any church band bassist here?

[warwickw]

No wonder I failed my piano coz I didn't l ike classical music haha...

I also realised in general it's harder to teach classically trained pianist how to groove, play different styles, use different chord voicings and notes, play to chord charts vs playing to written scores... but of course there are the exceptional talents

Somehow most church drummers only like to play rock too

 

[Z3r0_G]

and not to mention guitarists who thin they are cool and the best when all they can do is play power chords and solo.

not knowing how to better fill the roles by playing arpeggios and tasteful picking.

 

[warwickw]

Uhm think we shouldn't turn this thread into a complain session, but rather maybe think of how to improve things in a band setting... for me I've no idea at the moment, brain freeze

 

[rylche]

Play less and support the band; help leading it alot! Communication is also very essential. I'm sure that your grievances would be rectified if you put them across in an amicable manner.

 

[hayabusa]

bass enemies:

1. drummer on 'high' going almost solo hitting a lot of bass drum
2. keyboardist playing bass notes

beware.. it happens when they get too 'shiok'

then should the bassist crank up the tone, play high notes and maybe slap just to add to the noise?

omg.. the music's gonna disintergrate into a 'who's louder' competition. perhaps the bassist should save grace by going silent. don't you think?

 

[Z3r0_G]

hayabusa: my drummer gets high most of the time but i manage to keep to his beat. it's all about knowing your drummer well enough to know what he's gonna play next.

unfortunately, most of the time i'm following him and he's not listening to what i play. i might have another way of playing the song but he won't follow.

i don't know what to blame on, the poor sound system/acoustics in church or the fact that drummers just want to show off?

everybody must know their roles well. know which part of the soundscape they are supposed to fill. if the keyboardist is playing everything there's no pt playing alrdy. there's also this tendency of them not knowing how to use other patches on their keyboards other than piano. imagine how great if they learn to use synth and strings esp for those grand parts!

guitarists should also learn to improve themselves. quit playing the chords u first learnt on acoutsic guitar! play higher up the neck! which christian songs nowadays have their guitarists chugging on power chords throughout the whole song? u lose your dynamics that way.

As bassists we learn to listen to the whole band. I wonder what the rest listen to. By playing 'the bigger guitar' that the layman cannot hear, we learn to humble ourselves. And we take more pride in letting others shine while we supposrt the band.

But even then, u all got to play properly la! Musicians in church better buck up and learn to be serious because its more than just playing chords for that day. its about making God feel real to the congregation.

 

[RentaBass]

I'm no church bassist, but Titus is right about the ego bit.

All too often, people get sucked into the desire to be in the spotlight. That leads them to try and hog the soundscape unconsciously.

Musicians of today have to wake up and realise that it's not the '70s or '80s anymore - no matter how cool you look or play, it's still the frontman that usually gets laid.

The audience of today tends to look up only to the singer (largely due to the predominance of solo artistes in the scene today), so our job as musicians is to make sure:

1) the band sounds good
2) the singer sounds AND looks good

Hard facts to swallow, but that's how it is.

 

[shinobi]

i agree with rentabass on our roles as musicians

however i would like to add that our duties as wannabe rockstars include scoring with chicks and getting free booze.

i'm not saying that image is more important than ability, which is something totally untrue, but an instrumentalist who looks good while performing will always be more impressive, and provides the audience with a better experience.

and rather than thinking about how one member stands out from the rest of the band on stage, consider how the band as a whole can bring down the performance of that individual. the singer may be tripping balls but if the rest of the band is comatose, the performance just become weird, imbalanced and unenjoyable.

i always think it is unfair when it is said that the bass is an understated and underrated instrument. touch your heart, when was the last time you saw a really good, complete performer like paul mccartney?

yes, we are musicians. skill and the music always come first. but on stage, we are also performers, entertainers, etc. and our effectiveness as such also matters.

 

[RentaBass]

I couldn't have said it any better than bro shinobi.

As my guitarist says, "a rock show is actually about the crowd getting their rocks off while watching the band get their rocks off on stage"

People go to live shows to watch a band rock out and have fun. It's as much a visual experience as it is an aural one, if not more so.

Nobody wants to watch people stare at their shoes or fretboards.

Remember, if you don't look like you're having fun up there, the crowd won't have fun watching you and listening to you.

 

[hayabusa]

i've not played in my band for about a month now. this sunday i'm playing again. this time i'll insist on proper arrangement on the songs. and i'll be sure to examine again if our teamwork is really that bad. i hope it's just me..

in the meantime, my drum machine will be my best friend.

last words of advice?

 

[Colarndo]

Pray for God's Guidance?

 

[neverconscious]

Pray for God's Guidance?

