usually gives us the song set at least two weeks out and we have a Thursday night practice and a rehearsal on Saturday afternoon before the Saturday evening service.
I’m not very “faithy”, but I have (re) discovered a lesser known song of the Commodores lately:
“Jesus is Love” by Commodores.
Being a “military child”, I lived in NATO ghettos for most of my childhood and youth and hung around with US GIs for a long time, listening to blues, soul, funk … and gospel on sundays.
One song of that time came up a few weeks ago, the aforementioned “Jesus is Love”. It still did not make me a believer, but I do play it with great joy! It has a different kind of “quality” than other songs, which I strangely like a lot!
I was invited to play in a worship a few times each time with music I’ve never heard they just handed me a sheet of music and it’s for the same song’s name but performed by different group in a different style on a different key. I remembered catching a glance and a smile from a keyboard player, saying welcome to my world, I nodded, bring it,
I remember the singer said before one of the song B, clearly she was singing in A one whole step lower. After all of the song and dance, I realized no one’s really know.
Happens quite a bit. One church would have the worship group meet at 6AM on Sunday morning to go over the song list and prepare. Another one sent out the song list on Thursday so we’d have a little time to prepare but the songs (many times) would change come Sunday morning….
Wow! If you’re getting your songs two weeks out, that’s great!!
Great story Al…. It happens though!! I played in one church back in the early 80’s that had a trumpet player who continually blew “runs” until he hit the right note, and when he would finally hit that right note, the rest of the group were already playing the next note of the song….
Thanks Andrea…. Most worship groups I’ve played in have been in small to mid size church’s which operate quite differently from the larger mega sized churches. The larger churches typically have a dedicated music minister (worship leader) on staff, and the church buildings are typically wired for sound with most all instruments being ran through a mixing board. Musicians all use in-ear monitors (at least the one’s I’ve played with do), and will pretty much always have a click track being played through them. Additionally, the worship leader and/or person on the mixing board has the ability to talk to the musicians through the in-ear monitors. Quite technical, but works well to help control the “feel” of the music in order to have it most effectively relate to the spirit of the worship…. Quire a bit has changed over the years from what I’ve experienced…. Personally, I still prefer the smaller churches with more of a home town feel - probably because that’s how i grew up in the early 50’s….
This is how/why I started playing bass about 5 or 6 years ago. The person who “taught” me gave me a sheet of paper with the notes of the fretboard and taught me how to pluck. I play in church once or twice a month. I’ve been playing root notes because I had no other foundation (rudimentary music theory), but am trying to more incorporate what I’ve been learning in B2B to my church playing. The way I play in church is VERY different right now because I still don’t know any different (because admittedly I’ve been working my way veeeeery slowly through B2B and am not super consistent with practice for various reasons. Laziness being a little bit of that.)
I nodded, bring it, 