+777
At the end of the day, you (the whole band) gotta remember who you're playing for. How misguided people in worship bands are when they try to go for glory, and how naive we sometimes are when we think that we could possibly 'steal' the glory from God.

 

[hayabusa]

if god dances to the music we play, i'd be in heaven

 

[ironhold]

bassists are almost always the unsung heros as some said. Usually only bassists appreciate bassist. no normal person would say "whoa! nice bass line leh!". But i heard people saying that girls like bass players? i haven't got any idea where that came from.

my lead guitarist never bother to follow the songs. he'll just ask for the key and goreng on his own. in return, he steals the show instead. wish we bassist can do that too.

that's one of the reason wny not many people interested in fat strings. shallow minded people adore the skinny but we know big is beautiful 8)

 

[ironhold]

Agree that generally classically trained pianist takes a long time to get into contempalary(how to spell?:??? playing because they're so used to having tao gei in front of them. But once they start to use their ears and explore, can liao. Guess that's their own goal they need to make. if they don't want to explore then no one can teach.

No wonder I failed my piano coz I didn't l ike classical music haha...

I also realised in general it's harder to teach classically trained pianist how to groove, play different styles, use different chord voicings and notes, play to chord charts vs playing to written scores... but of course there are the exceptional talents

Somehow most church drummers only like to play rock too

 

[Androtech]

just my 2 cents:

1. put God as the top priority
2. follow the leader (Holy Spirit/worship leader)

 

[hayabusa]

wa.. this trad so long still got people reply.. i'm so touched. well, just to let you know, i've pretty much improved on my timing and scaling. first, i tried sting's "simple and elegent" style but blah.. didnt work so nowi got hooked on boney m's bass style. (hey, who doesn't love boney m? haha..) and it really works well for most of the songs i play. just listen to their version of 'jingle bells, blue christmas and mary's boy child'. i love the basslines.

now, my problem is working with this particular keyboardist who's actually a (i suspect)classical pianist in training. her style involves a lot hammering on the bass notes. and that really puts me in a spot- i can't play because i'll make things messy. what i normally do is crank up my tone for a bright sonud, then i won't get in the way of her 'bass'

in this situation, my guitarist who's seasoned enough will just fly off on his own doing solos. i wish i could do the same, but i don't know how to create solos. i can only create riffs.

have you guys ever play with a pianist like this? what do you do?

 

[hayabusa]

just my 2 cents:

1. put God as the top priority
2. follow the leader (Holy Spirit/worship leader)

i went for a woship seminar once. here's what the guy said.

"those who practice, and practice and practice, will go with the flow, but those who never practice and just 'follow the holy spirit' will be led astray" haha.. true.

 

[warwickw]

now, my problem is working with this particular keyboardist who's actually a (i suspect)classical pianist in training. her style involves a lot hammering on the bass notes. and that really puts me in a spot- i can't play because i'll make things messy. what i normally do is crank up my tone for a bright sonud, then i won't get in the way of her 'bass'

in this situation, my guitarist who's seasoned enough will just fly off on his own doing solos. i wish i could do the same, but i don't know how to create solos. i can only create riffs.

have you guys ever play with a pianist like this? what do you do?

Play on the higher register?

 

[Indigo_blues]

wa.. this trad so long still got people reply.. i'm so touched. well, just to let you know, i've pretty much improved on my timing and scaling. first, i tried sting's "simple and elegent" style but blah.. didnt work so nowi got hooked on boney m's bass style. (hey, who doesn't love boney m? haha..) and it really works well for most of the songs i play. just listen to their version of 'jingle bells, blue christmas and mary's boy child'. i love the basslines.

now, my problem is working with this particular keyboardist who's actually a (i suspect)classical pianist in training. her style involves a lot hammering on the bass notes. and that really puts me in a spot- i can't play because i'll make things messy. what i normally do is crank up my tone for a bright sonud, then i won't get in the way of her 'bass'

in this situation, my guitarist who's seasoned enough will just fly off on his own doing solos. i wish i could do the same, but i don't know how to create solos. i can only create riffs.

have you guys ever play with a pianist like this? what do you do?

This is a rather common problem and needs to be addressed at the band level..

One way to solve it is to instruct the keyboardist to use only her right hand. Tell her to sit on her left hand. This will avoid the clashing notes in the bass registers..

It should be made clear that the bass frequencies should be occupied mainly by the bassist and not any other instrumentalist because clashing notes are really jarring in the bass region. The band should aim for a clean bass line to support the vocals and rhythms.

There needs to be open communication between all members of the band. The priority should be to present the best worship technically and spiritually as possible.. our own 'habits' and preferences should take 2nd place to the needs of the worship.

cheers